Monday, September 14, 2009
Tools for Busy Book Lovers
I'm a book lover at heart. But, like all moms, I barely have 2 seconds to rub together, let alone read (unless something is sacrificed, usually sleep)! But I’ve recently been inspired to find ways to permanently fit reading into my busy schedule.I've blogged before about periodically rediscovering my passion for reading. Although I must confess it was the Twilight series that did it this time, I'm in one of those wholly satisfying phases where I'm enthralled by stories.
For me, it all comes down to accessibility and availability in the little time I do have. Here are some tools that have worked for me:
Kindle - A convenient, portable reading device with the ability to wirelessly download books from amazon.com. I also like that Kindle lets you download and read a sample for free so you can decide if you want to buy it or not. Best of all, with the text to speech function, you can continue "reading" where you left off in the car! And, Kindle books can also be read on your iPhone.
Barnes & Noble eReader – The Barnes & Noble eReader is a free application you can download to read Barnes & Noble eBooks on your iPhone, Blackberry, PC or Mac. With the Barnes & Noble store behind the eReader, the selection rivals that of amazon.com. There's also the original eReader and Stanza for the iPhone. And, Calibre is a great program for your PC or Mac to organize all your ebooks, convert them into different formats and sync with iPhone through Stanza.
Audio books – There's nothing like audio books to make the commute go faster. And, with the right book and a good narrator, they can be quite entertaining! I listened to the entire Harry Potter series on CD - the narrator, Jim Dale, won a Grammy for his performance.
DailyLit.com – This is such a fun website! DailyLit sends books in installments via e-mail or RSS feed. They have a large free selection or a Pay-Per-Read option. You can read your installments wherever you receive e-mail/RSS feeds, including on your Blackberry and iPhone. Installments arrive in your Inbox according to the schedule you set.
And, of course the traditional paperbacks also work for me, as I carry around my current book with me to get in a few pages at lunch, in line, etc. I think as moms it’s important to find a least a little time for ourselves. I not only find myself refreshed and relaxed after reading a good book, I know I’m teaching my kids that reading is fun. Please share any tips you’ve discovered to squeeze reading into your busy life.
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