A month or so ago I treated myself to a Sony Reader. It’s one of the older models (PRS-505) and I got hold of it at a reduced price before the new touch-screen models came out. I’ve had people tell me it’s all a waste as there’s nothing wrong with a good old paperback.
And in some respects, I completely agree. There’s nothing you get with a Sony Reader that you wouldn’t get with a standard book. In fact, there are some instances where a paperback comes in handy. You can lend them to your friends; you can sell them on or give them to a charity shop; you can write in the margins, thrown them in a bag without worry and get them wet without losing too much. There are a huge number of benefits to getting hold of a printed version rather than downloading onto an electronic reader.
What happens if you lose the thing, or accidentally wipe your hard-drive and lose your entire library?
Well, some concerns are easy to get around. Electronic books are safer than paperbacks, so long as you keep an off-site backup. Not only are they stored on my computer, but they’re also stored in ‘the cloud’ waiting for the day when my computer does give up the ghost. One little fire and my paper-based collection is gone forever.
As for the other things, it’s all a matter of taste. There are people who buy vinyl or CDs, purchase their movies on DVD or Blu-Ray, and always go to Boots to print off their pictures. Then there are those who prefer the mp3, the digital download and electronic photo-frames. Personally, I download mp3 (or aac) for my iPhone, buy my movies on Blu-Ray and I play with my photos on my laptop. And now I download my books in eBook format.
I’m not great with paper. It takes me so long to get through a book and whilst I enjoy reading, I’m constantly checking the thickness of the pages and become down-hearted by the amount I have left to read. It’s always been that way. With the electronic book, although I am informed of the number of pages left, it simply doesn’t hit me in the same way. I love the feel of the metal body and the little flash as the page changes when I click forward. I love not having to sit or lie in awkward positions simply to keep the book open. I love the surprise of not being tempted to skip forward and hitting upon pictures I wasn’t expecting, or little diagrams I didn’t know were in there. As there are no covers to show off, I love the fact that I can read anything I like in public, no matter how embarrassing I would normally find it.
Loving gadgets as I do, the Sony Reader is a perfect combination of modern technology helping to enhance and improve something old. For some, taking words off paper and placing them on an electronic screen is something tantamount to sacrilege. For me, it’s a natural progression. And whilst I don’t for a second believe it would ever fully replace the printed word, just like the mp3 or the jpg, it does give you the option.
Why the Sony Reader?
Well, for me the answer is simple: choice. This may be an old model and only displays documents in black and white, but that’s all I need it for. Perhaps in years to come I’ll replace it with a newer model capable of colour and wireless Internet connection. But for the time-being, these aren’t issues I’m concerned about. The one thing that does concern me though is choice. Apparently the Amazon Kindle is quite popular, with it’s wireless connection and (rather ugly) QWERTY keyboard. But why would you buy it, only to find out you had to get all of your books in special Kindle format from Amazon, effectively tying your future book purchases to a single company? And when you want to upgrade your reader, you’d have to buy another Kindle or your books would no longer be readable. I download all my books in .epub format; an open standard for eBooks which can be viewed on a large number of readers. This effectively means my books can be read, even if I decide to switch to another company for my reader. I can also buy books from a number of stores, including WH Smith, Waterstones and Borders.
So, that’s why I bought a Sony Reader.
In a bid to do more things with my life, I went out a couple of times this weekend. The first was back to Cambridge to another book sale. I didn’t get a huge amount this time, but here’s my list:
- Dream Angus – Alexander McCall Smith
- Tombstoning – Doug Johnstone
- Dynamo – Tariq Goddard
- The Third Brother – Nick McDonell
As ever, random books by random authors I’ve never heard of. I’ve now got a large pile I doubt I’ll ever get through and these will be added to it. Hopefully I’ll pick up the reading again soon.
Right then, back to my weekend. After the book sale I decided not to head into the city like I normally would. Instead I drove over the Wimpole Hall to take a look around. I must say it’s a lovely place for a walk, though it is a little muddy. The paths don’t take you around the whole estate and you’re reliant on being able to cross stiles in order to get to the out-of-reach places. But if you’re properly dressed for traipsing through the mud it really is a great walk.
I got a large number of pictures too, which you can find on Flickr. I imagine I’ll put some in the Gallery at some point, though I’ve not got around to it yet because I went out again today.
This time it was down to London on a cheap-day ticket. It was the Chinese New Year celebrations and I figured it’d be a good place to take a few shots. I was wrong. It was partly my own fault, but of those pictures I took there were literally none that were any good. I shall explain why.
I was under the impression that the parade would be ending up at Trafalgar Square after roaming the streets of China Town. So I headed straight over to the Square to wait. Unfortunately it never intended to get that far and I missed out on what could have made some great shots. Then, after waiting an hour in front of the stage with nothing but a two-minute fire-cracker show to entertain me, it was time for the main event to begin. Only it wasn’t. What several-thousand people were forced to endure was a series of boring and repetitive speeches from a number of low-level politicians and hangers-on. “Oh, isn’t it cold?” they would say. Yes, it was bloody freezing. So cold that it started to snow. But still the speeches continued and still nothing happened on stage. After roughly an hour of this, me and several-hundred other people made the wise decision to scarper. I’m sure the acrobatics and the dancing were a sight to behold once it actually kicked off, but as ever the politicians killed it. I don’t think I’ll be heading down for next year’s celebrations.
So I came away with nothing from the day, apart from a bag of sweeties for a friend. So perhaps it was worth it after all. 
One of the many books I purchased last week at the book sale in Cambridge was When the Nines Roll Over by David Benioff. As I mentioned in previous post, I had no idea who any of these authors were. But I have now finished the first of these books, and I must say I rather enjoyed it. Oh, and I must point out that this is in no way a review; I haven’t read enough books to be able to review them!
When the Nines Roll Over is a collection of short stories around many different ideals, but with one over-arching theme. From the tale of lost chance for love that never was in The Barefoot Girl in Clover to that of a dancer stricken by AIDs in Merde for Luck, the sense of loss is immense. Whether that be the loss of a loved one, the loss of one’s past or the loss of one’s mind, Benioff’s melancholy and simple approach to each story really hit home with me, and once I really got into the book I found I couldn’t put it down. Which is very unusual for me.
I’d recommend it, but I don’t know what kind of things you like to read, so perhaps I shouldn’t! I thoroughly enjoyed it though.
Because I know you’re all dying to know what books I bought from the sale, here’s a list below. I picked these up for £1 each.
In no particular order:
- Liz Jensen – The Ninth Life of Louis Drax
- Sean Stewart – Firecracker
- David Benioff – When the Nines Roll Over
- Ruben Gallego – White on Black
- Mick Jackson – Five Boys
- Gordon Burn – Alma Cogan
- Colum McCann – Songdogs
As I’m fairly new to the world of reading, I’ve no idea whether these authors are any good or what their style is like. I just picked them up because I liked the look of them. If anyone out there has read any of these or anything else by these authors I’d be very glad to hear your comments.
P.S. I was going to add links to these books on Amazon.co.uk, but they appear to be having problems at the minute!!
Edit: Amazon is now working, so I’ve added links to each of the book’s product pages. And before anyone starts writing about the fact you can get these for a penny each on Amazon, I have to answer that no you can’t; you’ll be spending £2.25 on postage per book.
I took a trip to Cambridge today to visit one of Galloway & Porter’s warehouse book sales. Most people out in web-world won’t have heard of them as they’re a small independent book shop in Cambridge. If you’re in the area on one of their sale days I recommend a visit. All books are £1. Yes, that’s right: £1. They have a few academic ones at £2-a-pop and a small room just off the warehouse holding some at higher prices. But the rest are £1. Or less. They also have a wide range of kids books, with some at less than a quid. So they’re not actually all a quid. But most are! 90% are! So get yourself over to their website and take a look at when the next one is on. They’re very frequent and you won’t regret it!
After that I took a trip into Cambridge’s lovely city centre, bought a couple of magazines and planted myself in a comfy chair in Border’s Starbucks for an hour. I do love Cambridge.
Something not-so-good occurred on the way back though. The car had been making some horrible clanging noises all day, and just as I approached Bedford something detached itself from the engine bay and flew off. The noises stopped, but a couple of red lights appeared on the dashboard. Bugger.
Well, not knowing anything at all about cars, I took it down the nearest Nationwide Autocentre and got them to take a look. Fortunately it was only the fan-belt, and even more fortunately it hadn’t taken anything with it on its way out! So an hour – and a chat with the mechanics – later and I was back on the road. £32. A bit pricey for a piece of rubber, but I was expecting more for the labour. So I’m happy with that.
Now I’m back home in the warm, with a mug of coffee, a Photoshop magazine and Adobe’s premier image-editing software in front of me. Should be a good day.
Or maybe I could make a start on one of the many books I bought from the sale? No, I’ve got plenty of others I’ve yet to read before I get on to those!
