New toys can indeed be dangerous - to the budget, if nothing else. In preparation
for some travels later this spring, I finally succumbed to the lure of the e-reader. The gizmo arrived last week, and
after charging it up, I've been playing with it off and on. The idea of carrying only the one gadget (instead of half
a suitcase full of paper) is quite appealing.
Having what Charlotte MacLeod once described as a "two book a day habit," ensuriing an adequate supply
of reading material for my travels has been a perennial issue for me. In case you've never had to pack large numbers
of books, you need to know that paper is heavy! Being able to carry one small, comparatively
lightweight gadget that includes the texts of bunches of favorite books just makes sense to me.
The potential problem here is that I have a habit of re-reading favorite books by certain authors,
and it would be extremely easy for me to blow a month's rent money on e-texts. Fortunately (I think), many "classic"
texts (i.e., things that are old enough to be out of copyright protection) are available to download for no cost, or for a
very low cost.
What I've downloaded thus far includes Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, a compilation of
the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, and a collection of
P. G. Wodehouse's tales. These are some of the texts that have been on my "reread shelf" for years, old favorites that
give me great pleasure even though I've read each of them an uncounted number of times.
As time goes on, it's quite likely that additional works by certain authors will be added - especially
those authors who are still producing new works. Since shelf space is getting somewhat crowded at AuntyNin's Place,
it'll be nice to be able to read the new releases without having to find a place to store another hunk of paper.
Babysteps into the modern era . . .
