There are more than 750 people on the hold list for Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder. No waiting for me, however. I searched for the ePub version, checked it out, downloaded it to my laptop and transferred it to my Nook in less time than it took me to type these two sentences.
I could barely believe my good book-fortune last Saturday when I was searching the Library’s catalog of OverDrive e-pub books. I also scored – and I mean immediately scored – Dreams of Joy by Lisa See (330+ holds on the print version), Joy for Beginners by Seattle author Erica Bauermeister (130 holds), Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (21 holds) and What Alice Knew: A Most Curious Tale of Henry James and Jack the Ripper by Pamela Marantz Cohen. Five books checked out and downloaded in less than 10 minutes.
If you’ve looked for downloadable books, then you know that searching and browsing is not exactly effortless. When I’m looking for a book and I want it fast, I look at what holds I have on hardcover books, then go to the Digital Books search page and put the title in the “Quick Search” box. That’s how I quickly found (and grabbed) State of Wonder, Dreams of Joy and Joy for Beginners. Then I rounded out my vacation reading with a couple of mysteries from my “to-read” shelf in my GoodReads account.
I’ve pretty much got a love affair going with my e-reader and I’m thrilled that readers in Seattle can participate in our summer reading program for adults and get a chance at winning the newest version of the Nook. (What? You didn’t know that? Details here.) In addition to the five books on my Nook, I’m bringing a paperback copy of Just Kids by Patti Smith, which will come in especially handy for those few minutes at take-off and landing when the captain tells us to turn off our electronic devices.
Don’t worry SkyMall catalog, I’ll still find time to look at you, too.
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