Learning to Love E-Books

When e-books appeared, I resisted them. I loved the romance of picking up a book, off a shelf, in a bookstore. I loved the thrill of discovery, when I scanned through the pages, knowing I’d just found a treasure. How could I do that, with an e-book?

My husband pointed out some of the advantages to me. As a voracious reader, I had to have at least two books with me, when I went anywhere. I was often weighed down, by the weight of my books, as I traveled. I could carry a lot more books with me, if I had a Kindle. E-books were a lot cheaper than regular books. A lot of my income, when I had any, was spent on buying books. Often, I had to make hard choices, between buying one book, or another. I’d have to wait and save, before getting everything I wanted.

Unconvinced, I reluctantly accepted his gift of a Kindle. (Yes, I know, some of you are shaking your heads at my extremely foolish ingratitude, my current self included! :)) I named it Hathaway, after D.I. Lewis’ sergeant on ‘Inspector Lewis’. Eventually, I discovered for myself how right my husband had been. When I had Hathaway, I wasn’t limited to carrying around just two, or ten, or even twenty books with me. I could carry a hundred, even two hundred! This was something I never could have done with a physical book. I also discovered books were, indeed, cheaper. A voracious reader with lean pockets could buy a lot more e-books than she could physical books, which were cheaper. The reality of this hit me, as I greedily shopped for every single title I’d held off buying, because of my lean pockets.

Hathaway made me happy. I ended up bonding with him as much as I bonded with any of the other books I loved. Hathaway wasn’t just another book. He was a walking, mobile library.

Don’t get me wrong. I still adore physical books. I still love flipping through physical pages, being able to look things up with my hands. I still love bookstore, as well as the very sight of book spines. E-books, however, gave me a chance to read I never could have afforded otherwise. Don’t overlook e-books, just because you love physical books. You don’t have to give up one to enjoy the other. Both physical books and e-books have a very special place in my heart.

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From ‘Waiting for Rebirth’

Here’s an excerpt from my story, ‘Waiting for Rebirth’, which I’m posting for Rainbow Snippets. ‘Waiting for Rebirth’, ‘Unwilling to Be Yours’, ‘Be My Valentine…Snack’ are three short stories, concerning Christopher, which take place before his big adventure in ‘Stealing Myself From Shadows’. I’m currently revising all for publication, right now.

‘The first thing I remember is darkness, a darkness that howled and swallowed. The second thing is a light, illuminating the darkness. A young man stood in the very center of the light. His hand was extended. It captured my attention the way nothing had in a long time. My awareness grew a little sharper, a little more real.’

 

I proposed blogging about love today, as my own personal tribute, not only to Valentine’s Day, but to Plato’s ‘The Symposium’. I’m fascinated by this dinner party of diverse individuals, each expressing his own idea of love. Never mind how good, or praiseworthy his speech is, his speech shows what love means to him. It reveals a bit about that character himself, what he’s like. Phaedrus describes how enobling the sentiment of love is, how it brings out what is heroic in lovers, as well as any person, who truly loves. Pausanius splits love into two, comparing and contrasting sexual desire with a strong, emotional attachment. Eryximachus rambles about, flitting here and there, in comparing love to the practice of medicine, music, and order versus disorder. Aristophanes tells a comic fable of how love is the quest of every person to find his/her lost other half. Agathon paints a romantic, idealized picture of love with pretty words. Socrates dissects Agathon’s pretty speech with questions, before relating his own previous debate on the subject with the wise woman, Their discourse uncovers an even greater love lying behind love itself, which many might consider akin to religious devotion. Most touching of all to me was the gate crashing Alciabes’ personal tale, of how he came to truly love Socrates, after being rejected by him. Each one of the speeches about love creates a picture of the speaker, who creates another aspect of love with his words. For there are as many kinds of love as there are people, who feel love. There are even more kinds of love, which people dream of. What type of love would you, or a character of yours feel? Take a moment to think about it, blog about it. What exactly does love mean to you?

Valentine’s Day Symposium

I proposed blogging about love today, as my own personal tribute, not only to Valentine’s Day, but to Plato’s ‘The Symposium’. I’m fascinated by this dinner party of diverse individuals, each expressing his own idea of love. Never mind how good, or praiseworthy his speech is, his speech shows what love means to him. It reveals a bit about that character himself, what he’s like. Phaedrus describes how enobling the sentiment of love is, how it brings out what is heroic in lovers, as well as any person, who truly loves. Pausanius splits love into two, comparing and contrasting sexual desire with a strong, emotional attachment. Eryximachus rambles about, flitting here and there, in comparing love to the practice of medicine, music, and order versus disorder. Aristophanes tells a comic fable of how love is the quest of every person to find his/her lost other half. Agathon paints a romantic, idealized picture of love with pretty words. Socrates dissects Agathon’s pretty speech with questions, before relating his own previous debate on the subject with the wise woman, Their discourse uncovers an even greater love lying behind love itself, which many might consider akin to religious devotion. Most touching of all to me was the gate crashing Alcibiades’ personal tale, of how he came to truly love Socrates, after being rejected by him. Each one of the speeches about love creates a picture of the speaker, who creates another aspect of love with his words. For there are as many kinds of love as there are people, who feel love. There are even more kinds of love, which people dream of. What type of love would you, or a character of yours feel? Take a moment to think about it, blog about it. What exactly does love mean to you?