Sunday Salon

My Mac, iPhone and Reading

In June, Apple announced a free iDisk app for the iPhone. Users will have access to their documents currently stored on their iDisk. Since this time, I've been patiently waiting (well, sort of) for the release of this app. I keep my TBR List in an Excel spreadsheet and saved it to my iDisk. My list is way too long (with too many columns) to print. For awhile I've been thinking how I can make it more accessible (not only between my MacBook and iMac) when I'm browsing at the bookstore or library. This app will definitely come in handy.

In the meantime, I have decided to redo my cataloging system for my personal library. Last year I tried Book Collector and for awhile it met my needs. About two weeks ago my laptop hard drive died and instead of reinstalling Book Collector, I began searching for a new software program. That's when I stumbled upon Bookpedia. I love the iTunes feel of it. I can customize it, use tags, write notes and create Smart Libraries. Slowly, I'm adding my books to it.

On my TBR spreadsheet, one of my columns is "Date Added". I've always wondered how long it takes me to read a book since the time I added it to my list to the date I actually finished reading it. I'm date-driven (not to mention very visual), so may help me get the list down. In Bookpedia, for my recent purchases and going forward, I've included a "Date Purchased" column. I'm using the same reasoning as the date added in my TBR list. (By default, when I enter the book information to my database, that is the added date, regardless when I purchased it.)

This week, I received an e-mail from Barnes and Noble regarding the e-reader app for the iPhone. I've been intrigued with e-readers, so I immediately went to the app store and downloaded the app. I'm debating to download it to my laptop. I'm not sure if reading a book on my laptop (or desktop, for that matter) is something that I would enjoy doing.

I'm on the fence about purchasing a Kindle (although Amazon lowering the price has significantly pushed me towards "yes" than "no"!). I love the idea of a Kindle, the book prices seem to be fairly reasonable, and I've gotten over reading an actual book versus reading on a Kindle. Where I'm still stuck is purchasing a book versus borrowing books from the library. I love going to the library and love checking out a lot of books (which I've written several posts about). I'm thinking, my library habits may not change. Not all books I read, I want to own. I'm still thinking this one through.

I do have the Kindle app on my iPhone which I use to read sample chapters of books before adding to my TBR List (this alone has helped keep the list from expanding). I can't imagine reading an entire book on my iPhone though.

What about you? Do you read ebooks on your laptop? If so, how is it? Have you read an entire book on your phone? What was that like?

Happy Sunday everyone!