Confessions of an e-book convert

In the summer of 1989 a pretty student named Heather Russell sat across the table from me in the General Motors cafeteria. She was reading the paperback novel IT by Stephen King. I quickly struck up a conversation with her about the book and 22 years and three kids later we still enjoy talking to one another about all the books we’re reading.  Just call us the nerdy couple, we’re good with that!

A few weeks ago Heather stopped me at Chapters as we were walking by the Kobos. Those are the e-book readers offered here in Canada. They’re similar to the Kindles sold in the United States. The salesman was alone so she had 20 minutes of one-on-one time to quiz him about the Kobos. Whatever he told her was convincing enough to sell her on the device.


Two John Saul books, two different formats. Despite some reservations
about e-books this Kobo reader has won me over.

 A few nights later I sat in bed reading and finished one of John Saul’s novels, In the Dark of the Night.  I was not ready to fall asleep so I took a look for another book to start. The only problem though was I’d come to the end of my reading list. I needed another book to read.

“Why don’t you download a book on my Kobo,” Heather suggested.

Always the traditionalist I hesitated. Downloading a book seemed like cheating.  Besides, I preferred a book I could feel, something to hold onto I told myself. 

“It’s cheaper than buying a book,” Heather said.

Cheaper? Oh, well, what could it hurt?

I logged onto the Indigo/Chapters site and found a book in no time and it indeed was cheaper than buying the actual book. A paperback that costs $10.99 generally costs $6.99 for the Kobo. Click, click, click, and presto, I had another book to read.

A few days later at a Writers Community of Durham Region meeting I discovered another advantage to e-books, they put more money in the pockets of the authors. E-books are cheaper to produce because they don’t need to be printed and as such the author gets more royalties from every book sold. Given I make my living from the written word that fact appealed to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the look, the feel, the smell, the whole experience an actual book gives me when I read it. I also find it more enjoyable searching out a book at a bookstore. I know you can’t judge a book by its cover but to me the cover is part of the appeal of a book. A cover does appear on the Kobo reader but it’s black and white and isn’t half as appealing as the real thing you get with an actual book.
The Kobo does have an advantage over a traditional book. For those who need larger type, it can be changed on  any book you’re reading. No book mark is required either as where you stop reading is exactly where the book opens for you the next time you pick it up and turn it on.

The only thing a Kobo won’t do is show everyone around you the book you’re currently reading. Thankfully that wasn’t the case back in 1989. Otherwise I may have never met that pretty girl reading the Stephen King novel.