Hey, everyone. I was laying in bed, propped up on my pillow and my mind was active. I'll share a few thoughts with you before I try the sleep thing again.
For one thing, this e-book technology is interesting, don't you think? I find that one of the best things about it is the back-lit screen of the I-Pad. Most houses really don't have good lighting for reading and the older one gets the more important this is. I still read normal books as well as e-books and I catch myself missing the back-lit screen of the e-reader more and more. In the mornings I like to read the Pulse news feeder on the Padster, as I've mentioned before, and I love being able to double tap an article and see the font instantly blow up in size for my ease of reading. Most of the other pros and cons I've covered before and I won't bore you guys who have followed the blog by a repetition of these things. The main stumbling block of the whole affair at this time is the ridiculous prices of best sellers.
The big publishers, understandably protecting their empire and its power structure, rose up against Apple when Apple wanted e-books to be topped out at a $7 to $8 range, due to the fact that there was no paper to buy and all that. The Madison Avenue guys were sharp enough to see the crux of the whole industry and their future lay in this pricing. Those of us who buy books, electronic and otherwise, are playing into the hands of these guys when we pay $10, $12 and $14 for an e-book. Unfortunately, I have a few authors that, when a new book comes out, I want it now. Its not like I can't get plenty of books for free and many good ones for $3 or $4 because I can. I really respect the crowd of readers over on the Amazon forums who were trying to boycott the high priced e-books a while back. I will say that I have now reached the point where I can see myself going entirely to e-books. That wasn't the case even 3 months ago.
Some of you older troops will probably remember a series called The Hardy Boys Mysteries. These were some novelettes by Franklin W. Dixon that were hugely popular in the 1950's and 1960's when I was growing up. They were aimed at the early to mid teen demographic. Today I was at Books-A-Million and bought a couple of them as a nostalgia trip. I sat down tonight and began to read The House On The Cliff. It was a bit of a rush to read this with the less idealistic mind of an adult who has seen too much of life. How unrealistic were all our forms of entertainment back in the day! Oh, I totally understand the efforts at decorum and purity, especially for the younger folks. What I'm really referring to is this. If you think all Moms and Dads are perfect and that life is clearly marked as to good and bad, the good guy always wins and that Ozzie and Harriet is what life is gonna be for you... Well, the disappointment with yourself and others can shape your outlook without you even knowing it.
Even so, I enjoyed getting to know Frank and Joe Hardy again tonight, along with their detective father and their perfect mother. These are good books and I recommend them for the younger boys especially. For the young girls the Nancy Drew series is cut from similar cloth. Heck, I read a lot of those when I was 10 to 14 or so. You can pick these up at Books-A-Million for about $2.50 each. I sure remember when I was thrilled to see that the school library had a new one on the shelves. Kids would scuffle over them. Hard to imagine now.
I was walking through the same book store today and I tend to notice most things. It's part of being a writer. I saw some teenagers sitting on the floor reading books and it really touched me. How precious a thing is a book. I thank God that my brother got me into the habit of reading. It changes your life, sort of like music and other things. Hundreds of years ago, during The Dark Ages, almost no one could read. There were people that would travel about and quote passages from books. When they did, the sessions were packed. People had a hunger for knowledge and no means to satisfy it. To see the young minds today at the store with a similar hunger and rows of books to satisfy it, almost brought me to tears. Before I get maudlin, I'll say goodnight from the green retreat. I'm CE Wills.
For one thing, this e-book technology is interesting, don't you think? I find that one of the best things about it is the back-lit screen of the I-Pad. Most houses really don't have good lighting for reading and the older one gets the more important this is. I still read normal books as well as e-books and I catch myself missing the back-lit screen of the e-reader more and more. In the mornings I like to read the Pulse news feeder on the Padster, as I've mentioned before, and I love being able to double tap an article and see the font instantly blow up in size for my ease of reading. Most of the other pros and cons I've covered before and I won't bore you guys who have followed the blog by a repetition of these things. The main stumbling block of the whole affair at this time is the ridiculous prices of best sellers.
The big publishers, understandably protecting their empire and its power structure, rose up against Apple when Apple wanted e-books to be topped out at a $7 to $8 range, due to the fact that there was no paper to buy and all that. The Madison Avenue guys were sharp enough to see the crux of the whole industry and their future lay in this pricing. Those of us who buy books, electronic and otherwise, are playing into the hands of these guys when we pay $10, $12 and $14 for an e-book. Unfortunately, I have a few authors that, when a new book comes out, I want it now. Its not like I can't get plenty of books for free and many good ones for $3 or $4 because I can. I really respect the crowd of readers over on the Amazon forums who were trying to boycott the high priced e-books a while back. I will say that I have now reached the point where I can see myself going entirely to e-books. That wasn't the case even 3 months ago.
Some of you older troops will probably remember a series called The Hardy Boys Mysteries. These were some novelettes by Franklin W. Dixon that were hugely popular in the 1950's and 1960's when I was growing up. They were aimed at the early to mid teen demographic. Today I was at Books-A-Million and bought a couple of them as a nostalgia trip. I sat down tonight and began to read The House On The Cliff. It was a bit of a rush to read this with the less idealistic mind of an adult who has seen too much of life. How unrealistic were all our forms of entertainment back in the day! Oh, I totally understand the efforts at decorum and purity, especially for the younger folks. What I'm really referring to is this. If you think all Moms and Dads are perfect and that life is clearly marked as to good and bad, the good guy always wins and that Ozzie and Harriet is what life is gonna be for you... Well, the disappointment with yourself and others can shape your outlook without you even knowing it.
Even so, I enjoyed getting to know Frank and Joe Hardy again tonight, along with their detective father and their perfect mother. These are good books and I recommend them for the younger boys especially. For the young girls the Nancy Drew series is cut from similar cloth. Heck, I read a lot of those when I was 10 to 14 or so. You can pick these up at Books-A-Million for about $2.50 each. I sure remember when I was thrilled to see that the school library had a new one on the shelves. Kids would scuffle over them. Hard to imagine now.
I was walking through the same book store today and I tend to notice most things. It's part of being a writer. I saw some teenagers sitting on the floor reading books and it really touched me. How precious a thing is a book. I thank God that my brother got me into the habit of reading. It changes your life, sort of like music and other things. Hundreds of years ago, during The Dark Ages, almost no one could read. There were people that would travel about and quote passages from books. When they did, the sessions were packed. People had a hunger for knowledge and no means to satisfy it. To see the young minds today at the store with a similar hunger and rows of books to satisfy it, almost brought me to tears. Before I get maudlin, I'll say goodnight from the green retreat. I'm CE Wills.
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