Barbara DeLeo with a GIVEAWAY of CONTRACT FOR MARRIAGE!

We have author Barbara DeLeo and she came bearing gifts! So over to Barbara now....

Snuggling up with my e-reader.

 

Before I start talking about my favourite subject (books), I thought I’d say a few words about my second-to favourite subject – wine.

 

By some amazing stroke of luck, I married a winemaker.  Not only does he love all the passion and romance of wine, but he knows that part of his job is to keep me in product. {:o)

 

When he first started making wine in Southern Italy and Hungary, all of his wines were sealed by cork. Ahh, cork, that romantic piece of a tree that sounds so lovely when you pull it out of a bottle. It IS lovely, but did you know it also causes between 10-15% of all wine to be damaged in some way (it’s all about air getting in and funguses and stuff that we don’t really want to get into). ANYWAY, in the late 90s when we were back in New Zealand he started using screw caps on his wine and has done so ever since.  He can now guarantee that when someone opens one of his wines it will be exactly how he made it. It wasn’t a popular move at first, in fact it took a LONG time for people to get used to. What about the romance of popping a cork, they said.  What will happen to that?  His answer? There’s not a whole lot that’s romantic about saving a bottle for a special occasion and then to have it ruined by cork taint. Now, almost all New Zealand white wine and much of the red wine is sealed with a screw cap.

 

So, I know what you’re thinking, what has this got to do with snuggling up with my e-reader? Well, I guess I could be accused of being a little like those cork lovers. There’s so much that’s comfortable about a printed book; the feel of the pages between your fingers, the smell of an old cover, the fact that you can store and display them like pieces of art.  It took me a long time to become part of the e-book revolution but now I love it.

 

On our recent overseas trip, each of my daughters read twenty books on their e-Readers. There’s no way we could have taken that many printed books with us. The instant gratification of seeing a book and instantly downloading it is great too. I’ve definitely read a lot more since I’ve had my e-Reader and I’ve discovered a lot of new authors through online bookstore recommendations too. I haven’t given up on printed books completely, though. I still love my cookbooks and my photography books to be printed and bound.

 

What do you think about e-books? Were you slow to try them like me? Do you still like a mixture of both? I’d love to hear your views and to celebrate my release, I have an e-copy of Contract for Marriage to give away to one commenter! 
 
 
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Entangled Publishing

Buy Links:

Amazon       Amazon UK      B & N
You can find Barbara at
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33 comments:

  1. I love my e-reader, but I can't give up print books, either. We recently lost electricity for a few days and I was very happy to have my print books, especially after my e-reader ran out of battery juice.

    Congratulations on the release of Contract for Marriage!

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    1. Oh, good point about the electricity, Cynthia! I might need a few print copies while camping this summer too.

      Thanks so much for your congrats!

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    2. Welcome to Romance Reader Barbara! I hope you'll enjoy chatting with my friends here!


      Hi Cynthia! There's just something about holding the print books,, isn't there?

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  2. Congratulations on your book!

    I read almost exclusively ebooks now. I do love print books on my shelves, but I wish I had them all as ebooks too. I just love the convenience of ebooks. :)

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    1. Convenience is such a biggie for me, too, Cherie. E-readers are small enough to fit into my handbag, unlike some of those great big paperbacks that seems to be around at the mo.

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    2. Hi Cherie!

      Taking away ten books on vacation compared to one eReader, the choice is obvious!

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  3. My family bought me a kindle for my birthday a couple of years ago and I love it! I didn't think I would use it much at first - just for travelling - but I use it a lot more than that!

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    1. So lovely to see you, Jemi. What a great present from your family! We just gave our two house sitters one each as a thank you. They're college students and one has just FBd me to say she finished Contract for Marriage in her Economics lecture this morning...oops!

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    2. I also find that I'm using my kindle more now, Jemi! I use to have so many ebooks on my computer which I was not reading yet now I'm catching up fast!

      Thanks for coming by!

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  4. I love e-books! I check them out of the library often. My Kindle Fire is fab.

    Congrats, Barbara!

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    1. Thanks so much for the congrats and the comment, Emily! Our library has only just got into e-lending so I haven't done it yet. Must check it out!

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    2. Hi Emily,

      I found the advantage with kindle fire was I can check emails or answer Blog comments like now compared to a kindle!

      I just gifted my kindle to a very dear friend of mine!

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  5. I read both, and hopefully will keep that up at least until I get through most of my tbr pile.

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    1. Hi Chey!

      I find that authors are finding it easier to send us ebooks now for reviews than print. But I miss the author signed print books!

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  6. Thanks so much for stopping by, Chey. You've reminded me that another thing I love about my e-Reader is that I can finally see my bedside cabinet. It's been buried under books for years!

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  7. I do love my Kindle for convenience and the space it saves, but I find myself really missing turning an actual page from time to time.

    Congratulations!

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    1. Hi Shelly,

      Same here! Thanks for coming by!

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  8. Hi Shelly, and thanks so much for the congrats! I know what you mean about missing turning the page. I wonder if that feeling will go away? Must say I used to be a great reader in the bath but feel a bit iffy about having my e-Reader near all that water! I guess someone will work a way around that soon.

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    1. Barbara, someone discussed about eReaders and reading in bath the other day on twitter - and the answer of course was ziplock bags!

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    2. Oh, Nas I'd heard that too. Must try it out!

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  9. I've had my e-reader for only a year. And I love it so much. I read more. I read more outside my genre. I read authors I know. I read stories I love. But like you, I still like printed cookbooks :)

    And red wine - cork, cap, or box!

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    1. Yes. I'm buying ebooks of different genres and reading now which I would not have done with print.

      Thanks Carol for coming along!

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    2. Thanks so much for popping in, Carol. I love all the recommendations I get from online stores too. There's always another book to try out, another author to discover.

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  10. I love e-books!
    I just bought my own Kindle e-reader a couple months ago and it worth every penny! :D But I have to admit I still have soft spot for printed books, especially the ones with gorgeous covers! ;)

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    1. I totally agree about the covers of print books, Aline. I don't know about where you're from but here in New Zealand we're looking at $25-$35 for a printed novel and that means I don't get to own nearly as many of those beautiful covers as I'd like to {:o(

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  11. What a wonderful analogy! Sometimes I'm such a traditionalist that I forget the good reasons for change. Downloaded my first ebook a couple of days ago - on my phone! - and it actually hasn't been the worst reading experience, yet.

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  12. Glad you liked the analogy, Deniz. There's actually quite a lot that's similar about my husband's and my career-the creativity, the romance. Yay for your first e-book!!

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  13. I'm still about 50/50 with e-books and traditional books. My writing craft and photography books have to be the real deal, especially since I read e-books with my iPod Touch.

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  14. Hi Stina! I haven't read books on a Touch but my DH swears by it. He said it took a couple of days to get used to but now he often uses the Touch rather than the Kindle. I think I still prefer my writing craft books in paperback, too, although the last couple I bought were E and I found flicking back and forth to the index etc really easy.

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  15. I'm a mixed reader. I find that I pack my Kindle when I'm going on a trip, but I often pick up a book when I'm home and ready to read in a comfy chair.

    Here's to a great new romance. I loved what you posted about wine. Cork is definitely overrated. I love those screw tops!

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  16. Hi cleemckenzie! How lucky are we to have such choice? I was looking at my kids' bookshelves yesterday and thinking that although I love to see the interactive picture books on the iPad, I can't imagine a time when traditional books won't still be read to kids. It's lovely to have you here on my birthday. {:o) My husband has brought home a bottle of his champagne (no cork there either!) so we'll be celebrating tonight.

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  17. I remember as a kid my luggage was heavy with books. It's so much more convenient to travel with an ereader. I still read print books, but I find myself grabbing my iPad or Kindle first.

    I'm not too picky about corks or screw caps.

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  18. Hi Medeia, lovely to see you here. I think I really fell in love with my eReader when we were travelling. I also love that my eReader is small enough for my handbag so I can read almost any place. Thanks so much for your comment,

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