Read An Ebook Week

If you don't read ebooks yet, don't you think it's about time to give in. We all love our print books, the library, the comforting scent of paper books and the feel of written and bound prose in our hands.  But if you own an ereader, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, or any other, chances are you love it too.  It's lightweight.  It holds hundreds of books and you add books to it within seconds.  You can find backlisted books by your favorite authors and discover new writers at bargain prices.

There have been ebooks nearly as long as we've had access to personal computers.  And now you can read books on your phone, laptop, tablet or other electronic devices.  To celebrate the ebook, this entire week is set aside to honor the invention and growing love of the ebook.  So from today, March 4th through the 10th, read some ebooks. Buy some ebooks. Share some ebooks.  Tell someone about ebooks.

The publisher of my romance novels, New Concepts Publishing, is one of the older, most successful ebook publishers in the field.  I love working with them. Check out their website. They've published at least one of my books every year for the last five years.  I hope to have a new series with them before the end of the year.

Do you read ebooks? What type of reader do you use? Do you think you would be delighted with ebooks five years ago or are you a new convert?

What It Means

My local Borders lingers still.  It has a few shelves of books.  The adult fiction section would fit in my living room.  I often do some shopping in the center where the store is located so I go in and check it out.  And then I walk out empty-handed.  The best buy I've found in the last few weeks of its slow demise is the stack of AP study guides my daughter needs for her current high school classes.  The store is filled with cheap, but still over-priced, towels and other things that have never belonged in a bookstore.

I miss sitting the cafe and if it was still open, I would  likely be writing this blog post there with an iced latte sharing the table with me along with a stack of books I was considering purchasing.  Instead, I've visited my local library on a more regular basis.  Nearly every two weeks I stop in and see what new releases they have and prowl the aisles in search of new authors.  Their fantasy/scifi offerings are limited and they seldom updated but I've discovered some mystery/thriller writers I've quite come to enjoy like CJ Box and Jonathan Kellerman.  Of course the library doesn't carry their earlier books so I've turned to online sellers.

My husband bought me a Kobo eReader for Christmas last year and I was thrilled with it though I often wish I'd asked him for a Kindle instead.  But it's easy to purchase books on and I like reading on it.  So I'm still buying books and spending less gas to do so.  I make a lot of ice coffee at home and do nearly all my writing at my own desk. 

So though Borders is gone, I'm not reading less though I've bought no physical books for my own reading pleasure in the past few weeks.  I'm probably going to buy the next Preston and Childs book tomorrow to read at lunch at work this week.  I'm over my sadness at the end of Borders and only worry that I've adjusted so well.  If all brick and mortar stores go extinct, will I get over it so quickly?  Will you?  Do you see the end in sight?

Overload of Fun

What a Christmas! Lots of time with loved ones, new games to play and more food than could be good for anyone.  Today is leftover day for all meals so I'm going to be having fun catching up with my blog friends and figuring out my Kobo.
That's right.  My husband purchased an eReader for me.  I didn't give him any demands for type but he knew I wanted one.  I bought my daughter a Nook and my son a Kindle so somewhere down the road I should be able to give a good comparison between the three styles of readers.
What am I doing with it?  Buying books.  Today I bought The Limehouse Text by Will Thomas and tomorrow I'm buying Follow the Stars home by Cate Masters.  Join me here on my blog tomorrow and meet Cate.  She's one terrific writer.
I hope lots of you received your own eReaders and some gift cards for books.  It's a great time to purchase books from those wonderful authors who write for smaller publishers.  Often their books are not sold in the large chain bookstores but you can usually buy them from the company's ebook store or a place like Fictionwise.  I like supporting those small publishers who were willing to take a chance on a new author or a story that didn't fit comfortably into any of the big pubs lines.  This entire week I'll be bringing you interviews from some of those authors.  I'll hope you'll visit and decide to fill your new eReader with some great books.
Did you get or give an eReader for Christmas?  What kind? Where do you purchase your ebooks from?