You Can Bring a Luddite to an Ebook …

This week I finally popped my digital cherry as it were. Last month, for my birthday, I got a Kindle. Now, after working through my print book backlog, I’m reading my first ebook (Stacia Kane’s Unholy Ghosts).

This morning, while over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books I came across this little monument to luddite-ness.

The reading public in private is lazy and smutty. E-readers hide the material. Erotica sells well. My own downmarket literary fetish is male-oriented historical fiction (histfic). Swords and sails stuff. I’m happier reading it on an e-reader, and keeping shelf space for books that proclaim my cleverness.

Ah, so basically, the only reason people use ereaders is to hide the fact that they aren’t reading the classics? Okie-dokie.

My experience with my new gadget would suggest otherwise….

After reading the equivalent of 200 pages, I’ve found that it’s a lot easier to read on a Kindle. The device is very light and it stays open to the page I’m reading without folding, spindling or mutilating, which makes for virtually hands-free reading. This weekend, I propped it up against my teacup while having breakfast. Turning the page is a snap, or rather a quick touch to the screen. The text can be adjusted and made larger for those with vision problems. The device allows you to mark favorite passages and make notes on them, as well as bookmark pages. (Probably a useful function for reviewers, or someone who is writing a book report.)

Even before getting my ereader, I had several ebooks on my computer, including some on Kindle for PC. I tried to read them, but the experience was miserable on the computer screen. I can read articles and blog posts on the computer, but an entire book? Ugh. I may as well look directly into the sun.

The screen on the Kindle (Kindle Touch, anyway) doesn’t emit any glare and looks pretty much like print. I have some carpal tunnel in my right wrist, so the lightness and ease of use, even over a paperback, is fabulous.

Will I abandon reading print? Hell, no! First, because most of my books come from the library, and the ebook section doesn’t have all the titles I want. Also, because many of the big publishers charge too fucking much for an ebook. As an author, I understand the value of a book, but an ebook, with its ease of distribution, shouldn’t cost the same or more than the print version.

For those books that are keepers, I will buy a print copy if available, because, yeah, I like seeing my favorites on my bookshelves.  I’ll still be reading print books, but compared to a heavy and awkward, hardcover book, my Kindle is a breeze to read.

Genre fiction is selling well in ebook format because … genre fiction sells well in all formats. So, uh, suck it, luddites.

But It’s a Dry Heat