If you’re looking for dirt-cheap prices on a few upcoming major hardcover book releases, then you’re in luck. Online giant Amazon.com (full disclosure – I’m an Amazon affiliate) and retail giant Wal-Mart are in a heated price war over upcoming titles by some heavy-hitting authors.

For consumers, this is great, especially for the upcoming holiday season right around the corner. Major titles to be released are Stephen King’s Under the Dome; John Grisham’s Ford Country; and James Patterson’s I, Alex Cross – the latest in his ongoing series. For booksellers, publishers and authors though, this is a worrisome trend.

Continue Reading

I have a respectable size book collection made up of mass market paperbacks, trade paperbacks, hardcovers, fiction, non-fiction, reference and so forth. Some of the reference books I refer to a lot, the mass markets on the other hand are usually read once and then shelved. I know there are a lot of people out there who have a much bigger collection of books than I do. And there are those that constantly purge their collection to make room for new books.

Why do a lot of us keep so many books, especially if there’s little chance we’ll read them again?

I view books like trophies. Since I was never into sports, I don’t have any ‘real’ trophies to show off. Books represent my literary accomplishments. At the same time, they take up a lot of space and can get very heavy when packed into boxes making them a pain to move.

Continue Reading

In an earlier post I wrote (Should ebook readers be multifunctional?), I argued that for the most part, when I sit down to read, I want to read with few distractions. I don’t a bulk of my reading on my Sony Pocket Edition Reader and have found myself doing less reading on my iPhone. Call me a purist, but sometimes I just want to read.

Continue Reading

When a new ebook reader hits the market, or I browse through forums, blogs, comments and the general discourse about ebook readers, there is a small undercurrent that I find interesting: People want ebook readers to have more functionality than just reading ebooks. At the very least, most want to browse the internet. Let’s also not forget that many readers today are able to play MP3s as well.

Continue Reading

I’ve always been in love with short fiction. It’s precise like poetry, yet can take you to new worlds like the novel. There was a time when the short story was a popular form of entertainment. But the last few decades have seen a decline in popularity of short fiction, to the point where writers get paid mostly in contributor copies. Now, the short story is making its grand comeback. Continue Reading

Earlier in September I purchased the new Sony Pocket Edition (PRS-300), which I gave a detailed review of here. The Reader itself is great. It sports a crisp display with plenty of contrast between the text and background. I love it! But the software Sony makes you download to buy their ebooks and load them onto your Reader is a totally different story.

Continue Reading

I’m a little late covering Banned Books Week, but I figure better late than never. This is actually a very important event because it gives attention to the freedom to read what one chooses and not giving into demands by groups or individuals to restrict access to a books based on what they find as offensive content.

Continue Reading

I’ve been reading Dan Brown’s newest book The Lost Symbol (aff link) since it was released on Tuesday. When I bought the book at my local bookstore, I knew it wasn’t going to be a great literary achievement and I had no expectations of being enlightened. I bought the book to be entertained.

Continue Reading

Yesterday’s release of Dan Brown’s much anticipated new book The Lost Symbol has been making waves in the publishing world and with booksellers alike since he announced a new book earlier in the year. I bought a copy of the book at my local bookstore and am currently reading it. I’ll try to post my thoughts on the book when I’m finished.

Continue Reading

Today I had the privilege of giving an interview on the radio show Conversations LIVE with Cyrus Webb. I was contacted a few weeks ago by Mr. Webb as a result of a blog post I wrote (Author sells self-published book one copy at a time) about Christopher Herz who hand sells his book on the street to individuals. My interview focused on that and more.

Continue Reading