The new reality of me being crazy busy continues, so don't expect me to be posting regulalry as I have in the (now distant) past. The current pace that you see here is going to continue for the forseeable future - rarely more than 1 post a week, often even less, with about 1-2 review a month. I had hoped to finish Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon) by now and get a review up before I leave for a week at the beach, but that's not going to happen. So, I expect it'll be at least 2 weeks before that review is posted (I have another work trip immediately after my return from the beach). And I still need to write a review for Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon).
In other news you probably don't care about, I've finally reached the realization that my current book situation is totally unsustainable - my book cases are literally overflowing and I have dozens of stacks of books (each with at least a dozen books) piling up around the office. Next month I'm planning a major purge and at some point in the near-ish future I plan to get an e-reader of some sort (I'm still uncertain what type - but I hate DRM and don't want to be married to one brand of book seller). That way I should be able to better manage the books I receive and I may even discover the floor of my office again.
And one final thing before I get to the usual filler picture of books I've received. Everyone one of us SFF fans should be loudly trumpeting the landing of the Curiosity Rover on Mars. Actually, pretty much every person. It is an awesome achievement and I have big hopes that it can inspire a new generation of the value and excitement of science and scientific discovery. It's much more than just a robot on another planet and I really wish the media were competent enough to do it justice. Also, did you realize that this is the first time we've actually gotten a true color picture on Mars - in the past they've all been false-color approximations based on assumed physics.
Anyway....
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| Books Received: July 18 - August 9, 2012 |
5 comments:
I know this kind of situation very well. There are often times when I post just one post per week. And time for reading and reviewing shrinks to a minimum.
I learned that to complain is not helpful.
Accept the reality, be creative and enjoy the available time.
Our flat is stuffed with books. Fortunately I have an e-Reader - SONY PRS-T1 since Christmas 2011. My wife and I own more than 200 digital copies and the number is increasing day by day.
I buy digital books at Amazon but do not own a Kindle. In fact I buy digital books wherever I want.
There is an excellent free software for converting books called CALIBRE. And when you look around in the web you find plugins which cover the DRM software.
That means you have the choice which reader you want to buy and use.
There is no reason to be married to one brand of book seller.
Man, do you need an e-book reader of some kind. Wouldn't it be easier if the publishers could just upload e-books to a folder on an e-read, instead of sending you piles of books? Of course, it might be daunting to look at your e-reader and see that you have 247 new books ready to read. :D
I am thinking of getting an e-reader too. I am sort of leaning towards Nook -- yeah, it is B&N, but you can get books from other places with it too. Not set in stone yet, still looking around. For now, reading on my phone (not as annoying as i thought it was going to be). :)
Mobile Read forums are a terrific resource when you're trying to decide what ereader to buy. Like ediFanoB, I also have a Sony - mine is a little PRS-350 which I love. Try CowBoom to get one cheap. I also use Calibre, which works very well. Have fun!
I'm going to second the recommendation for Calibre. It is brilliant for managing you e-library and, with a plugin, can strip DRM from books.
I have a kindle. Which is just great, and I love it, but not everything I want to read is available for the kindle, Calibre lets me convert from one format to another.
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