#53 Finding Books Online. Where oh where?

There were actually several bookstores listed in the Houston directory that were fairly close to the Atascocita Branch. None of the small, independent stores listed had on online presence, Books by Rita had a page under construction. Bookstop and Crown books, at least the online addresses, were more lists of links for finding more books. Crown books seemed to be more into the religious books end of the business. Barnes and Noble is not too far from us at the Deerbrook Mall, and of course they have a huge online database where one can purchase books either at the store, or online sent to either your home or the store.

When looking for copies of used books, I used the book Katherine, by Anya Seton that I had read in the previous post. At Booksamillion.com, I found a paperback copy, used for $10.15, and one with library binding for $21.55. At Powell's, a used copy was $10.50. ALibris had copies from $1.99 to $10.75, and Bookmooch had no copies at all. A new copy at Barnes and Noble was $13.45.

I searched through several different websites, Amazon.com, Netlibrary.net and Bartleby.com, and did not find an audio version of Anya Seton's Katherine. It is an older book, it is a shame no one has thought to voice it. With the new non-fiction book by Alison Weir, titled, Mistrss of the Monarchy, the life of Katherine Sywford, Duchess of Lancaster, perhaps there will be a renewed interest in her story.

I downloaded an ebook from the Harris County Library site, titled Ammie,Come Home, by Barbara Michaels. This was another favorite book from my younger years, which I first read in a condensed Readers Digest version, and from which, a cheesy made-for-tv movie starring Barbara Stanwyck, was inflicted on the public at large. Anyway, I digress. I had some trouble with the downloading process, but eventually, the deed was done, and I sat in my uncomfortable desk chair, trying to read the screen. It was not a bad experience, The letters were large enough to be seen, and I can see where some people would find it advantageous to be able to read books, while on their computer, especially on your break at work, or needing some down time from your web designing. For me, I prefer a comfortable chair and the weight of a book in my lap, or the ability to read in bed, focusing on the story and tuning out the world. Holding a book is much more of joy to me then downloading it on to my computer screen.