The industry’s changing, that’s what they all say.
People don’t want to read paper all day.
They want to read Nooks and Kindles and phones
They want to read eBooks when they’re not at home.
“You can take your whole library to here and to there!”
“You can buy a new book without leaving your chair!
“You’ll never again be with nothing to read!”
(Unless you read books with astonishing speed.)
The hype is all good and the net is a-buzzing,
The lines between “indy” and “trad” are a-fuzzing,
It’s got to be good news for authors, they say,
There’s so many ways to be published today.
But a book is a book is a book is a book,
On paper or Kindle or iPad or Nook,
The story’s the same, however you read it.
(And if there’s a sequel, you’re still gonna need it.)
But back to the topic at hand for today,
eBooks are clearly not going away.
But the problem with eBooks is easy to see:
An eReader doesn’t just grow on a tree.
You actually have to go buy one, they say,
If you want to read eBooks when you are away.
I don’t have a Reader or laptop that works
My phone is not smart (but it’s got other perks).
My desktop is piled up with eBooks galore,
But I’ll never read them, it’s too much of a chore,
To sit at my desk and read into the night
When I’d rather be reading in bed with a light.
I promised I’d tell you the problems I see
With eBooks and iPads and technology
The answer is clear and I’m sure you’ll agree:
As it turns out, the problem with eBooks is me.
Jo Eberhardt is a writer of speculative fiction, mother to two adorable boys, and lover of words and stories. She lives in rural Queensland, Australia, and spends her non-writing time worrying that the neighbour's cows will one day succeed in sneaking into her yard and eating everything in her vegie garden.
Wonderful, Jo! Just wonderful! Definitely the best thing I’ve read this week!
Thank you! Some things just have to be told in verse, don’t you think? 🙂
That was cute. Not the ending I was expecting at all. lol
Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
I love this! But……I have to admit…..hubby just ordered a Nook for me on Cyber Monday. AHHHH!!!! I swore I would never! Here’s why……I don’t get to the library much. It’s just not one of those places I feel I can comfortably browse while two two-year olds are in tow. BUT, I can get library books downloaded onto a Nook! So I think I will actually read a lot more. And obviously I can buy books too. Much easier. And I can read in bed with a light. I just won’t technically be turning pages. Have I justified myself yet? LOL
Thanks!
(And don’t tell anyone, but I’d love an eReader. It’s our little secret.)
Amen sister. I have absolutely no interest in eReaders, and with each passing day more and more people are telling me I’m crazy. No way, reading a book is about the experience of holding it in your hand, turning the pages, reading yourself to sleep.
THANK YOU!
You’re welcome. 🙂
We bought the iPad, but it’s too bulky too take on vacations, too expensive to read in the tub. Maybe a nook or a kindle? Or maybe I’ll just buy more books. The one thing with real books is they can be read over and over, passed between friends. I hate saying, “I read this great book…I can’t lend it to you because it’s only on my iPad.”
That’s so true. And I’m a big fan of loaning and borrowing books to/from friends…
Fantastic. Very Seussian in flavor. This deserves to be more widely read.
Thanks! I’m overwhelmed by the number of people who’ve read it so far.
Agreed, very Seussian, very enjoyable!
Thankyou. I’ll be here all week. 🙂
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Love this! and I major ditto Bridget–lending books to people I trust is one of my favorite things about reading. Also, right now I’m having a hard time deciding what to give to an eBook convert, since I’ve decided to give books as presents this year.
I hadn’t really considered the issue of gift-giving when it comes to eBooks. It’s hard to put a ribbon around the interweb.
I brought my e-reader to bed with me and started reading 3 different books. E-readers are bad for someone with book-commitment issues.
…or a short attention span. 🙂
You really were channeling Theodore Geisel. Awesome post!
Thanks!
Really cute and awesome poem. 🙂
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!
What a clever poem. I have a laptop and smartphone, but the backlight makes my eyes tired when reading a lot of text. So my desktop is piling up with e-books too!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one!!
Great poem. I gave it a plug on FB and G+.
I gave up on lending books, because if they’re good enough to lend they’re good enough to re-read, and you can’t re-read books you don’t have anymore.
I have the opposite situation, in that I have a Kindle but very few e-books. The ones I do have are mostly free (late 19th and early 20th century, out of copyright) or written by people I know. My main use of the Kindle is as a writing tool. I put my drafts on it, mark them up (on the train, at work, etc.), make the corrections on the computer, and then start again. And it’s much easier to read than a computer screen.
You’re not convincing me I don’t need a kindle, Anthony. Just saying.
Thanks for sharing on FB and G+. I feel like a bit of a rock star.
A real book is the best, I say
But ebooks are the coming way
New Kindle books come every day
I finally bought one, what can I say?
Matching poetry with poetry, hey?
You don’t see that happen every day,
I guess this rhyming’s all okay,
But I’d rather a novel any day.
Love it!!! Hot Joe would NEVER EVER NOT IN A MILLION TRILLION YEARS let me have a Nook or any type of eBook. He says he’d go broke with all my reading. Good point. My mom used to write her name and a little tidbit on the inside cover saying if she liked it or not and pass it on and we all did that. Now she iPads it so I library it.
Have I mentioned before that your Mom (see what I did there?) is super cool?
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