What's the Deal With... eReaders That Do EVERYTHING?

An internet rant is a beautiful thing. Because, why even be online, with all the anonymity that brings, and even attempt to contain all that angst. It's why we have comments on everything from blogs to Youtube to news stories. People need to complain! We have things on our chest and we've got to get them off...and our significant others are just plain tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.

In light of this, I decided to institute a new feature on the blog where I can bring up whatever's on my mind, be it terrible book covers, titles, ideas, bloggers (okay, probably just Pat), you name it and have some fun with it.

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I know, two "What's the Deal With" 's this week. I must be really grumpy. Finals does that to me.

Does anyone else find it a bit pathetic that the way we're selling eReaders these days is to make them anything but an eReader?


They now have internet access, games, apps, etc. An infinite possibility to waste time by doing anything other than read. Why do people hate reading so much?

I know, as a social-network-connected blogger, I should be embracing such things, but I obviously have enough things to keep me from reading, the primary reason for doing any of this.

And that's why I decided against the Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, and any other eReader that's not just for reading.

It's News To Me #29 - Online Articles I've Been Reading

I read a bunch of good articles this week, but decided to gather together the best ones...or possibly the only ones I could remember enough to find the link again. There's at least some possibility it's the first one. :)


YetiStomper reviews the Kindle Fire: I was so close to getting one of these, but decided against it for two reasons. 1. I'm easily distracted and I need an eReader that doesn't have a million things to keep me away from actually reading. 2. I've decided I need eInk especially because I want to be able to do LOTS of reading on this device. I'm going with the Kindle Touch.

Speaking of eReaders, the Nook Tablet reviewed: Jeff, at The Tattered Scroll, has been my go to for all eReader devices. He's reviewed most if not all and I really trust his opinion. He's actually the one who made me decide against the Fire, as you can see in the comments.

An Open Letter to Simon & Schuster: Seems like the publishing industry needs to get its act together. I'm sure it's hard to change bad habits when people are tripping over each other to get published and will bend over backwards to do what you decide.

25 Reasons Why Readers Will Keep Reading Your Story: I've become pretty addicted to terribleminds.com, the author Chuck Wendig's blog, lately. He seems to know what he's doing, or at least he's entertaining enough for me not care either way.

Angry Robot's new YA Imprint, Strange Chemistry: and a fellow blogger, Amanda Rutter, is out of the blogging game (to head said new imprint).

It's News To Me #35

It's that time again, finals start next week and I make no promises as to how many reviews I'll get out nor how many links will be included in the news segment. Because all of my classes are depending 100% on my final exams, I get a bit stressed at this time of year/semester. Just ask my wife, or better yet don't. :)

Cover Art

Covers like these make me want to read a book (Swanland is my hero):

Surrender to the Will of the Night (Instrumentalities of the Night Book 3) by Glen Cook [US] [UK]

Elfsorrow (Legends of the Raven Book 1) by James Barclay [US] [UK]

News

Brian Ruckley "Answers 8 Rad Questions" that aren't rad and can barely be considered questions. But he's a writer I guess, and of fantasy, so he's good at making things up. :D

The Nook Color is reviewed at Genre Reader. I probably won't get a reader for a while, but Jeff does a great job laying it down with his eReader reviews.

Sarah asks what was your "Gateway Drug" into Speculative Fiction - meaning that book that got you loving the genre, which you'll always love, but which in reality probably isn't the best book ever put to paper.

There's an exclusive excerpt of Orson Scott Card's new book (first in a trilogy), The Lost Gate. (thanks Yagiz).

I've been keeping up on Patrick Rothfuss's Worldbuilders project through donated, signed books and I think it's a great way to make this world a better place. If you have even a little to give, this is a great way to go.

On that note, Pat (Hotlist) is donating all proceeds from his links to Breast Cancer Research. You don't even have to do anything but buy your gifts through these links and you can help.

Oh, and he's not done...and others have things to say about that.

Movies/TV/Videos

I'm obsessed with Game of Thrones on HBO, I'm sure you can't tell, so here's a teaser trailer and if you follow this link, there are 9 other short clips to get you excited:

Clip Preview

And that's the news...at least to me.