Pictorial Webster's Giveaway

This gorgeous book is a compendium of the dictionary illustrations that appeared in Victorian-era Webster's dictionaries, and Chronicle Books is giving one away. Enter here. Contest ends November 15th.

More About The Nook, & E-Readers In General

Depressing news from the Times: You may only be able to loan out your e-books on the Nook one time. Here's the relevant quote:

One of the differentiating factors of the Nook is that customers can “lend” books to friends. But customers may lend out any given title only one time for a total of 14 days and they cannot read it on their own Nook while it is lent.

It makes sense to me that you wouldn't be able to read the book you loan out while it's lent; it's gone, just like a paper book. No complaints there. But you should be able to loan out books as many times as you like, because having bought them, you own them.

Music companies struggled with this concept when they ventured into digital files. Surely, they thought, we can control how users use the files! But it turns out users get very annoyed when DRM keeps them from burning a file to a CD, or listening to it on a second computer in their house, or whatever the digital lojacking scheme du jour is.

When are e-book sellers and e-reader manufacturers going to realize, just as iTunes and CD-makers finally did, that DRM just keeps people from wanting to buy their stuff?

Here is the e-reader and e-book scheme that will win my consumer loyalty forever:

1. An e-reader that reads ANY e-book I purchase, whether it's from Amazon or B&N or Bob's Tiny Dusty E-Book Emporium, and reads common file formats like PDF, E-Pub, and Word as well.
2. An e-reader that lets me install third-party apps, which is to say, an e-reader that is open to the internet to some extent. It's fine if the third-party apps have to be approved (so, for example, they can't be apps allowing me to rip pirated copies of e-books), as long as the approval process is reasonable.
   
3. An e-reader (and e-book format) that recognizes that once I buy a book, I own that book. I can lend it to someone else (although it seems reasonable enough that I can't read it while I lend it). I should also be able to give it to someone else, just as I can give a real book to someone in the real world. Again, I'm fine with enough DRM that when I do so, I no longer have access to the book.

I understand, I think, why e-book publishers are not happy with the idea of #3. If you loan a real book, you probably do so less promiscuously than you might loan an e-copy. If you give away a real book, it's a used copy, so you wouldn't do it, e.g., as a gift, and eventually the book falls apart. These real-world limitations on lending and gifting mean more sales for the publishers.

That said, if e-books catch on, and books can sell for less because of reduced printing and distribution costs, people will buy more books. I buy audiobooks constantly because they download quickly and they're very portable on my iPod. If e-books had the same format mutability (audiobooks can be ripped to CD for my car and played across multiple computers and devices), I would buy far more e-books than I do print books, because at the lower price with an instant download, I would view them as disposable entertainment.

Also, to some extent, publishers just need to accept that electronic formats for books are here to stay, and like music-makers, they are going to have to adjust to the risks of copying inherent in a digital marketplace. Right now, I could download bestselling books in digital format for free; I know where to look, and the e-copies are out there for the taking. I buy because it's right, not because I have to. But the more book publishers chain up electronic copies, the more tempting it is for people to get instant access by pirating, both because they feel less sympathetic toward book publishers as a result of the DRM and because buying an e-book takes on extra layers of complication and onerousness.

Free the books! And when you do... I'll buy them. That's the paradox of digital content, I guess. In the end, you have to trust your customers, and it's high time e-book and e-reader sellers learned that lesson.

Barnes & Noble's New E-Reader ($259)

Ohmygod. This? This is what I want for Christmas. Do I love "Nook," B&N's new e-reader system? Let me count the ways.

1. You can buy over 1 million e-books from B&N's bookstore, most $9.99 (and some less). Amazon only has 350,000 e-books available (actually, less, because that number includes other content available on the Kindle, like blogs).

2. Sexy design. Cute little color touch-screen at the bottom shows you your bookcovers in color and doubles as a typing surface for taking notes on books; reading screen is sensible black-and-white E-ink (I know I griped about the black and white screen on the Kindle and the Sony reader, but I think this is a clever mix of easy-on-the-eyes E-ink and hot color bookcover action). The Nook is a smidge thicker than the Kindle, which may actually make for easier gripping, and the page buttons are much more sensibly designed.

3. YOU CAN LEND BOOKS. Just like in the real world, you can lend what you buy to friends. Unlike in the real world, the content returns to you automatically in two weeks, which, if you've ever lent a beloved book and never seen it again, is actually sort of an improvement on real-world book-lending conditions. I also wonder if this won't make the Nook the first library-viable e-reader.

4. Promiscuous format. Do I mean the Nook sleeps around? Sorta, in the best possible way. You can lend your books not only to other Nook readers, but also to anyone with a Blackberry, iPhone, iPod touch, or computer. This is a rare moment of sanity in a "use my hardware only" -crazy e-book market. In addition to this hardware generosity, Nooks can read not only eReader-formatted B&N eBooks but ePub books, which includes every public domain book available free through Google Books. Also, the Nook reads PDFs without Kindle's tedious reformatting hassles.

5. Everything the Kindle has, and more. 3G network and WiFi? Check. Free samples? Audio capability? Dictionary, highlighting, note-taking? Check, check, check. It also has an expansion slot for a memory card allowing you to store up to 17,500 books on it (way more than the Kindle), and a replaceable battery.

6. Adorable accessories. No one really needs a hot pink Kate Spade cover, but still.

Ogle and/or pre-order at Barnes & Noble. Available in stores November 30th.

Asus To Join Sony & Amazon Kindle In E-Reader Market

The Kindle has been a bit of a lust object for this avid reader since it first came out. But the proprietary E-book format that locks you into Amazon-only content forever, plus clunky design, black-and-gray screen, and the depressing beige color made the whole thing seem... sad, somehow. Sony's E-Reader is cuter, better-designed, and embraces open formatting, but has a tiny bookstore and still, that gray-and-black screen.

Now Asus, maker of the Eee PC (which I have, tote everywhere, and adore), is jumping into the fray. It looks like it's going to be cheaper, in color!!!, and a dual-screen setup. I can think of so many uses for the dual screen -- running reference (Wikipedia and Dictionary.com) on the right while reading a hard book on the left; taking notes or even working on an essay or blog post about a book on the right while reading the book on the left; or just using both screens to double up on pages in a much more familiar two-page book format.

I'm not sure e-book readers will ever completely take the place of books. I, for one, am partial to reading trashy fiction in a bubble bath and on the beach, and e-readers are always going to be too delicate for that kind of abuse. But the Asus reader is moving in the right direction, I think: a form factor more familiar to readers, a move away from the depressing black-and-white format, and maybe a more affordable price.

Now if only Amazon would realize they're really not hardware people and open up the Kindle format to competing e-readers, we'd finally have a really good bookstore for e-books, too, and this blogger might finally feel reader to take the plunge.

Sixteen Free Romance Novels ($FREE)

To celebrate Harlequin's 60th anniversary, sixteen free guilty pleasures in PDF form. From Barnes & Noble.

Collected Poems, by CK Williams ($6)

CK Williams somehow gets a lot in one poem: roofers, the perniciousness of bureaucracy, nuclear terror, the end of the world, hope. Just for instance. Sometimes he's also funny, which I treasure in a poet. This is a great price for a collected. From Barnes & Noble.

Source, by Mark Doty ($4)

I really don't feel competent to explain why I love Mark Doty's poetry so much; I will say that I love the way he takes the ordinary and the ephemeral and reveals the gorgeousness underlying it. This book has one of my favorite poems of his, "At The Gym." From Barnes & Noble.

Good Poems For Hard Times ($4)

The nice thing about anthologies is that there's no commitment necessary; just dip in here and there for a bracing dose of poetry. Garrison Keillor usually picks, in my opinion, solid poems that are also accessible, so this is a good choice for a poetry beginner. From Barnes & Noble.

Back To Basics: A Complete Guide To Traditional Skills ($17)

This book is my bedtime reading right now. If you want to know how to weave a basket, plow a field, make your own soda pop, or build a barn, this is your book. Great pioneer fantasy fodder, with charming illustrations that will remind you of old children's textbooks. Hardcover.

From Amazon

Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry ($25)

The editor of this anthology is a brilliant poet in his own right, and the 39 writers included are crazy talented. This is a must-read if you're interested in Arab-American Lit, or if you just want to expand your poetic horizons. From University of Arkansas Press.

Unleashed: Poems By Writers' Dogs ($10)

This looks like a fun present for anyone who likes dogs and poems. And what a great cover, no? From Amazon

Cast Iron Bird Step Bookends ($50)

Fabulous job here of combining industrial and natural, antique and modern; these are so versatile, they'd work well in almost any decor scheme. From Chatchada.

OLPC XO and Amazon Kindle ($400)

At first glance, these products don't have a lot to do with one another. One's a stripped-down, rugged children's PC originally developed for third-world countries ("OLPC" stands for One Laptop Per Child, the nonprofit manufacturer's ultimate goal); one's a top-of-the-line E-Book reader intended for yuppies. But they have more in common than their price point (a cool $400): crossover functionality for both devices means they have a wide appeal, and they're both hot items for Christmas 2007.

The OLPC XO

Running on open-source software (which can be customized and then restored using included tools), it includes word-processing and other simple productivity software, a handful of games, and a super-powerful wireless receiver/transmitter (that's what those cute little antennae do). Its innovative screen works in three positions depending on use, one of which is a position ideal for both gaming and reading E-Books—and unlike every other laptop on the planet, it's completely readable in direct sunlight, thanks to an inventive mono mode. The whole shebang weighs in at three pounds, has an included handle, and can survive coffee spills on the keyboard as well as dropping from a height of four feet.

Downsides: The OLPC XO's kid-friendliness means adults are going to have to retrain their chunky fingers to use the teeny keyboard, and its stripped-down style means there are no fancy extras like a CD/DVD player. Its smallish flash memory also means you really can't store enormous files on the hard drive (do we store big files on ultra-portable PCs, though?).

The Amazon Kindle

Widely lauded as the first really decent E-Book reader, it's also readable in sunlight, thanks to its "electronic paper"-style display. Mad power management skillz make it possible to use continuously for 24 hours with wireless on before you have to recharge. And in addition to being able to buy E-Books from Amazon.com, you can get your newspaper subscriptions delivered wirelessly to your Kindle, check 250 pre-loaded top blogs that continuously update, and consult Wikipedia.

Downsides: The Kindle doesn't actually let you surf the internet freely (only those pre-loaded blogs, Wikipedia, and whatever content you purchase through Amazon), despite having free wireless access. It has no color mode, and using it to surf free E-Books available on the net and/or PDFs is either impossible or very difficult, depending on who you ask.

The Verdict

The OLPC XO has two huge advantages: you have access to the whole web, and because the OLPC XO is available only through a "Give One, Get One" program, a tax-deductible $200 of your $400 purchase sends a laptop to a needy child. The ruggedness and size makes it a great potential ultraportable device for grownups, and an even better My First Laptop for your kid. Don't forget that OLPC XOs are only available for purchase in the U.S. until December 31st, 2007. After that, the "Give One, Get One" program closes down and the laptops are only available through mass purchase to international programs.

The Amazon Kindle has its advantages, too: it's a very easy system for purchased E-Books, probably the easiest one out there. Its variable text size tool means it's a particularly good purchase for older readers who might want large print and prefer something easier to operate than a full-featured computer. Just don't expect to surf the web on it.

Neither retailer, thanks to huge demand, can absolutely promise Christmas delivery, so if you're planning to gift (or own!) either the OLPC XO or the Amazon Kindle, be sure to order ASAP for the best chance at getting your mitts on it in a timely fashion.

Simple Sewing ($18)

Lotta Jansdotter, a crazy-talented illustrator, is behind this easy DIY sewing book. That's enough to sell me, but if you need more, it's got 24 projects and ten free patterns. See? What did I tell you? Originally $25.

Extra! Book Sale at Amazon

Amazon's having a 70% off booksale. Like all book sales, this one has lots of dreck, but also some good stuff. Aforementioned good stuff is listed below.



Melissa's Great Book of Produce: Everything You Need to Know about Fresh Fruits and Vegetableshas produce self-help for cooking newbies and lush photography for food geeks. $12, down from $30.








Body Type: Intimate Messages Etched in Fleshcovers tattoos that focus on typography. Perfect for designers or tattoo fans. $8 down from $20.








Writers: Photographsis a great coffee table book for writers or readers, with 104 gorgeous photos of famous writers. A steal at $16 for a hardback, down from $40.








Pedaling to Hawaii: A Human-Powered Odysseyis a true and funny account of two novice adventurers who crossed the world using only human-powered vehicles: bicycles and pedal-powered boats. $10, marked down from $24.






The Penguin Book of International Women's Storiescovers fiction from all genres and an impressive array of cultures. $7 marked down from $16.








In Greek Lyric Poetry: A New Translationpoet Sherod Santos presents fresh, compelling retranslations of a wide range of classical Greek lyric poetry. Now $7, down from $16.








The Best American Series 2006 - Silver Gift Box (The Best American) gives you the Best American Spiritual Writing, Best American Travel Writing, and Best American Short Stories for 2006 for the bargain-basement price of $16.