Back To The Bookstore?

Since I got my Amazon Kindle e-reader in March I have been feeling a little guilty about buying most of my new books online.  

I’ve always been a book person, I worked in publishing for a long time and I feel for the way that electronic book publishing and e-reading is impacting the industry. 

I never thought that I would prefer to read on an actual e-reader, I resisted for months as I thought that I would not be a real “book person” without my hardcover first editions.  But this is not the case anymore.  In two months I’ve downloaded 10 novels online and purchased three books in the bookstore (two of them were reference books). 

This weekend I was browsing in a real bookstore and it got me thinking about the benefits of buying and reading books on my Kindle AND buying and reading books at the bookstore: 
The Bookstore

• There are still a few really great independent bookstores.  Ben McNally Books in Toronto is one example.
• You can ask for help from an experienced bookseller who will help you find a book you will love.
• Nothing beats walking around the bookstore and seeing some of the cool/interesting and eye catching covers.
• While walking around you might stumble across a rare find which is not on any bestseller list, but is the best book you’ve ever read.
• Rochelle mentioned to me that she was interested in reading Shania Twain’s new autobiography, but for now you can only buy it in the bookstore in Canada. Not everything is available right away for downloading on the Kindle. 
• I still prefer to buy reference books that I can keep on my desk from the bookstore.

Downloading books on my Kindle e-reader

• When I read about a book that looks good I can sample a chapter right away and see if I like it before buying it.
•  It is less expensive in general to buy books online.  
• I can take my Kindle with me anywhere and if I’m stuck waiting at an appointment I will always have something to read.
• The cover with the light is one of the best inventions ever. I can read while my husband sleeps and the cover makes the Kindle feel like a book.

Conclusion

If you love to read then chances are you will enjoy reading physical books and books on an e-reader. Sadly I will probably continue to buy more books online than in the bookstore and I keep hearing the same thing from others who’ve been using e-readers. The good news is that people are saying that they are reading more books than ever with their e-readers. Hopefully new opportunities will be created for publishers, writers and booksellers who have always struggled in a competitive market. 

Thankfully, one thing is clear – booklovers will always be around.

What's your preference when it comes to reading?

So Many Books So Little Time: My friend Jill's Awesome Reading List

My friend Jill is not just a pretty face. She also loves to read good books. Last night we went for dinner to a great "asian fusion" restaurant called Cravings at Yonge and Lawrence. We were joined by our friend Lisa (aka LK in a previous post).

We discussed a number of important subjects: kids, family, Ottawa gossip (we are all from Ottawa), the benefits of having a built in desk in your kitchen and of course....BOOKS!

Lisa is reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Jill is reading Room by Emma Donoghue which I just loved. When Jill told me that she had a great list of books I asked to see it.  I was impressed and wanted to share. Jill's sister Marni, is also an avid reader and I think some of the picks on the list below are on her list too.

 Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nehmat (heard great things)

Room by Emma Donoghue (Jill is reading this one now, it sure is a popular one!)
Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay
I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey by Izzeldin Abuelaish

My Sister’s  Keeper and Sing You Home by Jodie Picoult
Orange Is The New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison by Piper Kerman
Ten Thousand Lovers by Edeet Ravel
Stone’s from the River by Ursula Hegi
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Lake of Dreams and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Song of Kahunsha by Anosh Irani
The Last Kestrel by Jill McGivering
The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Fall On Your Knees by Anne-Marie MacDonald
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad and Ingrid Christopherson
Now You See Her by Joy Fielding
Sister by Rosamund Lupton
Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Fancy Pants, Lady Be Good and Call Me Irresistable by Susan E. Phillips
The Unexpected Son and The Dowry Bride by Shobhan Bantwal
Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Here's a nice pic I found of Jill and her father

For my friends in South Korea: Please Look After Mom and My Korean Deli

I am obsessed with tracking the "stats" on my blog. I find it  interesting to know  that outside of Canada and USA I have a couple of followers in Hungary (thank you Julia), a couple in the UK (thank you cousins),  a few other random places (Singapore, Netherlands,Vietnam, Uruguay, Indonesia Italy and New Zealand) where I don't really know anyone, and five that regularly visit from Seoul, South Korea.

I lived and taught English in Seoul, South Korea for one year (2008-2009) and it was a big thrill to go to the foreigners area and visit the English bookstore. Unfortunately I had read most of the new "hot" books because they were out earlier in Canada before I had left the country. This is when  I really developed my deep love of the mass market paperback crime/mystery writers like James Patterson and Lisa Gardner (who I also read in hardcover).

I thought of my friends in South Korea when I  came across this book that I'm really excited to read, the author Kyung-Sook Shin is a bestselling author in Korea.

  

Please Look After Mom is a Korean best-seller and will be published in Canada on April 5. The publisher in Canada is Knopf, in my opinion one of the best publishers of fiction in the world. The book is also listed as one of the "Top 10 Titles to Pick Up Now" in O: The Oprah Magazine, where I first read about it.

The story is set in Korea and examines a families history through the story of the matriarch who mysteriously goes missing from a Seoul train station. You can find out  more about the book at Random House Canada HERE.

And My Korean Deli sounds really good too.

 Here is the publisher's description: 

This sweet and funny tale of a preppy literary editor buying a Brooklyn deli with his Korean in-laws is about family, class, culture clash, and the quest for authentic experiences in an increasingly unreal city.

It starts with a simple gift, when Ben Ryder Howe's wife, the daughter of Korean immigrants, decides to repay her parents' self-sacrifice by buying them a store. Howe, an editor at the rarefied Paris Review, reluctantly agrees to go along. However, things soon become a lot more complicated. After the business struggles, Howe finds himself living in the basement of his in-laws' Staten Island home, commuting to the Paris Review offices in George Plimpton's Upper East Side townhouse by day, and heading to Brooklyn at night to slice cold cuts and peddle lottery tickets. The book follows the store's tumultuous lifespan, and along the way paints the portrait of an extremely unlikely partnership between characters across society, from the Brooklyn ghetto to Seoul to Puritan New England. Owning the deli becomes a transformative experience for everyone involved as they struggle to salvage the original gift — and the family — while sorting out issues of values, work and identity.

What’s On Ro’s Reader?

My friend Ro is another book loving blogger. She recently wrote an article on some of the books that she enjoyed reading on her new Kindle.

Take a look at Ro’s recommends on her blog Rochelle * Loves. I’m sure you’ll enjoy! 

What Are You Reading This Week?

Most of my friends have great taste in books (among other things). When we get together one of the first questions that comes up (ok after men, work and the latest gossip) is "what are you reading?” I decided to take a poll and check in with a few of them to find out what noteworthy books they've been enjoying lately.

Stacey in Miami said:

"The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson and I can't put it down.  It is about this porn star/ cocaine addict that crashes his car and becomes severely burned in the crash.  While in the hospital he begins a friendship with this crazy woman.  She is an artist that does sculpture and carving - mostly gargoyles.  She also has an entire "previous life" story that factors into the book.  It is so different than anything that I have read before." 

I just put this one on my list.

Sandra in Toronto is reading Even Silence has An End - My Six Years of Captivity in the Columbian Jungle by Ingrid Betancourt and "loved" Nemesis by Philip Roth.

Another Toronto friend, Lisa is reading Are you there vodka? It's me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler, a book of short, humorous essays. Sounds like the perfect choice for those of us who grew up with Judy Bloom or need that perfect book to go with the vodka at the end of the week.

Robyn in Halifax, one of the best readers I know surprised me when she told me that she was enjoying Open by Andrew Agassi.  Interesting choice! I had totally pegged her as a strictly literary fiction; parenting books and books on childbirth kind of gal (she is a wonderful Doula). 

Andre is still pretty cute...

I love the fact that when I asked everyone what they were reading they offered up multiple titles. Anyone who is a true book fiend knows that it is really hard to narrow it down to one!

Thanks to all for sharing.