8.15 AM on a Sunday my wake up alarm goes off. I turn around to silence it and jump out of bed to feed Sam. Yes, it’s early and yes, it’s a Sunday, but sleeping in late seems like a waste of day to me. I can honestly say I never sleep later than 9 AM and with that in mind, I’m always out of bed at 8.15 AM to feed Sam.

I’m a firm believer that animals, like children, need a schedule. Or at least need to be fed at a certain time to make them feel comfortable. So they know what time they can expect their food and believe it or not; they know it. Sam knows that when I get up in the morning, he gets fed (and cuddled), my horses know that at 9 AM they get their hay, they’re waiting at the gate already!

Anyway, this post wasn’t meant to be about my animals’ feeding habits. After getting Sam his food and fresh water, I slip back in bed for another 30 minutes. Not to sleep but to read the news on my phone before I pick up my (heavy) book to read some pages before breakfast time.

When picking up my book I realize how much I enjoy reading, I read a lot and practically anywhere. In bed, on the sofa, outside in the sun, in the pool and even on the toilet (TMI I know!) but it can be annoying because books can be heavy and large and therefore uncomfortable to read. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy pocket books. They’re small, cheap(er), not too heavy to hold and easier to drag along with me to places unknown.

While I struggle with my book to find a comfortable position to read in I think about getting an e-reader. How easy it would be to have a smaller device that is just as comfortable to read from as a real book but not nearly as heavy and easier to take places. At the same time I realize that I would really miss having an actual book in my hands. As soon as the thought of an e-reader enters my head, it’s gone again. It’s forgotten about, while I continue reading my book: Soul of Fire (Sword of Truth book 5) by Terry Goodkind.

That’s another thing with reading for me. It’s been that way ever since I started reading. I zone out, I don’t hear what’s going on in my surroundings. I get all absorbed into the book, into the story. I can see the setting in front of me. It’s almost like I’m in the story. Or at least, that’s what happens when the book is good. When the author really has created a world for his / her reader to get sucked into.

After breakfast I go about my daily tasks, even though it’s Sunday (and a day in my vacation no less) things need to get done around here. Maybe it’s part of my scheduled nature that I can’t seem to shake, not even when on holiday! But soon enough I return to my favourite spot on the sofa with my book and not long after, I’m gone again, back into the story, contemplating what’s going to happen next. Wondering how much trouble the main characters are going to get themselves into before the end of the story.

Unfortunately after a little while I have to stop reading, my hands are sore from holding the (rather big and heavy) book up. Even the place on my lap where it has been resting on and off is sore from the weight pressing on it. That’s when the thought of a digital reader kicks in again. I’m aware that my favourite online book store will start selling them, as well as digital books, this upcoming week.  I know this because I have done some research about e-readers in the past weeks already. What brands are out there, what file types are available and, of course, what do they cost.

Books come in different prices as do eBooks. There are cheap ones, expensive ones, and believe it or not, even free ones out there. Cheap books in general are always a good way to discover authors you don’t know yet. Whether that’s an established writer or a beginning author you can always discover good material when you buy books cheap!

Thinking about the pros and cons of e-readers and eBooks while waiting for my hands to get back to its normal state (meaning, until they stop tingling) makes me realize that the pros of an e-reader (and with that, eBooks) outweigh the cons for me. The thought that earlier crossed my mind as well; missing real books, is soon diminished because having the one doesn’t have to exclude the other. I can still buy real books if I want to, and I can get eBooks to save the space in my house that my real books are slowly taking over.

I think right then and there the decision is made. I’m going to get myself an e-reader. The money isn’t really an issue. Sure, I don’t have shit-loads of it and I also don’t own a money tree that’s located on my balcony (although I wish I had). Prices vary but start at €199 and go all the way up to about €700. The real question I now need to ask myself is what do I need from a reader? Does it need to be able to connect to the Internet, does it have to have a slot for memory cards or would the normal storage room on the device be enough for me? Do I really need a touch screen reader or is a simple version enough for my needs?

As long as I can store enough books on the device, I don’t need extra memory. Generally 350 books is a lot to have one the device at the same time. A touch screen seems to have some slight ‘problems’ with reading in full sunlight and apparently freezes up at occasions, yet you pay a lot more. I don’t have to have internet access for books all the time. After all I can get online for news etc on my mobile phone already and downloading / uploading books is just as easy from my laptop.

Now that I’ve decided what I need and what I want it’s time to check online to see what reader fits me best. The Sony Pocket E-Reader seems to be fitting all my needs and happens to be the cheapest one so far. I’m sure that non-existing money tree is really happy about that!
It will be released on September 2, which means I have to wait a few more days before I get it, but at least I was able to pre-order it so it will be shipped as soon as they become available!

I can’t be more thrilled; I will be able to enjoy the look of my beautifully filled bookshelves and maybe even add some to the collection, but at the same time I’m able to carry around 350 of them in my purse! It will be the best of both worlds.

The reader is ordered, my hands have stopped tingling and I’m ready to head back to the world of Terry Goodkind knowing that it won’t be the last time I’ll be holding a real book in my hands. And while I write this entry I realize that this is probably the longest one I’ve ever written and it might even qualify as a short story but I guess that’s just what books do to me. I could go on for hours about them and share my thoughts about books I’ve read with other vivid readers.

If you read, what kind of books do you prefer? And have you ever considered getting an e-reader? Why, or why not?

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