The E-Book Files

[MaineWriter]

I stumbled upon this on Thursday on the gay & lesbian "hot new releases" list. Curious about it, I went to Speak Its Name and found a five star review. Since I trust this reviewer, I didn't even bother with the sample, just bought the book. And am I glad I did! It is a terrific book, one of the best I have read in a long time. Louise says it's the best gay historical she has ever read, which is saying a lot since we've both read plenty. I'm not sure it's the best, for me, but it is definitely on my Top Ten list.




In a nutshell, it is the story of Paul Harris, and brothers Patrick and Mick Morgan, all returned home from WWI and trying to resume their lives in England. All were wounded, both physically and emotionally. Their families, friends, and lovers try to help them with putting the pieces together, not entirely successfully, because unless you've been in the trenches of France, no one really knows what the soldiers went through.

Highly recommended.

Here's the review on Speak Its Name: http://speakitsname.wordpress.com/2007/08/18/review-the-boy-i-love-by-marion-husband/

Next on my list is the sequel, which takes place after WWII.

[MaineWriter]

I wrote a review of Paper Moon, if anyone is interested.

http://speakitsname.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/review-paper-moon-by-marion-husband/

L

[MaineWriter]

Transgressions by Erastes is a terrific book, so terrific that I took the time to write a review at Amazon:

http://tinyurl.com/dnzrx2

Here's a link to buy the book:



Please note that even though this is "the E-Book Files" this book is available in paperback, too. Because it is a mainstream publisher, you will likely find it in your local bookstore. Here it is at my local Borders:



The other book in the picture, False Colors, is next on my reading list.

Does anyone read this thread, or am I just talking to myself?

L

[belbbmfan]

In a nutshell, it is the story of Paul Harris, and brothers Patrick and Mick Morgan, all returned home from WWI and trying to resume their lives in England. All were wounded, both physically and emotionally. Their families, friends, and lovers try to help them with putting the pieces together, not entirely successfully, because unless you've been in the trenches of France, no one really knows what the soldiers went through.

Leslie, this book reminds me of the movie A Month In The Country.

I found this Washington Post review:
In the summer of 1919, war-weary veteran Tom Birkin (Colin Firth) comes to the sleepy village of Oxgodby to uncover a medieval church mural that is believed to be hidden under thick coats of plaster. In the process of restoring the painting, "Christ and the Judgment," the shellshocked Birkin himself is restored. As the painter surely intended, the mural remains miraculous even after a thousand years, its images joining with the narrative to tell Birkin's story.

The search for truth is both high and low; the digging both internal and external; the revelations as plentiful as the enigmas. Birkin becomes intrigued not only with the mural but with the painter, finding clues to his identity in the paint. Coincidentally, another veteran, John Moon (Kenneth Branagh), is digging into the past in a field nearby. Though hired to find the remains of a church forebear, the archeologist is actually engaged in his own pursuits, both metaphoric and personal.

A very British relationship develops between the two, with lots of tea and simile. Theirs is a quiet fellowship of shared smokes and questions never asked in this dense and inconclusive story. Adapted from a novel by J.L. Carr, it includes a host of characters as allusive as the apple the vicar's wife (Natasha Richardson) gives Birkin. The two are obviously attracted, but the relationship remains pure, despite the temptations.

[MaineWriter]

Oh, that sounds interesting, Fabienne. I wonder if he book is any good?

I am off to a rip-roaring start with False Colors. So far it is great!

L

[serious crayons]

Does anyone read this thread, or am I just talking to myself?

I'm here, Leslie! I read your Amazon review, too. Very nice!

I think we have somewhat different taste in books, but that's OK. I'm interested in anyone's reading experiences, and it's fun to see a genre I'm not normally drawn to, through the eyes of someone who is passionate about it. And I detected some BBM-style analysis in your review, which of course makes me happy.

[MaineWriter]

I'm here, Leslie! I read your Amazon review, too. Very nice!

I think we have somewhat different taste in books, but that's OK. I'm interested in anyone's reading experiences, and it's fun to see a genre I'm not normally drawn to, through the eyes of someone who is passionate about it. And I detected some BBM-style analysis in your review, which of course makes me happy.

Thank you, Katherine! It's good to know I am not just posting into the ether. 

I will admit, BBM got me started on the mansex m/m books. Fanfic got me started and it was a good jumping off point, but I have come to realize that I do like original stories much more. At the height of the BBM fanfic flood, there would be stories that people were raving about and I couldn't read two pages -- probably because they weren't original enough for me. Now, I realize I wrote fanfic myself so what does that say about me? I actually think of that of the training ground to try to launch me to writing some original fiction.

Back to book recommendations...when I finish False Colors, I'll probably dive into this (need a hit of non-fic every now and then). It's getting very good reviews.



Katherine, maybe this is more your taste?

L

[serious crayons]

Yup, it's a bit closer. In recent years, I've tended to read mostly nonfiction. I like memoir, essays, and books with a sociological aspect, like Malcolm Gladwell's stuff. Lately I also seem to have a lot of "useful" books on my pile.

I hadn't heard of A Terrible Splendor, but I just checked the Amazon page and I see you're right about the reviews! I'll look forward to hearing your opinion.

[serious crayons]

Leslie, I came across this blog post about the pros and cons of Kindle and thought you might find it interesting.

http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/145.Six_things_I_like_and_don_t_like_about_my_new_Kindle



Six things I like and don't like about my new Kindle
posted by Otis on April, 16

I got a Kindle 2 when they came out, and wanted to share my thoughts about it, after having used it for a few weeks.

Things I like:

1. The feel of it. It's very slim and has a nice form factor.

2. Having all my books with me. Somehow I'm comforted knowing that all my favorite books are always with me. I immediately went and downloaded all my favorite out of copyright books and uploaded all my programming ebooks.

3. Being able to preview the first four chapters of any book. Huge!

4. Kindle makes it easy to upload any ebook from your existing digital library. Certain files like .txt and .mobi can be copied from your computer, or pdf's can be emailed to a custom email address. Only problem is if you have hundreds of files, emailing them one at a time doesn't scale, plus there is a 10 cent charge per book.

5. Search. Sony ereader didn't have it and it was a major flaw. Come across the name of a character and can't remember who they are? Now it's easy to find exactly when they were introduced...

6. Clips - Kindle lets me take clips of documents as I read - very cool. Now we just need a way to easily get those off the Kindle and onto my Goodreads Status Updates. I'm hoping that will be possible?


Things I don't like:

1. The Kindle is electronic and expensive, so I can't take it to the beach or the pool and leave it on a towel while I jump in the water. Plus, having to turn it off while taking off or landing in an airport really chafe's me.

2. Trying to nickel and dime me for reading blogs. Why do I have to pay $1.99 to read my favorite blogs when I can get them for free anywhere else? I found a way around this by using Kindle's browser to navigate to the mobile version of Google Reader, and presto - now I can read hundreds of blogs for free. But why Kindle is trying to make money on free content, I don't know...

3. I have hundreds of books I've purchased in my bookshelf. I'd love to put those on my Kindle and read them there - but I'm sure Amazon won't give me the ebooks for books I've bought. So the net result is it doesn't look like I'll be using my Kindle much...

4. The price of most ebooks is too high! What publishers don't want you to know is that it takes less than a dollar to print a book. The rest of a books price is intellectual property, plus overhead from shipping and distribution middlemen. All that stuff should be removed from the ebook price. Even then, digital content is a different beast, and publishers need to experiment with the right price point - not just assume that what works offline will work online.

5. The joystick navigation. The Kindle uses this little joystick that you have to click up and down in order to navigate the Kindle Store or the web. The problem is that its clunky, slow, and prone to accidental clicks. Examples of devices that do the same thing but 10x better: ipod's wheel, blackberry's ball, and last but not least the scroll wheel on a mouse. It's funny too that after using an iPhone I kept wanting to touch the Kindle to make it work. Now I'd guess that e-ink and touchscreens probably don't go (?), but that joystick does need to go...

6. This list would be remiss if I didn't mention DRM. I just paid for a book on Kindle and now I can't read it on my PC if I want? I can't put it on my phone or open it up in my Adobe Reader? Consumers lose with DRM and will avoid it at all costs, including cracking the DRM and sharing the files for free. The Music industry learned that one the hard way, and is now going DRM-free. Want to know why? Listen to Cory Doctorow's talk about DRM from Tools of Change. Consumers will pay for digital content - but only if two criteria are met: it's easy to buy, and they feel like they truly own it after they buy it.


Bottom line? It isn't perfect, but I'm loving it.

ps. If want some free ebooks, this page lists some great options: http://ireaderreview.com/2008/01/19/free-books-for-the-amazon-kindle/. My favorite source is Feedbooks, since they make a great Kindle format of each book. And as of last month all Feedbooks books are now available on Goodreads!


Note: some of these points are argued in the comments section.

[MaineWriter]

Thanks Katherine. Interesting comments. Some of the cons I have heard over and over again and I don't necessarily agree, especially about the pricing of ebooks and the idea of getting ebooks free because you already purchased the print version. The example I like to use for that...have you ever owned a record? Did they give you the cassette, 8-track, CD free when each of those technologies came out? Oh well.

As for what I am reading right now:



I still haven't had a chance to get to A Terrible Splendor. Life has been hectic, to say the least.

L