She starts off by saying that adults read far less books than what they used to, which is quite true. Whenever I’m on the train or bus, I watch people, and very few of them read books.
They sleep (or least rest their eyes), they sit staring into space, read the newspaper, play games on their phones, or sent and read texts.
There are still those who read books of course, but they do so on an iPad, Kindle, Kobo or their cellphone. I see very few people with a real book.
For the longest time I agreed with Robin, and up to a point I still do, there’s nothing like reading a real book. The touch, the weight, the smell … it’s all part of that magical experience.
But an electronic reader has its perks too. For one, electronic books are cheaper. I’m not talking about the free books or the 99 cent books, I mean regular books. Just the other day I downloaded “If you were me” by Sheila O’Flanagan. In the bookstore this book costs $22.99, as an e-book the reader only pays $9.85.
Another perk is that an electronic reader is very light. This is good news for people who take their reading material with them, in their hand or shoulder bag. A romance novel of 195 pages might not be much of a problem, but a 700 page novel (like the kind Penny Vincenzi and Jilly Cooper writes) weighs between 2.2 and 2.5 pounds and that can become a problem. Not only does the weight of the book cause damage to the leather straps of a handbag, it can also cause injury to shoulders and back muscles.
Many of the authors Robin listed in her blog I like too, with the exception of John Grisham and Danielle Steel. I used to like John Grisham, until I read his latest book “Gray Mountain” and that was just awful. As for Danielle Steel … there are no words to express my disgust for that woman. I actually threw one of her books across the room (which was a first for me). Later on I picked it up, threw it in the bin (which was also a first as I’m usually very respectful of books) and never touched one of her “works” again.
Authors do I like: (in no particular order)
Sheila O’Flanagan – Erica James – Penny Vincenzi – Lesley Pearce – Joy Fielding – Jilly Cooper – Karen Swan – Anita Burgh – Marian Keyes - Dan Brown – David Baldacci, and a few others.