Reading regrets

Whenever I am asked to list my hobbies, or interests, I typically include "reading" on the list. I mean, I like to read. At least I think I do. I don't recall an instance when I sat back, cracked open a book and had a miserable time reading it. However, earlier this year I started inputting the books I read into a Facebook application that lets you review and recommend books - and I immediately realized that my list was very short for someone who claims to enjoy reading.

After scanning my bookshelf for awhile, and brainstorming for awhile, I realized that most of the books I own are not real books. I mostly seem to purchase informational, or reference type, books related to computer stuff, poker, home improvement, or investing. While these types of books are valuable to me, reading a reference book is not the same as reading a good biography.

When I trimmed my book list down to the real books that I have read - the list was shockingly short. Coincidentally (or not so much so), a significant number of the real books I read this year. It was at this point that I realized I have done myself a great disservice by not reading more for the first 32 and a half years of my life.

I should point out that I do indeed spend large portions of my day reading. But most of my reading comes from internet forums, blogs, news sites, etc. Regardless, nothing really compares to reading a dynamic, well-written biography, memoir or narrative history book.

I admit that I am not a big fan of fiction. While I do enjoy and occasional work of fiction, I feel like I am using up valuable reading time that I could be spending on a book that would have more meaning to me. So for now, I tend to fulfill any of my fiction cravings with movies (although I probably average less than 6 movies per year).

Call them goals, resolutions, or whatever - but one of mine in 2009 is to read more real books!

PBS Update

Just a quick update on the web site PaperBackSwap.com...

 

I initially listed, and mailed off, around 15 of my books that I was no longer interested in keeping.  This gained me an equivalent amount of "book credits" to spend on book that I wanted to request from other members.  The problem was that none of the "good books" were available and had very long waiting lists.  I was a bit put off because I unknowingly listed some of my very "good" books, which got snatched up immediately.  Apparently, in order to actually receive a book that was a best seller in the past 10 years, you need to be very patient (to the tune of 6 to 12 months it seems).  Considering the only best sellers that people actually seem to list are from people like me who are new to the site and don't know any better.

 

Of course I have since added more books to my request list and have received about 6 or 7 to date.  These are books that are older best sellers, or simply useful guide type books that are 5+ years from their copyright date.  To be fair, I am satisfied with the site - though not enough to push it on anyone.

 

Here's the problem with PaperBackSwap.com (though none of the member community will admit it)... their self-made book economy is flawed because they allow the purchase of book credits.  I firmly believe that without the option to purchase credits, the site would work wonderfully.  Instead, anyone can purchase a book credit for very cheap (around $3).  This means that you can sign up as a new member and put hundreds of nice hardback best sellers on your wish list, and wait.  When your name comes up and the book is available it will hold the book for you while you purchase a cheap book credit, then let you complete the request.  So you can basically end up getting the best book on the site, without having to list a single book of your own.

 

The problem this creates is an enormous balance skew of demand vs. supply.  There is a huge demand for the books that are in least supply.  If there was no option to purchase book credits, then the only way that people could generate a credit would be when another member requests a book that you have listed.  This would maintain a balance of supply vs. demand since you basically receive no credits unless you list books that there is at least some demand for.

 

I understand that the creators of the site need to make money to keep the site going.  However, by selling book credits they have put the site into a tailspin that is probably irreversible.  Despite this fact, the site has been around quite awhile.  Although I do not know when they stated selling book credits.  While PBS is the biggest site of this type currently out there, others exist and they seem to be growing pretty fast.  The problem for me is that I already dumped most of my expendable books.  Guess I'll have to hit the yard sales this spring!

I just realized I have to dust...

Apparently the cleaning crew at my office doesn't dust.  I suppose that deep down I knew this already, but it didn't consciously occur to me until I started cleaning up my office for the 2nd time in 2.5 years.  Apparently they do vacuum though, which leads me to my proposed solution below. 

 

I know you aren't supposed to use those fluffy dusters-on-a-stick because they mostly just deploy the dust particles into the air, only to re-settle a few minutes later.  However, statistically, if I repeatedly dust off the elevated surfaces, I will be dust free (or close enough).  This works for the same reason that road debris ends up on the shoulder or in between two lanes.  Cars basically keep hitting it until it lands in a spot that is out of the way. 

 

The same goes for the dust.  I will continuously dust it off of the elevated surfaces and let it re-settle.  However, each time some of the dust will re-settle on the elevated surfaces and some will fall to the floor.  The more I do this the closer I will get to 0 dust particles on the elevated surfaces.  I suspect, however, that this is asymptotic and I will never reach zero.  But it doesn't really matter because "close" is definitely good enough in this case.

 

 

My Kindle Quest

The Amazon Kindle is an "e-reader" that was released about a year ago by Amazon.com.  While there have been many eBook readers offered by various electronics companies in the past, none have caught on quite like the Kindle has.  Since the day I learned about the Kindle I was intrigued.  Now that it has been out for months and I have seen the number of sales and the read all of the positive reviews, I feel inclined to push forward with my plan for purchase justification. 

 

The Kindle uses a relatively new display technology referred to as "e ink".  The display is not backlit like an LCD so that it is much easier on the eyes.  According to all of the reviews, its very cool technology and you can read for hours without getting eye strain like you do when looking at a computer monitor. 

 

There are well over one hundred thousand titles for the Kindle and more being released daily.  In addition to Kindle books you can get various newspaper, magazine, and blog subscriptions.  You can also send PDFs or Word files to your Kindle - which get converted to display on the Kindle.  It has enough built-in memory to store hundreds of books.  Additionally, you can add an SD memory chip (up to 2 GB) to increase its capacity to thousands of books.

 

Perhaps the biggest upside of the Kindle is the free cellular internet access.  You can connect anywhere that you would normally get a Sprint cell signal.  This allows you to connect to the Amazon bookstore and order books for downloading to the Kindle anywhere, anytime.  This service is built into the Kindle and there is no additional monthly fee or anything like that.  You also have access to Wikipedia through the Kindle.

 

Another seemingly neat future of the Kindle is the built in dictionary.  Anytime you see a work that you want to look up you simply scroll up to the line that the word is on and press a button and it shows you the definition.

 

The only two problems I have with it is 1. the price and 2. the availability.  Its nearly $400 and its been on backorder since its release.  The Kindle site says that it currently takes 11 to 13 weeks to receive your Kindle upon placing an order.  Prices on eBay are going for nearly $600 due to the limited supply on Amazon (and presumably needing them before Christmas)

 

Oh yea, there is apparently a Kindle 2 coming out in the near future.  It primarily addresses some of the ergonomic concerns that people had with the Kindle (accidentally pushing the 'turn page' buttons).  I hear it will have more built-in memory, but no expansion slot for a memory card (hmmm...).

 

I guess it might make sense to wait and see what happens with the Kindle 2.  Even if it's not substantially better than the Kindle, at a minimum there should be a significant price drop on the original Kindle.

 

Here's the link to the Kindle if you are interested in reading more (theres a short video too): http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Device/dp/B000FI73MA

New Style

Reading back through blog entries this fall, I realized that I became a little cynical and abrasive.  While its good to express your views on the world, that's not really what I wanted this blog to be used for.  So I will get back to using this blog for much milder topics and keep away from criticisms of economic theories and such.