Books are here to stay

I'm reading a really good book now by Joe Hill called NOS4A2. It's the first of his novels I've tried and it's been a real page turner.

I say 'page turner' in reference to the book because it's a real book, not one read off an e-reader. Books are dependable, you can count on them. E-readers, not so much as I've discovered.

I've tried using a Kobo before and must admit I found it easy enough to use. When the black line of death crept across the screen though it left me less than impressed. My wife Heather sent it back and it was replaced free of charge. But the other day when she picked it up to continue reading the latest Ken Follet novel she started a few weeks ago the black line of death appeared again. It was done.

There's not much you can do with an expired Kobo. It's been three years since it was replaced so the chances of the manufacturer replacing it again are slim. Heather downloaded the book to her laptop so she could finish it. A laptop is not as convenient as an e-reader but it will do in a pinch.

 I do a lot of reading online. Given the nature of the business I'm in (media) much of my days are spent in front of computer screens. The newspapers and magazines I help produce are all compiled using computers. At the end of the day the product is printed but to get to that point requires the use of a lot of online technology. Plus everything produced on paper goes online.

When I want to sit back and read for pleasure it's nice to open a book, you know those things we've been reading from for thousands of years?

Stephen King, who is Joe Hill's father, said in a recent interview with Huffington Post that books are not like compact discs or phonograph records that have now been almost completely replaced by music downloads.

"There's a deeply implanted desire and understanding and wanting of a book that isn't there with music. It's a deeper well of human experience. Here's another thing: if you drop a book into the toilet, you can fish it out, dry it off and read that book. But if you drop your Kindle in the toilet, you're pretty well done," he told interviewer Josh Zepps.

I couldn't have put it any better than King did right there. All I would add to his comment is that you don't have to drop a Kobo in a toilet to render it useless. It pretty much does that all by itself.

I look forward to finishing Mr. Hill's book NOS4A2. It's not hard to tell his father has had an influence in his writing. When I'm finished I'll put it on my book shelf alongside his father's many books. Then I'll go out and buy another and if I drop it in the toilet (I won't) so be it. Real books don't short out or need upgrades. They're perfect just the way they are.

Kobo heaven

Our family has a love-hate relationship with my wife Heather's Kobo e-reader. Earlier this week we hated it, today we're back in love with it.

Last week when my daughter Rebekah went to use it a disturbing line ran down the left side of the screen rendering it useless. I screamed at Rebekah, Heather screamed at Rebekah and then we both screamed at once. Why we were screaming at our daughter was a good question because she didn't break it, she discovered it was broken. Nevertheless, Rebekah bore the brunt of our anger.

"Can you believe this, I've had it six weeks, six weeks and it's broken," Heather said. Then to emphasize her frustration she said, "SIX WEEKS!"





By this point Rebekah had disappeared to her bedroom. For those of you who don't know our daughter as well as we do (and how could you?!?) when she's in trouble she just disappears. All other times she's usually in our faces and behaving as wonderfully as any 12 year old girl would. 

So Heather called the Kobo people and they were very sympathetic to our plight. A Kobo lady told us to ship it back to them once we received a postage paid envelope they would courier to us. It arrived and Heather sent it back on Monday.

We fully expected to wait the two weeks they said it would take. On Thursday a new Kobo arrived at our front door. Who got to sign for it? Our daughter. She thought that was so cool.

In life there are times when companies jerk you around because they can. But not Kobo. We thought our e-reader was toast and the money we spent on it was lost. It was nice to not only be treated like human beings but to have our problem dealt with so efficiently. Good on them.

There's only one problem now that we have a new Kobo to enjoy at home. Heather won't let Rebekah or myself touch it. She doesn't share very well. Now I know where my four year old daughter gets it! But that, as they say, is a story for another day.

Kobo hell

My wife Heather got her Kobo in February and as I wrote in a previous blog I took it over before she even had a chance to use it. She was still in the middle of a traditional book so while she flipped pages I dove into the Kobo and clicked pages. It was wonderful.



 Heather eventually finished her book, placed it on the bookshelf to collect dust, and started sharing her Kobo with me and our daughter Rebekah. We're a reading family so for the short time we've had the Kobo it's been well used. But the other night when I looked at the Kobo something wasn't right. Down the left hand side of the screen there appeared a dark stripe. It distorted everything rendering the page unreadable.

Frustrated, I turned off the device, left it for a few minutes but the line didn't disappear. Ahh!

When Heather saw what had happened to her Kobo she was less than impressed. For those of you who know Heather when I say 'less than impressed' I really mean, 'she freaked out'.

"I've only read one book on the #@%! thing, it can't be broken," she said.

Then she called the Kobo people and the customer service rep told her to flip the device over and reset it by sticking a pin in the little pinhole. Nothing happened, the line would not disappear. Obviously Heather wasn't the first Kobo owner whose called about this problem because the customer service rep was not surprised when we couldn't reboot the device. She told us she would send out a courier envelope so we could send the Kobo back to them where they will attempt to fix it and if that's not possible, mail us a new one. It should take two to three weeks. Heather was asked what colour her Kobo in case a new one has to be shipped out to us. That kind of tells me the device will probably be easier to replace than repair.

I do enjoy the Kobo but this unexpected problem has left me unimpressed. Ours is only a month and two weeks old and it's already broken under normal working conditions. Yes, ebooks are cheaper to buy but if the readers break this easily I wonder about the technology. Are Kindles and other ereaders experiencing similar problems? I'd be interested in hearing from you if you've had a similar problem. In the meantime I'm going to go back in time to start reading a traditional new book I got for my birthday. I know I can count on it to not break before I finish the story!

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.