Hard to read in bed

I love books. Duh. Who doesn’t, right? I may even love books more than I do reading. In this house there are thirteen bookcases on three floors. I would say four to five times a day one could find me perusing through one of these bookcases just skimming titles and occasionally opening a book on just about any subject and reading a page or two. Sometimes I’ll sit down and spend an hour reading through subjects that catch my interest. But, most of the time I’ll just while away thinking about the books; trying to imagine where the idea for this or that story sparked from, making up scenes in my head of the writing process of whatever author the book was borne of, whether I know anything about the writer, or not.

The hardest thing for me to do is give up a book. I’ve dragged countless pounds of books from home to home for the last twenty years and maybe I’ve thrown out or given away a quarter of my original collection. And, I’m loath to give away anymore. I actually get anxious sometimes when I’m looking for a certain volume and can’t find it. My mind goes into a panic: did I throw it out? Did I give it away? Did I loan it to someone? Usually, it’s in some box somewhere, but I never rest until the mystery gets solved and if I don’t find what I’m looking for, I jump in the car and beeline it to whatever bookstore is available and buy it. I’m never back to normal until I have whatever I was looking for in my paws.

Thus, I’ve been slow to the e-book thing. I was just never willing to commit. To me it meant another device hanging around, a betrayal to my beloved print books and in general it just seemed like sacrilege. But, then it became time to publish 5 Tales and I couldn’t deny the allure of being able to proofread, edit, design and bring to market a book within a few weeks. And, then of course, I needed to proof it on all the various platforms. In other words, I was going to have to at least read my own book on a device.

Now, my favorite place to read is in bed and when you prefer epic tomes to quickie novels as I do, the books get very big and very cumbersome in bed. At times this has become a sore point with my very easy-going wife, Amy. Of course, it’s hard to remain easy-going when you’re getting smacked in the head three, or fours times a night when your mate is changing positions and getting comfortable.

Easy to read in bed.

So when 5 Tales came out I first read it on my iPhone. It was a Halleluiah moment. The font size was perfect; the backlighting didn’t annoy Amy anywhere near as much as a bedside reading light and my arms didn’t get tired. Yes, it is somewhat annoying to have to “turn” pages so often but it’s a small price to pay for comfort and readability. It’s also handy because since like most of the world I’m surgically attached to my iPhone, I can read during down time like waiting for the kid at school, waiting in line for coffee, etc.

I have to admit I was short-sighted and stubborn about the whole e-book world and although I still love books and will continue to buy them, it certainly won’t be in the prodigious amounts as I used to, but I’m still buying e-books and thus supporting the literary community and I guess that’s something.