E-books

For a long time, I was very against the idea of e-books.   I like to read, but I love books.  I've got a fairly substantial library, and it's always growing.  I buy 3-4 books each month.  I've got almost all of my textbooks from University.  

There's just something comfortable about holding a book.  When I finished writing my first novel a few years ago, I knew it wouldn't ever end up on the shelves at a bookstore, so I self-published online through Lulu.com, and I got a copy of it, because I wanted a physical copy to hold in my hands. 

I love the smell of a new book, and the little crack that you get when you open a textbook for the first time.  I love the warmth of a used bookstore, and the potential of a big chain store like Barnes & Noble.  I love to write in notebooks when I'm in the brainstorming phase of writing, although I usually switch to the computer for the actual writing (I type much faster than I write).

However, I bought my first e-book last week, and it's proven to be a good investment.  I got the first Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks - I read it about 15 years ago, and I really enjoyed it then.  It's now out in a single volume, and I downloaded it for $9.95.  The actual book is running about $22 right now.  I've got it on my Palm Pilot, and I've actually been reading in places that I wouldn't normally take a book - at Cracker Barrel or other restaurants while I'm waiting for friends to arrive, in the OR while I'm waiting for the patients to arrive, in bed (okay, I read real books in bed most of the time).  It's just been a very convenient way to read.  

E-books will never replace real books for me, but as a whole, I'm no longer condemning them.