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!
Entangled Publishing
Buy Links:
You can find Barbara at
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.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the release of Contract for Marriage!
Oh, good point about the electricity, Cynthia! I might need a few print copies while camping this summer too.
DeleteThanks so much for your congrats!
Welcome to Romance Reader Barbara! I hope you'll enjoy chatting with my friends here!
DeleteHi Cynthia! There's just something about holding the print books,, isn't there?
Congratulations on your book!
ReplyDeleteI 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. :)
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.
DeleteHi Cherie!
DeleteTaking away ten books on vacation compared to one eReader, the choice is obvious!
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!
ReplyDeleteSo 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!
DeleteI 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!
DeleteThanks for coming by!
I love e-books! I check them out of the library often. My Kindle Fire is fab.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Barbara!
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!
DeleteHi Emily,
DeleteI 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!
I read both, and hopefully will keep that up at least until I get through most of my tbr pile.
ReplyDeleteHi Chey!
DeleteI find that authors are finding it easier to send us ebooks now for reviews than print. But I miss the author signed print books!
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!
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!
Hi Shelly,
DeleteSame here! Thanks for coming by!
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.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, someone discussed about eReaders and reading in bath the other day on twitter - and the answer of course was ziplock bags!
DeleteOh, Nas I'd heard that too. Must try it out!
DeleteI'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 :)
ReplyDeleteAnd red wine - cork, cap, or box!
Yes. I'm buying ebooks of different genres and reading now which I would not have done with print.
DeleteThanks Carol for coming along!
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.
DeleteI love e-books!
ReplyDeleteI 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! ;)
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(
DeleteWhat 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.
ReplyDeleteGlad 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!!
ReplyDeleteI'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.
ReplyDeleteHi 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.
ReplyDeleteI'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.
ReplyDeleteHere's to a great new romance. I loved what you posted about wine. Cork is definitely overrated. I love those screw tops!
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI'm not too picky about corks or screw caps.
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,
ReplyDelete