I am smart about a lot of things, but about lots of other things? Not so much. Here are some statements I clearly remember making:
- “Nobody wants to see movies about comic book characters.” (c. 1988)
- “Nobody is going to buy books on a computer.” (c. 1994)
- “People like paper. Nobody wants to read on a plastic gizmo.” (c. 2003)
In other words, I stand by my book recommendations, but you really don’t want me picking stocks. The one upside here is that I am willing to admit when I’m wrong. True, I have yet to see a superhero movie, but I have been known to buy books on a computer. And though it pains me to admit it, I love my Kindle.
It started with travel. In the '90s I went to Asia a lot on business, and I would routinely take an entire second suitcase just for books. Realizing that this was no longer necessary was an absolute game-changer. More recently, I spent some time enjoying lengthy hospital stays, and oh boy, ebooks? Saved. My. Sanity. Because you do not want to be thrown to the tender mercies of the gift shop’s book selection.
And now, of course, there is the current challenging environment. How much would we all love to be browsing our favorite bookstores, or cruising the aisles—like kids in candy stores—of our branch libraries? But we can’t, so ebooks it is. You miss the feel of paper and the smell of printers’ ink? We feel your pain. But we’re hoping that a 30% discount, across the board through June 19, will make things just a bit easier to take.
If you need help with downloading our ebooks, have a look at this helpful page.