Since I bought my iPad I decided that I ought to try reading on it to see how it feels and whether or not I like it. I decided to download a couple of things that in the past have only been available as an e-book to kill two birds with one stone.
I decided to read UR by Stephen King first, because it had only been available as a Kindle download for ages. I don't have a Kindle but luckily there is a Kindle app, which I downloaded so that I could read this. It was all pretty simple, and once I had downloaded my book, I was ready to go.
At first, I actually felt pretty hesitant about reading it. It didn't feel like the right time, or I wasn't comfortable, or something. In the end I decided to just start reading it at work and go for it. It was okay. I didn't like the Kindle app as much as the iBooks app, because it looks less like a real book and is more like reading a PDF. Then I decided to finis reading the rest of the book when I got home. Eventually, it got late and so I decided to switch the iPad to white on lack mode for reading in the dark, which was actually pretty cool, and I ended up finishing the book. I wanted to add a screenshot of this, however it doesn't look like I can take one of the night mode, so whatever.
I wouldn't say I disliked reading on the iPad, but it was definitely a different experience. There was a strange sense of the unknown, in that I had no idea how far through the book I was unless I checked the cursor at the bottom of the screen. Which isn't a problem, really. The app also kept my place in the book, so that whenever I closed the app, my place was kept when I re-opened it. I think that these things probably impacted me more than reading from a screen, as I'm quite a physical reader. I fold pages and I crack spines. If I come away from reading a book and it's in perfect condition, I feel like I haven't properly absorbed it. I tend to keep most of my books, but I treat them badly while I have them.
Anyway, onto the story itself. Funnily enough, this is a story about an English professor who decides to buy a Kindle to impress his ex-girlfriend. His Kindle arrives in an unmarked box with no paperwork, and is also pink instead of white, like everyone else's. At first he doesn't question this, however when he visits the Kindle store he finds an unpublished work by Earnest Hemingway for sale, and his mind is blown. He shares this information with a colleague and a student and together they figure out that this Kindle is somehow a portal showing books and news from alternate realities. One of the options is to look to future news, which is when Wesley discovers that something terrible is about to happen. Should he interfere, and break the Paradox Laws, or should he wait and see what unfolds?
I really liked this and did a little cheer inside when I saw that this linked into the DarkTower universe (yay!) It was quite short and sweet, but that's okay, it was more of a novella than a novel. Makes me want to get back into the Dark Tower again. Maybe I will. Still haven't read The Wind Through the Keyhole.
Next: back to real books and time to finis How to Stay Sane by Philippa Perry.
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