My last 5 reads

I’ve written my share of book reviews in my time, but what can make e-reading just that tiny bit more frustrating sometimes is that a book choice isn’t just about the content of the book per se but in its accessibility. If I want to read on my eBookwise, which is my most comfortable reading option as far as user experience goes, then I am restricted in which titles are available to me, both by the actual offerings at the one and only on-line store which caters to this format, and by my desire to avoid restricted titles which can’t be read on other machines. If I choose to go with an eReader book, I do get much wider choice, but then it is NOT compatible with the eBookwise! The sad news is that as I have branched away a little from the Project Gutenberg freebies and started to want to read modern stuff too, I have been increasingly less satisfied with the restrictions eBookwise places on their paying customers, and I think that I will not be buying any
further titles for reading on this device. The price of their overly restrictive DRM will be me as a customer! The good news is that the iPod Touch does open up some other options for me, and I am looking forward to e-reading up a storm.

So, what’s on my bookshelf these days, e and otherwise?

1. The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan (e-book purchased from Fictionwise). This to me is the perfect sort of book for e-reading. It’s current enough that I want to read it, but not timeless enough that I want to keep it in my house forever. Being a paperback, it’s also inexpensive enough that if it attracts my attention, they can get me on an impulse buy at the right price: if this were hardcover only, I would wait for it at the library. The real advantage of E is that unlike a print version, the e-copy is fairly painless to keep. So what would otherwise go back to the used bookstore for maybe a dollar return on what I paid can now be kept on my computer for later reading should I wish to revisit it sometime.

1. Call of the Mall by Paco Underhill (e-book purchased from Fictionwise). This is another one that was a better e-choice for me because it’s obscure enough to not be readily available at my local bricks and mortar store, but not so obscure that it isn’t out there in E. I read the previous book by this guy and loved it. I had been wanting to read this sequel, but never seemed to find it at the store. So when I saw an e-version, I went for it, now that I have a device on which I can once again read in this widely used format.
2. What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn (print book purchased from used bookstore). This is an award-winner which caught my eye at the used bookstore. It’s normally the kind of thing I would buy second-hand, read and then sell back to them because I lack the space to store a million books in my house and can only keep my die-hard favourites. Intrigued by the idea of putting my money into the e-version instead and maybe being able to enjoy it without worrying about the space on my shelf, I came home and looked for it on Fictionwise. Alas, they did not have it. I went out again a few days later and bought it at the used bookstore for $6. The e-people could totally have had me on this sale. It is the type of book where more and more, it interests me to have it in E. But alas, they did not offer the book!
3. The Vegetarian Five-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlas (print book purchased new from major chain). I’m looking to diversify my stuck-in-a-rut dinner fixings. Cookbooks are one thing I would never buy in E. I like to be able to see the whole page at once. The one exception would be this lady’s back catalogue. I really like her stuff, and have heard mention of a handful of older titles in her oeuvre which are no longer in print. I am loathe to pay a half dozen re-sellers to ship them, separately, to me from who knows where. If there were e-versions of these relics from cookbook days past, I might cave on my ‘no e-cookbooks’ rule.
4. Third World Products, Book 2 by Ed Howdershelt (e-book purchased from Fictionwise). I read the first book in this series, in e-form, at my sister’s earlier this year. She has a Fictionwise account too and it was one of her purchases. I was staying with her for a couple days and poking around on her computer. Speed-reader that I am, I made quick work of it and enjoyed it. This guy seems to be one of those rare authors who is ONLY on-line, and has built up a following in the e-community. I bought Volume 2 on my own at Fictionwise after reading the one my sister had (I know! I am an evil pirate who is going to ruin the publishing industry, right?) I’m enjoying it, but I don’t think I will get the rest from Fictionwise. A little poking on Google netted me an author website where you can buy every title he has for $30, which is much cheaper than buying them one by one. Now, if only he had an eReader option…

So there you have it—what I’m reading right now. Could have had me on two more sales, e-world—if only you had made the books available… (See also: the June installment of my last 5 reads).