What book are you reading?

[Amanda]

just downloaded the secret keeper, and gone girl.

you just devour books amanda 

I've just had a drive to Melbourne & back to read through AND I'm incredibly lazy with an enormous tolerance for sloppy housekeeping! 

[cookie1]

DD I agree with you re Patricia Cornwell. Every time a new one comes out I hesitate before buying it.
Have you read any Kathy Reichs or JD Robb? Alex Kava is another one. I also like Katherine Howell, she is Australian and writes about paramedics. Camilla Lackberg writes great crime books too.

[gertbysea]

So  many books so little time.

Gert

[Cuilidh]

Have just downloaded Past Imperfect and Snobs - I think I've probably got enough books waiting for me to read now to keep me going for a while (so long as I don't read about any more on here, that is!).

[Delightful Den]

Cookie I like Kathy Reichs I have read some of her books.  I have not heard of the other two I wil check them out. Have you read any of Karin Slaughter?

[CreamPuff63]

So  many books so little time.

Gert

and so little money to match. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to just ditch a book if it wasn't interesting. I find because of the cost (even on the Kindle) I really have to keep reading until the end to see if it improves. If I was loaded I would just stop. Most books that I find a bit of a yawn haven't been worthwhile finishing anyway.

[courton]

I use the page 100 rule. If it does not grab me by page 100 it becomes neglected.

[gertbysea]

I alternate a goodie for a freebie. I choose the freebies that have at least 30  reviewers giving it 4 to 5 stars.  Doesn't always work I can toss the  crapola without guilt.   Sometimes I go for a classic I have read before , probably in high school,  and find I appreciate the writing more. We pay a lot more for books on Kindle than the US does. Thank you publishers and the government. Rudd wanted us to be the Smart country yet his government blocked the bill witch would have allowed books to be imported cheaper. 

Gert

[Jude59]

just downloaded the secret keeper, and gone girl.

you just devour books amanda 

I really quite enjoyed Gone Girl. Reading Rain Storm by Barry Eisler at the moment.  Enjoyed a previous one by him too "Rain Fall".

[gertbysea]

You got me started with the Eisler book Jude59, I remember reading  some of his last year.  So throwing caution to the winds I really read my daily freebie deals and downloaded at least 6 books from it just now.  http://www.ereaderiq.com/.

I need to get books for my DH and DD as they are on my account so what the he**, as they were all free. We can read or toss. Some days there is nothing of interest and some days there are several maybes .

Gert

[CreamPuff63]

When I first got my kindle most of the "expensive" books were around the $10 mark. I've noticed lately the price starting to creep up. I think the US are testing how much we will pay for an ebook. Time to set our limits and not budge.

[Amanda]

When I first got my kindle most of the "expensive" books were around the $10 mark. I've noticed lately the price starting to creep up. I think the US are testing how much we will pay for an ebook. Time to set our limits and not budge.

CP - I think you'll find that the US price is still low, it is the Aussie price that is high.  I'm not sure if that is because of the publishers adding a few $$ on for Aussie buyers or some form of duty. We pay more for books in this country than anywhere else I've been in the world and I think it is mostly due to taxes.
Ticks me right off. 

[gertbysea]

Amanda it is not so much the tax but the publishers grip on the parallel importing laws which prohibit the importation of cheap books from overseas publishers. These laws have been tried and tested in parliment many times and the government refuses to move  on it due to the powerful lobbyists for local publishers. This is a pet hate of mine and politicians are afraid to address it. Write to your local member and write again. What a bunch of wimpy wankers. I bet 80% never read a book . Ask why book sellers are  forbidden to import chaep books. Look what is happening to book shops.

In the Sallies second hand store the other day were hundreds of some of the newest books on sale for $3.00 or less. I guess a lot of people got E Readers for Christmas. It was very tempting but I really cannot go that route anymore and take up space. K Mart and Big W have books cheaper than you can buy online.

There is no reason for imported books to be so expensive here at all but for those laws. Publishing books in Australia can be an expensive business. Not so overseas.

Don't get me started. I have been writing about it for over 30 years!

My mother used to send me a boxes of books, sometimes a many as fifty at a time. They arrived in a canvas US parcel post locked bag. I would call my  friends and we would have a feast. The books went into circulation with each person initialling the inside cover and then we would donate them to the Red Cross.

Yes ,this was a way of extending their use and keeping them from landfill and yes, it probably saved some trees. The author did not, however, enjoy the reward apart from the initial sale though did they? Whereas they do get some from e books

John Howard open up the Music Publishing world  and Julia Gillard should do the same with books.


SOAP BOX! SOAP BOX!

Gert

[Cuilidh]

We pay more for books in this country than anywhere else I've been in the world and I think it is mostly due to taxes.
Ticks me right off. 

Amanda, when we lived in Hong Kong (c. 18 - 19 years ago now) books were extortionately expensive and the lending library (I knew of only one when we were there) had very strict limits on the number of books you could take out - apart from the fact that it was on a different island entirely from where we lived.  Funnily enough, there weren't that many second hand book shops around at that time either - I took up needlework to keep me quiet as finding books became such a pain.

[Amanda]

We pay more for books in this country than anywhere else I've been in the world and I think it is mostly due to taxes.
Ticks me right off. 

Amanda, when we lived in Hong Kong (c. 18 - 19 years ago now) books were extortionately expensive and the lending library (I knew of only one when we were there) had very strict limits on the number of books you could take out - apart from the fact that it was on a different island entirely from where we lived.  Funnily enough, there weren't that many second hand book shops around at that time either - I took up needlework to keep me quiet as finding books became such a pain.

I first went to Hong Kong 22 years ago (and have been back lots since) and was horrified by the utter dearth of book shops.  It has improved somewhat since then, but book shops are still thin on the ground there.I guess the Chinese are so busy working they don't have much time to read.
As Gert says - in the US, UK etc books are soooo much cheaper. And in Ireland most artistic endeavour (painting, music, writing etc) used not to be taxed at all. Not sure if that is still the case, though.