Love love my kindle, but I have extreme book needs many people don't. I also love getting library books on it. Not sure how I'd feel about touch--I rarely need the keyboard, but the physical page-turning button is handy.

How easy is it on an e-reader to flip back and forth from the text to the glossary at the end?

It depends - if there are footnote links included in the text, ridiculously easy. If not, you'll need to bookmark the glossary, like Deana suggests, and it'll still be pretty easy. If you bookmark LOTS of places in a book, it can be annoying to get to the particular one you're looking for, but if the glossary bookmark is your only one it would not be hard. You wouldn't need to bookmark where you are, even: just go to the bookmark, then press the "back" button. (Though, now that I say that, I'm not sure there is such a button on the Kindle Touch: it'd have to be a menu, I guess, since hardware buttons are nonexistent on it.)

I may have to get Anathem on my Kindle just to test this for you. No other reason.

From what I understand, REAMDE is Stephenson in his more page-turner thriller mode, like Zodiac and Interface, which are not books needing glossaries. Anathem is Stephenson at his absolute geekiest. I think HE'S still recovering from writing it, thus his latest book going back to something a little easier, perhaps.

I rarely need the keyboard, but the physical page-turning button is handy.

I said this too, then I tried it. You only need to tap the edge of the screen with the same pressure you'd use to push the button to turn the page. It's just as easy to read one-handed as the keyboard. That was a big deal for me.

My Nook is only a week old, but I'm pleased with the readability. I reviewed some of the early e-readers forever ago, and the slowness of page turning made them impossible for me. I have assorted classics loaded on it, but the first thing I read was old H. Beam Piper.

I am irritated at the prices of the books for sale. Admittedly, most of the physical books I buy are used, but so many e-books that have had a number of paperback editions are priced at trade paperback levels or more.

Ginger, I was just talking about that with someone, that it irritates me that ebooks are so expensive, especially compared to actual books. I'm not the person who buys the $30 hardcover the day that it comes out, so the difference between the $15 paperback and the $10 ebook is irritating.

publishers claim that they are recovering the costs for marketing and the putting together of an ebook by charging these prices. Sure they aren't actually printing it, but there are costs to be recovered.

It doesn't seem like it should cost so much though.

I call bullshit on that. If that was true, then the prices would go down when they recovered their cost. And "putting together" an ebook just requires hitting the "covert to PDF" button. Hmpf.

Publishers need to start offering special features. Even with older books or dead authors, you get interviews and essays to include. It's not going to be expensive to add some new content to justify the price.

I will say that for books with expected small sales volume (total including e-books) there are a lot of fixed costs to recover - editing, layout, O&M etc. The marginal costs may zero, but unless total volume is high there are still fixed costs to be recovered. And Amy and I are one of those fixed costs. Don't e-books for non-best sellers replace paperback sales rather than supplment them? It is different if we are talking about a reprint or a book that recovered its fixed costs before going into ebook run. But with short print run recent books a $10 or $15 price may be as low as a publisher can afford for an e-book. And I do understand why a reader might expect a lower price. It is a real dilemma for the publishing industry.

A $5.00 price for Harry Potter would probably be profitable. Not for "Solving the Climate Crisis".

And Amy's suggestion of special features is a great one.

Typo, I agree with your analysis. I'm just annoyed when people lie to me.