Jefferson Had It Right

 

As Thomas Jefferson said, “I cannot live without books.”

After attending the Baltimore Country Public Library Books & Conversation & Coffee, I thought about the technology I use to read books. I still like to have a book in my hand, but it sure makes it easy to carry an reader when traveling.  I use the following apps on my iPad and Kindle.

• Overdrive — App for iPad that allows me to download books from the library and read them on the Kindle Paperwhite. Overdrive also has audio books and videos for downloads. There is a Android and Windows 8 phone app too.
• 3M Cloud Library — App for iPad that allows me to download books to my iPad. There are apps for other brands of mobile devices.
• Zinio — App to read magazines from the library. This is another multi-platform app.

I thoroughly enjoy reading. I read a lot. I like to have 2 or 3 books going at a time. The Paperwhite was a Christmas gift. Ok, I bought it for myself, but it was my Christmas present from Dan. I bought a cover which works to perfection. The Omoton Kindle cover is very lightweight with a cover that has a sleep and wake feature.

Why would I buy a Kindle since I already have an iPad and iPad mini, you are probably asking.  It is lighter, smaller, glare free, and distraction free. When I read on the iPad, I find myself, leaving the book and heading to email, a game, checking the headlines, and  messing around. I had a good workout with the Paperwhite when we went on a week long cruise before Christmas. I downloaded four books from BCPL using the Overdrive app. I read three of them on the trip.

Dan discovered it also and started reading on it. I was reduced to using my iPad mini to finish a book on the 3M Cloud Library app. I got so used to looking up words using the dictionary feature, I find myself tapping the page of a “real” book to look up a word. I also like the feature that indicates how many people highlight a sentence or paragraph in a book.

The BCPL holds a Books & Conversation & Coffee once a month. A librarian or two comes to Charlestown Square lobby to meet with book lovers as we share what we are reading. The following month the librarian brings a printed list of the books we read. I am scanning the list into Evernote so I can reference them later. Here is a list of the books I read since the last meeting in December.

• Inferno by Dan Brown
  12-15-2014 Overdrive on Paperwhite
• Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
• 12-16-2014 Bookmobile
• All the Light I Can Not See  by Anthony Doerr
  12-19-2014 3M Cloud
• Jane Austen Girl: A Second Chance Novel by Inglath Cooper
  12-26-2014 Kindle Bookbub August 2014
• The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
  1-1-2015 0verdrive Kindle
  Need for checklists in medicine saves lives and reduces complications.
• Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon
  1-7-2015 0verdrive Kindle
  Father Tim goes home to Holly Springs after 38 years.
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
  Now reading library copy now on Paperwhite
• Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good: The New Mitford Novel by Jan Karon
  Now reading using BCPL Overdrive on Paperwhite

I didn’t pay a penny for those eight books. I love libraries. Bookbub sends a daily email listing books that are free or at a reduced price for a limited time.