OTOH, have not actually deleted any of the e-books I've read on my laptop. Or gotten an e-reader of any type. So this is all just theory.

I'm not sure about the other e-readers, but on the kindle even if you delete a book you have bought from amazon, they remember you bought it and you can upload it again. I want one badly.

Fictionwise allows you to download your books multiple times in different formats (for most of them), without DRM (when the publisher allows).

The Kindle sounds really slick. The iPad seems really versatile and with apps it can do Kindle and I believe Adobe ADE eBooks too along with being a general purpose device, it's heavier than I thought though. Since my reading is primarily on my back holding it over me, or outside while the kids play or have soccer practice (where the screen will get washed out) I don't think it would work for me, also I like the idea of days of battery life instead of hours. I like the Kobo Reader for it's price ($150) but it's probably the least slick in terms of user experience. Don't know enough about the nook.

Oh well, I don't have enough time to read to justify any of them.

The Kindle is very slick, interface-wise. My only real complaint with it is exactly what Jessica mentioned earlier - they seemingly intentionally make it difficult to put library eBooks on it. Most libraries use either DRMed Mobipocket or Adobe DRMed ePub books (the NYPL has some of both). It is possible to get the Mobipocket books on a Kindle without breaking the DRM at all (the books actually disappear after two weeks, the way they are supposed to) but not the ePubs, as far as I can tell. And Amazon intentionally makes it difficult to put the Mobi ones on your device by hiding the Kindle's PID (a number you need to activate the DRM on Mobi books) instead of making it easy to find.

Still, I figured out the process. It involves running a script on your kindle to find the PID, giving the PID to the library, downloading the files, and running one small script on them to make the Table of Contents readable on the Kindle. Then copying to the Kindle. Not a terrible process, but certainly not as intuitive as I'd like it to be.

I regularly strip the DRM off of my Kindle books and back them up as unprotected MOBI books on my own hard drive, but that's more for my own sense of ownership than any actual need.

Last week I was reading a book that made me laugh a lot. It's called "Sweater Quest"; the author is a writer who knits as a hobby. She'd decided that in the space of a year she'd knit a fiendishly difficult sweater and write about it. She'd met another writer whose subject was knitting at a convention and stayed in touch with her through the internet. The author contacted the other woman about getting some of the necessary yarn. At one point she headed off to stay with this other woman and her husband is concerned. The section of the book had her husband asking if she knew the woman. The author replies "I met her once. She sent me yarn. Besides, if she kills me and buries me in the backyard, she'll probably blog about it."

At which point I was chanting, "one of us, one of us".

Hee.

I just started reading Moby Dick. I'm actually enjoying it!

Hec, if you have not yet ordered from Amazon UK, check out and see if whatever you are ordering is available from Amazon Canada. No guarantees, but much of Amazon UK is available on Amazon Canada, and the shipping is reasonable compared to UK, and the conversion costs - well I don't know seemed reasonable at the time.

Oh hey! Dear Polter-Cow! If I PayPal you, would you be willing to pick up a copy of Changeless and have Gail Carriger sign it for me?

Oh! Absolutely, of course! And then mail it to you? Or are you going come pick it up? Yeah, you should do that; it's more fun.