Ron Radosh

June 12th, 2009 11:54 am

Vacation with a Kindle

It’s that time of year. At least it is for me. I’m leaving on a week and a half vacation, along with my Kindle—and yes, my wife. So I won’t be blogging for that time. The only internet access I’ll have is very slow band and limited, enough, hopefully, to retrieve e-mail. So I will resume sometime around June 27^th, or possibly once or twice before.

For those of you in the Los Angeles area, Allis and I will be speaking on June 24^th at the David Horowitz Freedom Center evening reception. The details may be found here . I hope some of you can. We will be talking about our new book, A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel. I trust there will be a good discussion, and I’m certain those of you who read my blog and are around L.A. will add to it.

Some thoughts on the Kindle, a relatively new purchase for me. The pros: no packing of heavy books when on vacation! I have bought four books I want to read. I already started one of them, and find that it is as easy to find oneself fully immersed in the book content as it is when reading an actual hardcover book. You can mark passages you wish to return to, and makes notes. Some people have complained that you never know how far along you are in the book. Because you can vary typeface, there are no page numbers. But you can find a line on the bottom indicating the percentage of the book you have gone through. The other big pro, of course, is that if your book storage situation at home is at the time of no more room for growth, as is mine, this is a saving grace. I no longer have to worry about trying to fit in more bookcases.

When we moved two years ago, I got rid of 600 books- yes 600- and now have almost that many more that I have bought in those two years. Now the cons: It is potentially bad for authors. We are now in the process of a book tour that will extend over the summer and fall months. If everyone buys books on the Kindle, it means that there will be no more book signings, and even worse, no more bookstores! Even though most of us probably buy our books online, it is nice to see what’s out there and look at the books in a store before deciding what to purchase. Most indie bookstores are already disappearing; soon the chains will be gone. If you have recently gone into a Borders, you know immediately that they are on the verge of bankruptcy. There iare hardly any books in the store, especially when you compare what they have in stock to B and N, which somehow seems to be packed every time I enter one.

I don’t know what the answer is, and I hope the book industry figures out a way to adjust. Anyway, adieu for now. I look forward to some good r and r, and some good Kindling.

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4 Comments

1. David Thomson:

“…it is nice to see what’s out there and look at the books in a store before deciding what to purchase.”

Oh wow, I strongly disagree. Amazon.com’s website is very useful to learn about books. As matter of fact, I am stunned that you might think otherwise. A brick and mortar store cannot even begin to compete. Amazon’s customer reviews alone can be most helpful. This Internet bookseller often allows you to read excerpts from the book. It also provides recommendations of other similar works.

I own roughly 3,000 books—and sometimes I am tempted to envy the functionally illiterate. They don’t have any worries concerning where to put all their books and other publications. God obviously loves them more than me.

David Horowitz is a good man—but he has got to overcome his white guilt. Strongly advise him to imagine Barack Obama as just another white dude. Hope you and your wife enjoy the vacation. See you in about two weeks.

Jun 12, 2009 - 12:30 pm 2. David Levavi:

The publishing industry needs to study what recently occurred in the music industry, decide how a book and a disc differ as artifact and be guided accordingly.

For authors and book publishers, the paramount issue is copyright and its protection. Unauthorized copying of books no longer requires a printing press.

Book publishers are accustomed to selling individual books and promoting individual authors and imprints. The time has come for publishers to unite in an effort to flog their core product. Not a specific book by a specific author but the generic artifact itself.

Before Christmas, we need to see an ad campaign promoting a book as the perfect gift. Elegant, enlightening, entertaining, informative, decorative, permanently useful.

(If she cooks and likes Mexican food, surprise her with a Mexican cookbook. She can’t miss the thought went into it or not appreciate it as a special gift just for her. Etc, etc.)

Needless to say, publishers haven’t the imagination to do any such thing. If ebooks are destined replace quarto-bound printed text, the death of the traditional book will have been hastened, not delayed, by modern publishers. Editorial standards in American book publishing have never been so low.

But this is all closing the stable door after the horses are gone. American book publishing is in the hands of Germans.

Jun 13, 2009 - 12:00 pm 3. Jack Okie:

David:

I agree that the Amazon reviews are very helpful. I had to buy some new technology books recently and the reviews were invaluable.

There is a wonderful book store here in OKC called Full Circle. It has nooks and crannies where one can (literally, in my case) stumble across a section devoted to Oklahoma, etc. The area dedicated to politics seems very even handed and very well stocked They seem to be prosperous, but I have no idea how they are really doing. The difference for me is that I can walk around the bookstore and be introduced to things I wouldn’t have thought to look for on Amazon. I tend to buy my fiction from Full Circle, even if it must be ordered, because I’d hate to see them disappear.

I have mixed feelings about the demise of the printed book. Maybe print-on-demand will give us the best of both worlds

Jun 24, 2009 - 1:08 pm 4. Confused in Virginia:

Ebooks have already been around for a few years, even before the Kindle. As you said, ebooks have their advantages and disadvantages. I started reading ebooks when I was attending school, and have a fair number of ebooks. It is definitely much easier for me to read on my laptop, or on my smartphone. It does not, however, replace the feel of holding a printed book, or have the ease of allowing a friend to borrow the book in case she likes it and buys one for herself.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I started buying series of books that my child would read as he got older, including Sesame Street, Disney, Discovery Science, Harry Potter, etc. I would read the books to him, while allowing him to read along.

I have done the same with my other three children, and they all have whole collections of books that I hope, in time, they will give to their children. It is not surprising then that they all love reading.

While reading is an individual thing for the most part, swapping books, loaning out books, and having printed books that remind you of a time past are things that ebooks cannot replace. Yes, ebooks have their advantages, and books in general (in any form) can transport you to places that exist in the imagination of the author. But can ebooks transport you to a time long gone when you snuggled with a parent, a child, a sibling, or a best friend, each of you holding part of the book as you were both transported to the world created by the author? I think not.

Maybe this is something that the book industry should use in promoting printed books. They should also come up with discounted prices for the ebooks as there are no printing costs. Of course I expect my cut of the profits if the idea works.

Jun 24, 2009 - 11:27 pm