Terrible Analogies

I think I’ve officially sold my soul to the electronic word.

Over the Christmas holiday I was gifted with two book. Physical media. Ya know, paper and ink? Guess what I did before I even cracked open the spines. Yep, that’s right, I downloaded electronic versions to put on my Nook.

I couldn’t bring myself to lug around this ancient form of leisure. I couldn’t easily store them in the glove compartment of my car. And it would be impossible stealthily sneak a quick peek at a few lines during long, drawn out business meetings or during random downtime while code compiles, installs, or configures.

I fear I’ve officially given up on the printed word. I used to be a huge book collector, but now I feel that books are merely taking up space in my home that could otherwise be put to better use. Why keep dusting shelves full of books when I have literally thousands of novels on one slim device?  And switching between novels is ridiculously easy.  Today I finished The Player Of Games by Iain Banks, pressed three virtual buttons, and instantly began reading Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson.  This, my friends, is convenience personified.

Sure, war could break out, an EMP burst could destroy all electronics, or the electrical grid could simply go dark for any number of nefarious reasons, but I think I’ll take my chances for now and dedicate myself to the goal of never buying a novel in physical form again….

….that is until the next Chuck Palahniuk book comes out, because I just have to have the first printing.

It’s been five months since Karin bought me my Nook and I’ve been keeping a list of the books I’ve read since then:

Wow.  22 books!

I’ve never gone through this many books is such a short amount of time.  I mean, I’ve always been an avid reader, but never to this extent.  I think the main reason for this rapid change in reading habits has to do with having at my disposal just about everything I’ve ever wanted to read in one place at one time.  I now have thousands of books stored on a single mini memory card that’s plugged into my Nook.  I can now read whatever I want to read whenever I want to read it.

My current goal is to work my way through the 100 best science fiction books ever written.  Not sure when I’ll complete this task, but I’m having a hella fun time working my way through ‘em.

If I had to recommend anything from this list, I’d have to urge you to read Ringworld (looking forward to reading The Ringworld Engineers), Hyperion/The Fall Of Hyperion (it’s a two-parter),  and the Hitchhiker’s series.

I had high hopes for Dead Babies, but they way in which the group treated Keith the midget went beyond the pale.  But then again Keith was no saint to begin with.

Next up on my radar is the next book in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, Wolves Of The Calla.

Oh, and Green Bay won the Super Bowl.  Go, Pack!

Just before we headed off on our vacation last week Karin and I exchanged presents.  I hooked her up with a new 64Gig iTouch, and she gave me a present that feeds my addiction:

My wife, the enabler

Thanks to my (*cough*) sources, I now have ready access to thousands of books.  Over the past three days I’ve torn through The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe and Life, The Universe, And Everything (warning, Douglas Adams goes off the dark twisted deep end in this book.  I think I’d rather beat myself to death with a stale marshmallow than meet Agrajag in a dark alley…those nasty teeth and broken wings give me the willies!).  My new goal is to work through the top 100 science fiction books of all time (only 84 left to go), but will need to squeeze in a few Craig Clevenger and Douglas Coupland books in as well.

So much to read, so little time…