Susan Gardner did a terrific review of Michael Lind's book, Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States, just yesterday. If you missed it, it is worth going back to read.
Which is good, because I haven't quite finished the book I had planned to write about today, The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo. Non-fiction requires a slower pace for me if I want to retain any of the information and learn anything of value. As a result, I will write about it next Monday morning and will consider this to be an open thread.
I am including a schedule in the tip jar. Some of you have volunteered to contribute diaries to this series. If you are still willing, please let me know which date you would like in the comments or via kosmail.
Please see below the fold for the new series announcement.
I love digital technology. I am the one everyone would call when they couldn't get their email to work or were unable to open an attachment or when their computers crashed. And I would patiently (sort of) walk them through whatever steps were needed to get their system functioning.
Until I bought my first iPhone. Switching to a Mac felt like wearing a pair of well broken in slippers. It has become a standing joke in my real world circle that I believe that "Windows sucks." So much so that when people call with a problem nowadays, they usually start with, "Look, I know that Windows sucks, but..."
I got my first Kindle, the DX, in 2007. I waited until the larger model came out because I didn't think I could ever comfortably read a book on a tiny little screen. I loved it. It was big and heavy and I loved reading books on it. I loved being able to freely highlight a text and make notes in the margins, something that I almost never did with paper books. Somehow it always seem sacrilegious to mark up a book with pencil and ink.
But there were issues with the concept of electronic books. I couldn't lend them to friends. I could only read them on Amazon's reader. Not all of the books I wanted to read were available in a digital format. I couldn't use it during the most frightening parts air travel, take-offs and landings. And what happens to my extensive library, over 700 books to date, after I pass away?
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a diary, e-books: what's going on in digital formats. At that time I was thinking of it as an occasional series to keep us all updated on this new field of book publishing. Starting Wednesday, at 2:00PM Eastern, it will become a weekly series.
Every other week, starting this Wednesday, there will be a newsfeed like the one published on April 10th. Alternating weeks will contain an in-depth look at one area of the field, such as the differing e-readers, any ongoing legal issues and updates, self-publishing, library e-book integration, etc.
Many of you are more familiar with some of these areas than I am and I welcome your input. For example, if anyone has published their own ebook, it would be great to read about your experience in a diary. Like the Political Book Club, this series will be open to all contributors. If you are interested, please let me know in the comments or via kosmail.
And now, the floor is yours. What political books have you been reading lately?
Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule