the_curmudge wrote:
Reading always lowers my stress level, but I don't carry a book when I leave the house. If I did it would have to be a book acceptable to other people in terms of subject matter, age and condition, and that's not the kind of book I like to read.
Ever thought of investing in an ebook reader? Or even a fancy cell phone/iPad with PDF capabilities. People don't
have to know what you're reading. ; D Thousands of pages can come in a very lightweight, nondescript package.
Heck, especially (if I guessed right) you're into reading older books. If the copyright has run out (as I'm sure you're already aware) a quick Google search can provided you with the full text. Stick that text in a Word file (given that your chosen reader is capable of displaying Word files) and you've got any book over a hundred years old at your disposal for free!
I'm big into unpublished stuff too, things that are on the internet for free, so for me, having an ereader is a very pleasant alternative to carrying around a computer.
But the downside is when I bought my ereader, you could get pretty much any paperback you wanted for 99 cents but the market was small. I was kind of banking on the market expanding and the prices staying the same. Instead, now that ebooks are getting so popular, paperbacks cost around $9.99, which is ridiculous! If you're cutting out the costs of production, it should
lower costs! It shouldn't mean that you should suddenly be earning 1,000% more on every book you sell!
But that's a rant for another time. In short, if you're into stuff you're not going to have to pay for, an ereader might be a good investment for you. Or if you're just sick of real books for some reason.