A group of readers, writers, bloggers, friends
Do you ever wonder what all those lovely books do once you turn out the lights? Well, Sean Ohlenkamp and his wife imagines the havoc some books in a Queens bookstore might wreck in this awesome video.
I was gifted a new-to-me ereader earlier this month. As convenient as it is, you can’t do this with your ereader.
What do you think your books do after you’re in bed?
Sometimes I feel like the last hold out among my social media friends when it comes to e-readers. I really enjoy reading print books. I enjoy the weight of them. I love seeing the stacks of my to-be-read pile on my nightstand. I even enjoy the smell of a brand new book. Weird, I know. The fragrance of a new book is up there with a fresh box of crayons.
My main reason for not buying an e-reader is cost. I couldn’t justify the cost for a mono-tasking device. I have the Kindle app on my Android phone and it’s come in handy when I’m stuck in bed next to my toddler or waiting in the doctor’s office. I even borrow ebooks from my library via the Overdrive Media Console app. My diaper bag can only hold so many things-it’s heavy enough already.
Until I saw the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s new tablet. It’s a multitasking device. As much as I’m a bit leery of Amazon’s DRM (digital rights management) control on their ebooks, there’s no denying that they are one of the digital publishing leaders. After watching the video by Media Bistro, I’m having a case of e-reader/tablet envy. Plus the price, $199, is a good value for a tablet.
The Kindle Fire won’t be available until November 15, but they are already taking pre-orders. I wouldn’t be surprised if it sells out well before then. Maybe it’s time to give my husband a hint or two.
What about you? Do you use an e-reader? If you have one, do you have a preference over print books or ebooks?
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Milligan News in San Jose, CA - Open House Oct 9, 2010
Looking for something fun and unusual to do this weekend with the kids? Something that combines books and history mixed with bit of education and a time when people wore proper hats (can’t we all just agree to wear proper hats again?) How about a throw-back to publishing that dates to the 1930′s?
Milligan News Company will be celebrating its 75th year with an Open House on Saturday, October 9th, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at its warehouse store at 150 North Autumn Street in downtown San Jose, California a half-block north of the HP Pavilion.
See you there! I’ll be the one riding up in the horse and buggy!
- Paige
Paige Bayer blogs about canning and preserving food, local farms and food politics at Canning with Kids. If you tweet, you can follow Paige at @PaigeBayer. This is an original post to From Left to Write. The Twitter hashtag for the From Left to Write book club is #left2write. Follow From Left to Write at @fromleft2write.
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you may already be aware that we have a really cool independent bookstore called Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park. There is a 50% off deal today from Juice in the City. Have fun shopping!
Upon finishing kindergarten a few weeks ago, my twins, aged 6, were elated to be free of their homework and centers and “power reading” groups. I do have other plans for them, however….cue evil laugh. Although I am not a parent that has paid much attention to the summer bridge sorts of activities (let them have fun!), reading is a big thing for me. And 1st grade seems to be all about reading (as far as I have heard, in any case).
I decided that I would make two things priorities for my kids this summer–besides having fun and eating ice cream every day (yes, it is a summer rule in our family to eat ice cream every day, sue me). One of my priorities is to focus on their manners. But I can’t make myself be stern about it, so we are implementing Super Fancy, Super Polite Sunday Diners to make it fun and to school them in some crazy impressive manners.
My other priority is to focus on their reading. We are frequenting the library and, of course, reading every day. But I NEED it to be fun.
When my friend Samantha let me know about a summer reading program at Hicklebee’s Children’s Books, an independent bookstore near where we live, in downtown Willow Glen in San Jose, California, I knew I had to sign my kids up. Hicklebee’s is a true treasure and I have heard the co-owner, Valerie Lewis, speak twice, once at my twins club and once at my preschool. Valerie worked with Nancy Regan on the Read 20 Minutes a Day program, to give you an idea of how cool she is. And to hear her read a children’s book – well, it sort of changed the way I look at kids books.
We started the program a bit late, but that’s ok. The theme is Magic and the kids were captivated when they received their magic wands (their week 1 challenge was to decorate their wands and make up some magic words).
It is nice to have a little something to tie the summer of reading together. Libraries have summer reading program too (we signed up there too!), but this program at Hicklebee’s is simply…magical.
And, abracadabra, they’ll be well prepped for their 1st grade year.
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This post was not sponsored in any way. Linsey simply loves Hicklebee’s and its programs. Hicklebee’s also has a great list of summer activities to go out and have some fun with. Linsey also blogs at Me Too You.
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