old friends..

If you haven’t yet read Nicholson Baker’s article, “A New Page” in the August 3, 2009 issue of The New Yorker, go and read. I’ll wait. I’d love if you read it in the print edition, but if you must resort to an electronic version, you can actually see some photos at this version.

What did you think? I’ve not read on a Kindle and I’ve only read a few lines on a Sony Reader, but I agree. I care a good deal about how my books are laid out. I’m a little embarrassed to admit the joy I experience in finding all the little drawings and extras found within the pages of The New Yorker that just aren’t found in the electronic versions I’ve seen. I agree with Baker. While I see many benefits I could earn from owning a easily portable electronic book reader, I don’t yet see a (sorry for this) tipping point to make me rush out and acquire one. I can’t deny I haven’t come close. But I think it in this current e-reader incarnation any of these devices would probably end up sitting as my Palm III did, unused. One of the main reasons I think E went ahead and purchased his dual monitors when he did is we constantly had to change the contrast of his monitor back and forth. He likes what I term a “Palm III” grey-scale monitor (in my opinion) and I prefer whiter backgrounds (though I do not like a pure snow white/black contrast).

I take great joy in reading books that I can touch and enjoy (even if they are a library book that makes me happy I am unable to smell well). I’m now a partial fan of audio books. I will listen to books I’ve read before and be happy that I can also clean, cook, sew, spin fibre, knit-more-easily while listening and enjoying an old friend. I’ve used them as a catalyst to get me started to read a book I’ve been meaning to read for years and just haven’t: the most noted success being Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

This past week was a difficult one. Summer humidity, the nine days, and something I wanted was postponed and focusing on reading just didn’t happen. If I thought my reading was scattered two weeks ago, last week I added at least three to five more to my list. The one that was finished is an audio book and a very good friend.

Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott is the follow-up to Eight Cousins, and both are books I enjoy rereading. As I haven’t been able to find my copy of Rose in Bloom for years, I was delighted to discover that the NYPL had an mp3 available.

Woah. I did not remember many of the details of this novel and was both delighted and horrified to make this discovery. While I still enjoyed the book considerably, I found it interesting that in the time from my last reading, my brain had written a completely different story in parts that it tried to construct as fact and was shocked to hear certain scenes go another way.

I think now I can finally disclose one of the things I’ve been holding out on. In answer now to the question I’m sure several are thinking: No. I am not.

So what is it?

We bought a house today.

• Category: books