Reading: Book or eBook?

Technology has changed the world? Of course it has. I personally can't live without indoor plumbing or electricity and don't get me started on the Internet. I'm 34 and I actually remember what life was like before the Internet. I may have mentioned this before, but it still shocks and amazes me that there was life before Google. We called it 'World Book Encyclopedia' and from those massive volumes we learned everything we needed to know about everything we needed to know about. If we had a question, my mom would say, "we don't guess, we look it up" and we would. Now my six year old son asks me to Google the stuff I don't know. I taught him how to use the microphone and he can actually use Google himself. It's kind of amazing!

Things change, but things also stay the same. My boys don't live in front of the TV or an iGadget. We take them to the library and they play outside. I know, we are terribly old-fashioned. My kids love to play and they have great imaginations. What I want more than anything is to foster in them a love of books and reading. I tell them "books are our friends" and we all look forward to the monthly book order from school!

Technology has changed how we read. My husband reads the news on his iPhone. I read novels on mine. Even the kids have eBooks (narrated ones). When I was a kid, we had books on record! We eRead, but do we still read 'real' books? Absolutely! My husband collects hardcover books by Clive Cussler. I won't even attempt to count the number of books the kids have. And me? I have a fair number of keepers myself, the books I love to re-read.

The majority of books I read now are eBooks though. I have a Sony reader from at least three years ago which I still occasionally use, but my device of choice is my phone. I have apps for Kindle, Kobo, and iBooks with about a dozen books on each. I find the Kindle the easiest to use, but I'm reading an iBook right now and I like that you can see the time when you're reading. Don't ask me why, but I am super obsessed with knowing the time. There are clocks in almost every room of my house... Four in the kitchen if you count the stove, microwave, radio, and coffee maker... I haven't figured out how to lock the screen in Kobo or iBooks, but that's not a deal breaker. It just means I can't be lazy when I'm reading lying down.

We have real choice when it comes to books. The ability to publish eBooks really opened up the market for writers. The dream of publishing a book is finally achievable! If you can't find the right publishing house, then self-publishing is an option. There are so many books out there - look at Amazon alone. Good for the reader, but a challenger for the writer. With so much choice, how can a writer attract readers? The answer isn't simple and there are a million or more (no exaggeration) articles out there to dissect the intricacy of book marketing and promotion. Right now my 'reader' hat is on and it's time to get back to my book.

Happy reading, folks, and have a great weekend!