Since my recent post regarding on the physical vs. electronic dilemma, I’ve been experimenting a little more with electronic purchases. I bought Torchlight, a fantastic Diablo-like RPG, direct from Runic, its developer. I bought several albums on iTunes that I’d been curious about for some time but not curious enough to need on CD.  And, more relevantly to this post, I bought some books from the Kindle Store.

My Nexus One phone and Windows PC aren’t exactly ideal reading devices, but I have found myself more willing to detach from the physical book than expected. With Kindle’s 6″ e-ink screen I suspect it will be very comfortable – and, indeed, bookish – reading fiction and story-based non-fiction.

It’s on that basis that I’ve decided to order a Kindle. I have an almost-overflowing shelf of books in my library – many that I really wouldn’t miss if they were in e-book format – and there’s a lot of books I’d like to read but haven’t purchased previously because I worry about clutter. Kindle solves these problems.

In case you’re considering making this decision for yourself, please consider these points first:

• The titles available to Asia Pacific are slightly limited. You should browse around the Kindle Store to ensure there are a large number of titles you are interested in.
• There’s a good possibility that there will be a quality tablet computer that doubles as an e-ink (or similar) e-reader in the next year or so.
• If you don’t care about eyestrain and want an e-reader now, buy an iPad instead.
• If you currently buy books from Mighty Ape, you’ve already made the right choice.

Technically and legally, I should probably be either throwing them in the trash; or selling them, deleting all my existing digital versions, and re-buying the tracks on iTunes.

One of those options sounds wasteful, and the other sounds like a waste of time.

Is it really so bad if I donate CDs I no longer want to keep to the Salvation Army or similar? Or is sticking to the letter of the copyright law worth more karma points than helping a worthy cause?

The problem is, I can see myself falling into a trap of consumerism. As time goes by, I’m going to need more bookshelves. Then I’m going to need a bigger study. Eventually I’m going to need a bigger house. And, when the times comes to move, it’s much more work with all these extra boxes of books!

Production of these books isn’t exactly environmentally friendly either, with raw materials, printing and world wide distribution all adding up to a pretty large carbon footprint. Furthermore, the selection of titles is quite limited in New Zealand. Mighty Ape lists over five million books, but over 95% of those are not sourced locally. This means the distribution chain for most books is even less efficient than it could be. With no dedicated distributor, we need to import relatively small quantities of books multiple times per week to fill customer orders in a timely manner. Multiply the number of shipments by trucks, planes and courier vans. Oil business continues to boom.

By switching to an e-reader for the majority of my reading, I would solve these problems of house clutter and excessively lining Big Oil’s pockets. I would get books faster and, often, cheaper. Taking more than one book when travelling would become effortless.

But I’m still reluctant to do it.

To me, an extensive library of books is an awe-inspiring thing. I can happily spend hours browsing a large book store without looking for anything in particular. Flipping through a database of titles on a computer, iPad, Kindle, or even a cell phone, just doesn’t seem as entralling.

Physical books are sociable; you don’t mind people being able to see what you’re reading because it may lead to a shared interest. Hell, there’s even a vanity element in that reading a real book gives people you don’t know the impression that you’re doing something intellectual instead of mindlessly staring at yet another computer screen.

I’m scared I’ll lose this stubborn emotional attachment to physical books if I switch to an e-reader. The logical part of my brain thinks I’m crazy.

Much of this same logic applies to music and video games (and soon, movies?), as well. I have dozens upon dozens of console and PC games on disc, but only a few downloaded purchases. I have hundreds of CDs, but less than a handful of albums* bought with iTunes. The CDs are in boxes, and never looked at, but I continue to buy them. Shit!- I bought one today.

OK, so maybe I can drop the physical music infatuation. Maybe, once NZ Internet allows it and premium titles become downloadable, I can switch to virtual game purchases.

But books? I’m still not convinced.

Wait – perhaps I can argue that charging an e-reader’s battery contributes directly to global warming?

* I have never bought a “single” online, believing albums are meant to remain just that. That’s another topic.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen

This is a truly epic fantasy series from Steven Erikson; I’ve been reading it for months and I’m only on the third book! Seriously seriously brilliant stuff though.

• Book 1: Gardens of the Moon
• Book 2: Deadhouse Gates
• Book 3: Memories of Ice

I’ve got another five books to go after those, and two more releasing in the future. (On that note, I’m still waiting for George R.R. Martin to finish Dance with Dragons…)

Fight Night Round 4 ~ Xbox 360

A worthy purchase but not without problems, Fight Night 4 is a lot of fun for the most part but becomes a little frustrating due to the too-challenging training mini-games which eventually result in your undefeated boxer being worse on-paper than your opponents. It’s still possible to win at this point, but you have to fight conservatively since it’s too difficult to knock the other guy out.

Born to Run ~ Chris McDougall

This is a really interesting read even if you’re not into running, although you will appreciate it more if you are. The majority of the story revolves around the Tarahumara, a near-forgotten Mexican tribe who, despite their isolation, live in a way that makes them world-class endurance runners.

Tales of Vesperia ~ Xbox 360

Felt like playing an RPG so picked this up recently, along with Eternal Sonata (which I haven’t played yet). I’m only a few hours into Vesperia, so it’s really still in RPG-introduction mode, but it seems decent enough so far.

Various cycling & running books

I’ve been doing a lot of cycling and running this year so have actively taken even more of an interest in learning about things like technique, physiology and nutrition than ever before. Here’s some of the better books I’ve been referring to:

• The Runner’s Body presented by Runner’s World
• The Cyclist’s Training Bible by Joe Friel
• The Triathlete’s Training Bible by Joe Friel
• The Lance Armstrong Performance Program by Chris Carmichael & Lance Armstrong

Chris and I got talking about Twitter a couple of weeks ago for some reason or another and I decided I’d register to see if I would use it.

I gained a new appreciation quite quickly once I realised that Twitter is, more or less, an abbreviated blog.

For someone that doesn’t have a desire to dedicate too much time to writing, Twitter is a great compliment to this blog. I can post summarised random thoughts (hoping that they are interesting) that I would never usually bother to write about in full because the effort required by me exceeds the reward to the reader.

So, follow me on Twitter – you’ll find that I’m alive after all.

A Song of Ice and Fire ~ George R.R. Martin

This is actually four books (with part three being split into two volumes).

• A Game of Thrones
• A Clash of Kings
• A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow
• A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold
• A Feast for Crows

Well. I was more or less addicted to each of these volumes whilst reading them, and am very much looking forward to the next edition, A Dance with Dragons. I’d go so far as to say that this series is probably my all-time favourite book.

The books are written in a way that each chapter is devoted to a certain character and yet Martin has an uncanny ability to make every chapter and every character interesting in its own right. The story is epic in nature and the important characters number in the dozens and yet it all feels effortless.

I recommended this very, very highly. The only downfall is that there is still three unpublished volumes to come.

50 Marathons 50 Days ~ Dean Karnazes

Running 50 marathons on consecutive days caught my eye as a rather extreme thing to do. Turns out Dean Karnazes is a rare breed of runner, one who partitipates in severe endurance events ranging from 50 to 200 and more miles. 50 Marathons chronicles Karnazes’ successful attempt at running 50 marathons in 50 days in each of the U.S.A.’s 50 states. It’s an easy and inspirational read.

Watchmen ~ Alan Moore

I’ve never read a graphic novel before, so Watchmen seemed like a good place to start considering its status as one of Time Magazine’s “100 English-language Novels from 1923 to the present”. It’s a definite read, but it came across to me as something that may have felt a lot more like genius when it was first released in 1987. Reading it for the first time over 20 years later, some of the novel came across as a little predictable; but that may not be Watchmen‘s fault.

Ultramarathon Man ~ Dean Karnazes

More from Karnazes; this is actually his first book, but I read it after I read 50 Marathons. Ultramarathon Man tells the story of some of the extreme distance events that Karnazes has survived, including running a 200 mile relay race by himself. Again, an easy and inspirational read.

It’s not about the bike ~ Lance Armstrong

True to its name, It’s not about the bike is about more than just cycling (although cycling is covered too, and it’s quite interesting). Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1997 and this book goes into great detail on his cancer treatment and manages to tell the story of a truly inspirational comeback to the world of professional cycling without ever sounding like a fairy tale. I plan to read the follow-up book, Every Second Counts, in the near future.

The Children of Hurin ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I’ve read various other books from J.R.R. Tolkien including classics The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but also the more biblical and complicated The Silmarillion. The Children of Hurin is probably a little more along the lines of The Silmarillion, in that it’s more of a tale than an adventure, although it is certainly an easier read than The Silmarillion is. There’s a lot of history and lore mentioned that could have potentially made it difficult to follow, but that isn’t really the case. Certainly worth reading for fans of Tolkien’s other work, if only to get a taste of the the early age of the world, thousands of years before Bilbo and Frodo’s adventures.