Printed Books and E-Books

I have come across an interesting article on the future of books in The Australian newspaper.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/the-future-of-books/story-fnay3ubk-1226235382359

Knowing God: J. I. Packer – Free Audio Book Download

For the month of January 2012, ‘Knowing God (audio book),’ by J. I. Packer is available for free download from christianaudio.com. To take advantage of this great offer visit the link below.

http://christianaudio.com/knowing-god-j-i-packer

No More Bookshops???

The following article from Australia’s newspaper ‘The Australian,’ reports on small business minister Nick Sherry’s opinion that there will be very few offline bookstores in the future. Bookshops will be largely an online business. What do you think?

See the article mentioned above at:
http://goo.gl/tQ8Hu

 

Ebooks: Not There Yet?

The following article Wired lists five reasons as to why ebooks are not there yet. I would say that ebooks will never be the same as traditional books and they probably are never meant to be the same. I would also say you should probably never expect them to be the same. Television is not the same as going to the movies and never will be. I think waiting for ebooks to be the same as traditional books is to ensure you never use ebooks all that much. Just my opinion.

There are some useful considerations in the five points raised in the article – but there are also some fairly ordinary ones also, which suggest to me a bias against ebooks from the start. Being concerned that ebooks don’t allow you to use them in home design – I mean, really??? If that is a major concern with ebooks – you have to be kidding.

Some years ago I never thought I would ever like ebooks – I love them now and I don’t even have an ebook reader (I use by laptop) at this stage. I can see myself buying one in the near future – that would make ebooks so much more convenient to me. I could read one on a bus or ferry, I could read at work without too many difficulties (in my breaks of course), etc.

How many books can I now own? For a bibliophile like me ebooks are a dream come true. I have well over 1000 traditional books and I will soon eclipse that number in ebooks – many of which are old and out of print works which are very precious to me. These brilliant old books are now so accessible to me and I can store them all in such a small place. Fantastic I say.

See the article mentioned above at:

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/ebooks-not-there-yet/all/1

 

Bookmarks: What Do You Use?

The following article at AbeBooks.com is an amusing account of things found in books – presumably used as bookmarks. Its a short, good read.

http://www.abebooks.com/docs/Community/Featured/found-in-books.shtml

Why not share what you use for bookmarks in the comments section? Would be interested to read what you use.

 

Shelfari – Closing My Account

This is just a short message to say that I’m closing my account at Shelfari. Why am I doing this:

1. I have an account at Goodreads. I have been using both Shelfari and Goodreads alongside each other and just prefer Goodreads. Goodreads looks so much better and is far easier to navigate. Shelfari looks so old, dated and is slow and difficult to navigate in contrast to Goodreads.
    
2. The reading group I had at Shelfari was terrible to use. I have started one at BookClubIt, as mentioned in an earlier post – I am very happy with it and will use that instead.
    
3. I have offered the Reformed Reading group that I operated at Shelfari (there was no life in it anyway) to other members in the group to take over, so I have no more ties there. Shoould no-one take it up I will close that down also. There were only 9 members I think.
    
4. There is too much effort involved in running two mirror sites (sort of mirror) at both Goodreads and Shelfari. I would prefer to concentrate on the one and use my time more productively on other tasks – wesbites, blogs, etc.
    
5. Did I mention I dislike the Shelfari design a lot?

Anyhow, that is basically it I think. The only think left is to mention the sites I am at:

• Goodreads
   
• BookClubIt – At the BookShelf Reading Group

 

This Little Church Went to Market – The Church in the Age of Entertainment, by Gary Gilley

I have decided to start reading this book again. I have mentioned ‘This Little Church Went to Market’ in an earlier post in At the BookShelf and this is linked to below:

http://atthebookshelf.wordpress.com/2010/10/30/this-little-church-went-to-market-by-gary-gilley/

Back in October 2010 when I started to read this book I put it aside for some reason – I may have gone on holiday and forgot about it on my return. Anyhow, I decided to take it up again and then to read the two other books that come after it as per my original post. So that is my plan over the next few weeks and months.

This Little Church Went to Market, by Gary Gilley, was first published in 2002 by Xulon Press (ISBN: 1 5916 0049 9). The edition I have is that published as a paperback by Evangelical Press in 2010 (ISBN: 0-85234-596-8 & ISBN-13 978-085234-596-2). The book was revised and updated in 2006. My edition has 142 pages, so it isn’t a large book by any means.

So about to start reading the book – feel free to read it also and join in the discussion on it.

 

Book Group

I have added this book to read at the book group at BookClubIt. Please join in the discussion at the book group or add your thoughts here on the Blog.

At the BookShelf (book reading group at BookClubIt):
http://www.bookclubit.com/bookclub.php?id=404

 

The Book – Get a Copy

At Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2275230.This_Little_Church_Went_to_Market

At Shelfari:
http://www.shelfari.com/books/6229162/This-Little-Church-Went-to-Market-The-Church-in-the-Age-of-Enter

Purchase a copy of the book at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/This-Little-Church-Went-Market/dp/1591600499
http://www.amazon.com/This-Little-Church-Went-Market/dp/0852345968/

Or Visit:
http://www.monergismbooks.com/This-Little-Church-Went-to-Market-p-16471.html

 

Note: This is a completely independent review – I have received nothing for it.

 

At the BookShelf (Reading Club/Group)

I have started a book reading club/group in association with the Blog here – ‘At the BookShelf.’ The reading club/group will feature some of the books I post about here and will give opportunity for members to obviously discuss the books being read. This is something I’m quite excited about and look forward to seeing grow. I hope you will get involved with the club/group.

The reading club/group will also be networked with my websites, including the http://particularbaptist.com site, providing a social network feature that has been missing at the site for some time. In  doing so, I will also try to network the website, the Blog and the Facebook page into the particularbaptist.com community that is slowly being built. Please get involved – over time as the network grows, the interaction increases and the fellowship expands, I’m sure it will be a blessing to us all.

The book reading club/group is simply called At the BookShelf (the same as the Blog).

Visit at:
http://www.bookclubit.com/bookclub.php?id=404

 

Currently Reading: Progress Update – 03 June 2011

I have decided post a weekly update of my reading progress. I did post an update of what I was reading back in April, so this won’t be the first post of this kind. This will however be the first of regular weekly updates on my reading progress.

Some of the books below have been on the list since April, with very little progress due to a holiday break and a general break in reading activity over the last month or so. This is all set to change as I again get my head into a book or two.

My Current Reading List:

• History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent – Volume 1, by George Bancroft

• Life of George Washington – Volume 3, by Washington Irving

• The Sermons of the Right Reverend Father in God, and Constant Martyr of Jesus Christ, Hugh Latimer, Some Time Bishop of Worcester – Volume 2

• History of the English Baptists, from the Reformation to the Beginning of the Reign of King George I – Volume 1, by Thomas Crosby

• Memoirs of the Life, Times, and Writings of Thomas Boston, of Ettrick

• Bible and Bible Study

• The Joy of Reading, by Charles Van Doren

• Terrorism and the Illuminati – A Thousand Year History, by David Livingstone

• Post War – A History of Europe Since 1945, by Tony Judt

 

DailyLit: Read Books Via Email

If you like to read but have limited time to find a book to read, perhaps DailyLit could be the answer you’re looking for. Simply put, DailyLit sends you books to read via email.

Go to the DailyLit site and set up a profile, which doesn’t take long to do. You can then browse the book list and select the book you would like to read. You then set how often you would like to receive a portion of the book via email. Once you confirm that you want to receive the book via email, DailyLit will begin sending you portions of the book to read according to the settings you have set.

For more visit:
http://www.dailylit.com/