A moment.

Been a while; a busy while. Relaxation and exhaustion – they do actually make sense in the same sentence for me.

Since my last post I have chilled, gained a cold, a new phone, a new laptop…not necessarily in that order…not to mention frustration. Oh well, these are but #firstworldproblems. All of the above remain true for the moment.

In pursuit of e. My ereader, a US kindle (thus no wifi in Oz), continues to make me happy…or rather an eink based device with a reasonably sized screen really works for me. I’ve read a few books on it now and it is a pleasure, though the “ooh shiny” effect has worn off and I don’t seem to be reading more or less than prior to having an ereader. That may well be dependent on my choice of reading material. I’m currently reading the 5th book in the Malazan series – books that are ideal for e as they’re so bloody heavy in p. This one drags…and though I’m a fair way through, am finding it a slog. While reading it, I have already finished two other p: The Shop of the Mechanical Insects (a short story by Ray Bradbury, Subterranean Press edition) and finally reread and finished The Shadow of the Wind (by Zafon, Subterranean Press edition) and am halfway through Amberjack (by Terry Dowling, Subterranean Press) and a few stories in to The Complete Martian Chronicles (by Ray Bradbury, Subterranean Press), with another unfinished e: Spook Country by William Gibson which I’m also finding slow. I think this simply proves that while I am loving the convenience of e, it is not changing my reading habits greatly. I am determined to finish Malazan no. 5 as the first 4 have been impressive, and I am looking forward to continuing with the series, challenging they be.

I seem to have acquired quite a few books by Subterranean Press of late, a smallish press specialising in SF&F. I like their approach and their bindings and will continue to buy their stock. I find them nice to hold and a pleasure to read. Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles was an unexpected score. I had been eyeing it for a long time and ultimately decided, now that I am with mortgage, that I needed to stop buying expensive books. So I passed on it and it sold out quickly early in the year. A second opportunity arose around my birthday as they had kept a few in case of damages. I could not say no, and made it a birthday present to me. It is beautiful and I have no regrets.

I have a single bookcase devoted to special books. it is full of gems like the Subterranean Press editions, Don Quixote, and Lord of the Rings; Folio editions and Folio Society.

Curiously I have read articles of late that suggest that folk with ereaders are less likely to go into a print store, or at least p stores have lost some of their shine. I don’t think that is true for me, or at least my approach to e seems to be following similar paths to p. For years now, as I have documented here, I go into p stores and discover new things to fascinate and often I resist the urge to buy but save the ISBN for later recollection; feeding it into booko, looking for the best deal. I find out about books from many sources: gleebook newsletters, blogs and tweets, conversational mentions,  casual browsing of p, amazon recommendations and odd references here and there. Packages used to arrive regularly from places afar: abebooks, book depository and amazon of course (less regular packages not due to buying e but simply that I’m restraining my buying urges). The advent of e doesn’t seem to have changed my book finding habits. Finding interesting stuff, stuff I don’t otherwise come across, seems easier online than off. The exception currently is Australiana, where I am dependent on browsing p physically. Whether it’s e or p, I am tending to buy online and I think it is increasingly the case that my spend at the physical bricks & mortar is decreasing.

My choice of e or p is content dependent; my purchasing source is more and more online regardless of format.