My new e-reader

I was wary for a long time about getting an e-reader, but I finally took the plunge and got a Kobo Aura HD. I went with Kobo (a Toronto-based, Japanese-owned company) because they support open standards for e-books, and I didn't want to be locked in to Amazon. I went with a dedicated e-reader with an E Ink display (as opposed to reading on a tablet), as I was concerned about eye strain.

As for reading experience, I don't have anything to compare it to, since this is my first e-reader. But I'm liking it, and I don't have any complaints just yet!

I've found the Kobo bookstore a bit clunky, but fine. I'm not sure if I'm just being harsh, or if it has something to do with the Australian version of the store being somehow deficient compared to the US/Canadian version.

My first e-book purchase was a compilation of the first three Miss Marple books by Agatha Christie. This is actually the first Agatha Christie novel I've read, and I'm quite enjoying it. (It's also something I knew I wouldn't feel the need to keep a physical copy of.)

Internet Archive

If you haven't already, check out the non-profit internet library the Internet Archive.

There are now 3 million freely downloadable texts available, so enjoy a browse. You could find yourself browsing the Last Letters of Aubrey Beardsley, or something as equally random and interesting.


P.S. Apparently the town of Boscombe was "ignominiously dull" in 1896.

Travel Books List

Hey peeps! (I like to pretend there are heaps of you out there reading this.) You like travel, and you like reading, right?

Budget Travel Magazine recently ran an article titled "25 Greatest Travel Books of All Time," which seemed worth a peruse, but the original article was divided up over six pages, and there was lots of clicking and a dumb pop-up. So annoying! My favourite thing on the New York Times and the New Yorker's websites is the "Single Page" option, which means you do NOT have to clicky clicky so much to read the whole article.

Sooo, I copied and pasted BT's whole article into a Google Doc and formatted it all pretty. And, since I went to all that trouble, I thought I'd share it with you, dear readers. Now, there better be some good books on this darn list...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vQi91qvTvej80m49Zhae4Ut0rBrdXW2IMpTF0Fy2QZ0/edit?hl=en_US