Readers and Reading discussion

chat your hearts out here!

I had coffee with an old (from HS) friend who lives in Florida. She is a reader but has never gone near an online message board....but she loves our lists of favorites. She asked me yesterday when it would be ready and said that she gives it to 5 friends in FL. We are so well-known. LOL

I would like to throw this out there -- it may have already been discussed over and over, but I would like some opinions. I am interested in buying one of the eReaders -- Kindle 2, Sony eReader, or The Nook and I would like to know if there are any strong opinions about these three eReaders.

I never thought I would want to give up the feel or smell of a book, but I have arthritis in my hands and it is becoming more uncomfortable to hold some books. I think I am leaning towards the Kindle2, but was wondering what others thought that had purchased an eReader. Thanks!

Rosemary wrote: "I would like to throw this out there -- it may have already been discussed over and over, but I would like some opinions. I am interested in buying one of the eReaders -- Kindle 2, Sony eReader, o..."

Rosemary, I am by no means an expert but have been paying particular attention to this topic on another board because I decided that I wanted to buy my Dad an e-reader because of the ability to change font size... he is having more and more difficulty with the standard print for books, newspapers, etc. The folks on my other board highly favored the Kindle2 and after doing some online research on features and so forth that's what I bought. I've played with it a bit to get it set up for my Dad and it's pretty cool. Easy to operate, the buttons are placed in convenient places, easy to download stuff from the amazon website without needing an internet connection. You can bookmark your place in a book, and can also look up the definition of a work or take notes. It's light as a feather. The price of books isn't too bad. Most are $9.99, and Amazon has a bunch for free. You can also get newspapers, magazines and blogs

Since you mention arthritis in your hands, I wonder if manipulating the two controls that aren't so easy would be an issue. One is the on/off switch at the top, which takes a sliding motion to turn off and on. For turning off in particular I've found it tricky.. you have to hold it in the "slide" position until the text on the screen disappears.

The other is the so-called "joystick" which is what moves the cursor around and allows you to select things. It's a button that you can push up,down,right or left, and then you press it to select.

If you Google "kindle2" you can find some videos that show it in operation, so you can judge for yourself. Even better if you know someone who has one so you can try these two buttons out before you purchase.

Maybe others can comment on the other e-readers. i only know that the Nook was sold out till mid-January, and that it has a few features that the Kindle doesn't. Not enough to make me wait to get it though.

Let me know if you have any other questions, or check out the "M/T Reading Friends" group and search for "Kindle."

A friend of mine who had a stroke 18 months ago, and is still recovering, got a Kindle from her husband for Christmas. While her hands were not badly affected, they are weak. She has mentioned no trouble with the controls.....but I will ask her anyway,

Rosemary, I am so glad to see you here.

I am sure not many people know that Rosemary and I met about 14 years ago on an AOL message board....do you remember which one was it????

After about a year, something Rosemary posted rang a bell, so I e-mailed her and asked her if she was from NH and had she lived in Boston in the late 1960s, and was she the Rosemary who knew Pat L__ and her roommate JoAnn. Well, since this is such a small world, it turns out that she was one and the same, and I knew her in Boston way back when (almost 30 years before that), before she moved a continent away!

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Rosemary, I am so glad to see you here.

I am sure not many people know that Rosemary and I met about 14 years ago on an AOL message board....do you remember which one was it????

After about a yea..."

How about that! Our world really is becoming smaller. I wonder if there are other connections that the individuals are unaware of.

My daughter requested the Nook for Christmas, and had done a lot of research on it and the Kindle. I still have no desire, but I am not 3o and cant understand a lot of these newfangled things

My issue with the Kindle is that by the time I enlarge the font to the size it would be in a book, there is so little text on each page. I felt like I was doing nothing but turning pages!

Thanks everyone for your comments about the e-readers. I think I am leaning towards the Kindle2, but I would still like to talk to people who have actually used it.

Oh yeah, JoAnn and I go waaaaay back. I've been married for 37 years and I worked with her friend Pat in 1968 and that is probably when I met JoAnn too. It was funny how we connected again.

Powell's Book Store is having a contest to name the best book read in the decade of the 00's. But the winner will be selected by lot. This does not seem very sensible to me. I suggest we each name the best book read in the decade just past. I have done this by looking at my list of Best Book Read each year:

3358 Flags of Our Fathers, by James Bradley with Ron Powers (read 12 Oct 2000) (Book of the Year)
3417 With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, by E. B. Sledge (read 9 Mar 2001) (Book of the Year)
3583 The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Master of the Senate, by Robert A. Caro (read 27 May 2002) (Book of the Year) (Pulitzer Biography prize in 2003) (National Book Award nonfiction prize for 2002)
3708 Endurance Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing (read 1 Mar 2003) (Book of the Year)
3863 Castles of Steel Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea, by Robert K. Massie (read 4 Mar 2004) (Book of the Year)
4068 Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour Armistice Day 1918 World War I and Its Violent Climax, by Joseph E. Persico (read 5 Sep 2005) (Book of the Year)
4252 A World at Arms A Global History of World War II, by Gerhard L. Weinberg (read 31 Dec 2006) (Book of the Year)
4370 The Day of Battle The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 Volume Two of The Liberation Trilogy, by Rick Atkinson (read 11 Oct 2007) (Book of the Year)
4403 America's Constitution A Biography, by Akhil Reed Amar (read 17 Jan 2008) (Book of the Year)
4603 FDR, by Jean Edward Smith (read 8 Aug 2009) (Book of the Year)

Looking at this list I have selcted With the Old Breed as the best book I read in the 00's decade.

My commnet on the book was as follows:

3417. With the Old Breed At Peleliu and Okinawa, by E. B. Sledge (read Mar 9, 2001) This book was published in 1981 and I have been wanting to read it for at least ten years. It is the classic account of Marine experience in the battles named, making no attempt to tell anything about the battles except what he experienced, he being one of 26 people in his outfit who went thru both battles without dying or being wounded. The book is told without tape-recorder-like obscenities (unlike James Webb's novels) and loses none of its force because of the omission. This is an exceptionally gripping book, and I found it poignant to realize that the author (a professor of biology at the University Of Montevallo) died March 3, 2001, just before I read the book.

I have written more exuberant comments, but this book lives in my memory as the greatest thing I read in the decade.

Schmerguls wrote: "I have written more exuberant comments, but this book lives in my memory as the greatest thing I read in the decade. .."

That's about the best way to judge IMO.....

I agree that choosing the best book of the decade by "lot" is kind of silly.

I am going to give this some thought and look at my old lists. Thanks for suggesting this.

On what energy source does the Kindle or other e-readers operate? It it a battery? Do you plug it into an outlet and charge it?

If you charge it, how long does the charge last?

If it is a battery, what type, how many, how long does that last?

Do they estimate how long a Kindle will last with daily use? If it is a plug in charge thing, is is more than a few years?

Thanks !

My son in law said his battery charge lasts a long time. So long, in fact, that he does not take his charger with him on his week-long business trips.

HOWEVER.....if Amazon updates the software, the Kindle turns off or has to be restarted and cannot be turned on again without the charger. This happened to him once when he was away.....

Okay, I know this will only be exciting to a geek like me, but I just found a way to do bold, underline, and italics without using that stupid (some html is okay) process that GoodReads provides.

This only works with FireFox, which is fine with me since it is a great browser. I got a FireFox "add on" and downloaded it. Now I just have to highlight the txt I want to alter, right click and the menu for the alterations opens up. It is magic!

Here is the link for the add on if anyone is interested:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/fire...

Thanks JoAnn. When I'm at the Library, I do use Firefox, and find that it has many great features. Here's one more!

Donna

Hmmm. Sounds good. We are in the process of changing aspects of our computer. Firefox may be in our future. That would be SO nice. Thanks for the info.

deborah

I read and enjoyed The Help by Kathryn Stockett this year. I would like to read Flags of Our Fathers. I did read A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens last decade. I have also read Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mithcell. I always enjoy the books I read for the Mystery Book Group, VUES Book Group and the Women's Book Group. The Virgin of Small Plains by Pickford was excellent. I am glad to see that there are people who like Barbara Delinsky and Jodi Picoult on this board.

The next party I will be planning is my Father's next month. Do any of you have a business where you make food for parties?

OK, I am trying to stop receiving emails for certain topics on R and R. At the end of the thread it says "You are following this discussion". I click on edit and change to "None" or whatever it says, but it doesn't stick. Is there somewhere else I can mark my preferences? I am now reading new posts directly on the website. As usual, thanks for your help.

Alias Reader wrote:
"Do they estimate how long a Kindle will last with daily use? If it is a plug in charge thing, is is more than a few years?

Alias - my Kindle gets daily use (I read it today for about 4-5 hours today cross-country)and it will be 2 years old on Jan.29th. I have the original battery and after today's trip, it was down just a fraction. Probably would not have gone down at all from my use, except I did download a newspaper this am and downloads do use up the battery more than just plain reading.

Update.....So far, 32 people have voted for their 2009 favorites. Pretty good for just 4 days.

I have not really counted, but think I sent notifications to about 160 people. That includes all the "old" Favorite Fiction people plus the 136 registered here at Readers and Reading. There was quite a bit of overlap between the two groups.

Carolyn (in SC) C234D wrote: "OK, I am trying to stop receiving emails for certain topics on R and R. At the end of the thread it says "You are following this discussion". I click on edit and change to "None" or whatever it s..."

Carolyn I know I should know how to help you, and maybe I even did, once upon a time. But I have forgotten, if I ever knew! I hope Alias will come to my rescue.

Rosemary wrote: "Oh yeah, JoAnn and I go waaaaay back. I've been married for 37 years and I worked with her friend Pat in 1968 and that is probably when I met JoAnn too. It was funny how we connected again..."

Love stories like that!

Bohjalian The Double Bind Gotta vent. I am almost two-thirds of the way through this one, reading for a book group after we read The Great Gatsby. I read what I've read all last night, and I can't normally read 250 pages in an hour and a half. This book is so skimmable, partly because there is so much pointless exposition and clunky development. The other part, I am afraid, is because there is so little to the story. Maybe I will be surprised, but do most readers want to read 400 dullsville pages just to get a surprise ending? If there is one. The characters are stock figures, the writing itself is lame, every mention of sex (relatively few, fortunately in this case) has an adolescent sheen to it.... The book opens (this is not a spoiler fact) with a scene is which the protagonist is assaulted, and about to be raped, by two men in a van. I've never heard of two men working together to rape someone. Not saying it hasn't happened -- everything's happened somewhere. But there are gang rapes, under certain circumstances, and then, to my knowledge, there are almost all individual, solo rapists. The scene read falsely, to me, and this is emblematic of the book so far. The author inserts newspaper articles and obituaries, and none of them are written in the right newspaper style. Of course, the interesting part of the book is the incorporation of Gatsby elements, including Gatz himself and the Buchanans. (No Nick as yet.) The protagonist grew up in West Egg, going to a country club made out of Gatsby's house and grounds. Etc... That too seems lame, so far. To the author's credit, his list of books published shows he is very industrious. I hope several of them are better than this one.

Alias Reader wrote: "On what energy source does the Kindle or other e-readers operate? It it a battery? Do you plug it into an outlet and charge it?

If you charge it, how long does the charge last?

If it is a b..."

I just received a kindle for Christmas from my hubby. It operates on a battery that can be plugged into a regular household outlet or via USB port on your computer (but you cannot use it when charging it via USB).

Once you have the current update (version 2.3) the battery lasts for almost 2 weeks with the wireless turned off when reading about 2-3 hours each day according to people from Amazon's Q&A forum.

My battery was running out quickly because I was playing on the web and scanning and downloading tons of free books from the Kindle store. It will use more of the battery in the beginning because even with it off it is indexing all of your books. But now that I am only downloading a book or two a day, the battery seems to be better. I updated mine last Tuesday and charged it overnight and as of the is morning it is at about 1/2.

Can I ask for some help?

Under my to-read books, I have two folders, One for downloaded to kindle and kindle wish list (books to purchase). I am almost done reading Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer, what should I read next?

Diane: Once you have the current update (version 2.3) the battery lasts for almost 2 weeks with the wireless turned off when reading about 2-3 hours each day according to people from Amazon's Q&A forum.
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Thanks, Diane !

Marcy: Alias - my Kindle gets daily use (I read it today for about 4-5 hours today cross-country)and it will be 2 years old on Jan.29th. I have the original battery and after today's trip, it was down just a fraction. Probably would not have gone down at all from my use, except I did download a newspaper this am and downloads do use up the battery more than just plain reading.
---------------------

Thank you for the info, Marcy !

Diane U wrote: "Can I ask for some help?

Under my to-read books, I have two folders, One for downloaded to kindle and kindle wish list (books to purchase). I am almost done reading Midnight Sun.."

Diane, before we make suggestions to you, tell us what kind of books you like to read.

I just looked at your blog and saw that gorgeous quilt you made. We have some quilters here too.

And I saw that you are a scrapbooker....so is my daughter. She designs for a couple of companies and for Two Peas in a Bucket - I am sure you are familiar with that site.

Michael wrote: "Bohjalian The Double Bind Gotta vent. I am almost two-thirds of the way through this one, reading for a book group after we read The Great Gatsby. .....This book is so skimmable, partly because there is so much pointless exposition and clunky development ..."

Michael, I have not really liked any of Bohjalian's books since I first discovered him, years ago, with his book Water Witches which I really did like. I have tried several of his subsequent books but only finished one because it was for a group read. I do like him, though...he seems to be a nice guy, but that is not enough. I know a lot of people like his books, and I am going to (once again) try to read his upcoming new book. So your assessment is not surprising to me.

JoAnn~

Some of my favorite authors are James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark and more recently Stephenie Meyers for the Twilight saga.

I have added about 40 books to my to-read folder that I have already downloaded to my kindle (freebies) and some that are on my wish list. I'm not sure what to attack next. Can you see my lists by looking at my profile?

Yes, I am a quilter who is also interested in machine embroidery. I also scrap and make card using rubber or digital stamps. I am currently designing for three digital stamp companies too.

Yes, Diane, I can see your lists when I look at your profile. I don't read a lot of mysteries but I do read Greg Iles, who is on your wish list. And I no longer read James Patterson.

I am having eye surgery tomorrow and was happy to find a large-print Iles book at the library, although I probably will not need it. But it is reassuring!

Do you have one of those big embroidery machines? I have a friend who started a business and uses one to embroider mostly baby items. She has been very successful.

I just have received so many suggestions from friends that I must admit, I am overwhelmed. My hubby also gave me $50 to spend on books for my kindle so I don't mind buying some more. I just wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations from the ones I have already downloaded first.

I have a personal embroidery machine that can only do a 4x4 design. I love it though and I love incorporating it into my quilts. I also made some baby bibs to go as a gift with the snow quilt that will be posted on Saturday to my blog. Here are some things that I made for Christmas using my embroidery machine.

http://uselesscrafts.blogspot.com/sea...

Gorgeous quilt .......

Cute things, Diane....love the ornament and I bet you could sell those bibs on ETSY. Do you do any shopping there? I cannot tell you how many beautiful Christmas gifts my daughter got from ETSY craftspeople.

I recently saw a funny baby t-shirt that said "I Pood"

These are the two sayings I also did:

http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/Color_Si...

http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/Color_Si...

I thought these were hysterical! I do not shop or sell on ETSY but it may become an option in the future!

Diane U wrote: "Can I ask for some help?..."

The last on your downloaded list sounds interesting,

The Shunning

I've not heard of the series (or, if i have i've forgotten) but the subject sounds good. Have your friends recommended it to you or is it one you found on your own?

Your quilting projects are great! I'm particularly tickled by the "Drool Here" bib. Cute! I'm curious why the title is "useless crafts", did someone once say that to you? I think you've proven that wrong!

deborah

Michael wrote: "Bohjalian The Double Bind Gotta vent. I am almost two-thirds of the way through this one, reading for a book group after we read The Great Gatsby. I read what I've ..."

I really liked my first Bohjalian--Skeletons at the Feast. The timing (just before WWII ends & people are on the move) was new-to-me in fiction and i thought the writing was good. The second i read by him was fine but not as good. The Buffalo Soldier Now i'm cautious of reading another, lest i learn he isn't the author i thought he was, if that makes sense.

Frankly, Michael, the problem you are describing is something i don't mind IF i like the topic &/or characters. However, if nothing is singing to me from the book, it seems much worse than it probably is. If i had to skim, i doubt i'd finish the book. Since it's for a group, i might change my mind, but i'm not even sure of that. It's good you have a Gatsby tie-in, which may end up redeeming the rest. Maybe.

deborah

Welcome Diane! I checked out your list, and I see you have one of my favorite authors, Deborah Smith. I've never read any of her books I didn't love. I've also really enjoyed Beverly Lewis's Amish books. Just choose one that appeals to you, and see if you enjoy it!

Happy reading!
Donna in Southern Maryland

madrano wrote: "Diane U wrote: "Can I ask for some help?..."

The last on your downloaded list sounds interesting,

The Shunning

I've not heard of the series (or, if i have i've forgotten) bu..."

Okay, here's the story behind Useless Crafts. My last name is Ulitsch and when I was dating my hubby, my dad used to call him useless. So when I set up any online accounts that require a username, I have always used useless in it!

I was thinking about The Shunning too! I love Lancaster PA and I am familiar with their culture so I thought it might be interesting too!

Donna in Southern Maryland wrote: "Welcome Diane! I checked out your list, and I see you have one of my favorite authors, Deborah Smith. I've never read any of her books I didn't love. I've also really enjoyed Beverly Lewis's Amish ..."

Thanks Donna! I agree with reading some of my already downloaded books to make my Christmas money last longer. I am going to start The Shunning next and so far there are 2 other books to the series to purchase.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Yes, Diane, I can see your lists when I look at your profile. I don't read a lot of mysteries but I do read Greg Iles, who is on your wish list. And I no longer read James Patterson.

I am having e..."

Good luck tomorrow, JoAnn - you're going to be so happy you did this!

Michael, I did like the book that Chris B. wrote about the midwife and I think that was the name of it.

Bunny wrote: ".Good luck tomorrow, JoAnn - you're going to be so happy you did this! ."

Thanks, Bunny, I am sure that will be the case. I just want it to be over!

Yes, good luck, JoAnn! And happy seeing soon enough!

deborah

Diane U wrote: "I was thinking about The Shunning too! I love Lancaster PA and I am familiar with their culture so I thought it might be interesting too! ..."

First, Diane, thanks for explaining the humorous name "useless".

My daughter & her friend drove to Lancaster in early November to visit & really liked it. I'd been suggesting i was ready to move back east near some history & she said this was the place because it was close enough to historic sights (my desire) but also still a good place to live. Please let us know what you think of the book when you finish.

deborah

JoAnn, best wishes for tomorrow! May you be better than ever before you know it.

Deborah, should you decide to visit the Lancaster area, I am only an hour south of there.

I was just cleaning out my address book, and I had "Deborah, Gaithersburg". LOL

Have you been back east since the big move?

Relative to the Kindle vs Sony -- My daughter has had a Sony reader for a couple of years. My son and I were debating the Kindle/Sony/Nook options this year. He settled on a Sony while I went for the Kindle. He and my daughter preferred the Sony for it's open access rather than being tied to Kindle's proprietary format. The difference between us: my first downloads were The Elephant Keeper, Gilead and The Help. Ben downloaded Machiavelli, Thucydides and Herodotus. Adrienne has been reading the classics, too... The fact that there wasn't a wireless option didn't bother them in the least.

I also looked at the Nook because it takes the best advantages of both the Kindle and the Sony (wireless & open source) but it still has so many bugs to be worked out. I suspect it will be the e-reader of choice in a year or so unless someone else beats them to it.

I'll be thinking of you tomorrow JoAnn. I have every confidence that it will go well and you will be very happy with your improved vision.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "I was just cleaning out my address book, and I had "Deborah, Gaithersburg". LOL

Have you been back east since the big move?"

Yes, we were in the D.C. area last May for a meeting my husband attended. No car but the metro got me everywhere i wanted to be. It was great being back there, let me tell ya!

deborah