Anybody using Kindle to read travel lit?

[John]

Do any of use use an eReader device such as the Kindle to read your favourite travel books? Do you take it with you on holidays? Just interested in finding out if these new devices are being used by lovers of travel literature.
John

[Harvey]

Not me! It would take out the strain of carrying a Sisyphean load.

[John]

Harvey, I guess you get used to weight of all those books eventually :-)

[Harvey]

Well... I don't believe in all the nonsense of going to the gym. Wastes valuable drinking time. Carrying books around the world is exercise. Last month I finally got into a cupboard (the key had been lost) and rediscovered lots of old treasures including the Spectator book of travel writing , recommended and all of Chekhov, a great deal of Tolstoy, Pushkin, Lermontov etc., some art books and a series of science books (translated from Russian). The Russian volumes I bought for a song in 1991 at the Cairo Book Fair. Apart from the art books I paid an average of LE 1.50; about 15 pence (UK), say 25 cents per book!
Am I glad I found a good locksmith!

[Paul]

FREE book Download for limited time. Get yours NOW:

http://www.lulu.com/product/file-down...

[Rdonn]

I'm new to using Kindle. I find most books I want are actually more expensive for the Kindle than a "used" book!! So I've limited what's on it, and unfortunately very few travel books I want to read are inexpensive on Kindle. I've been very disappointed.

[John]

You would imagine imagine that Kindle books would be cheaper that print versions but that doesn't seem to be the case for many of them. I think if they come from traditional publishers, then they charge the same as the print version while independant authors will change less, usually under three US dollars.

John Dwyer, author of High Road To Tibet - Travels in China, Tibet, Nepal and India.

[Rdonn]

Thanks, I just ordered your book!!

[John]

I have a Sony, not a Kindle, but yes I read travel narrative books on it - currently Lost and Found in Russia: Lives in the Post-Soviet Landscape.

[John]

Thanks so much Rdonn! I'd be very interested in hearing what you thought of it.
John

[Murray]

I also use a Sony Reader to read travel stories. I'd suggest that travel writers prefer Sony, but my book Dragon Bones: Two Years Beneath the Skin of a Himalayan Kingdom is more ethnography than travel.

Thinking more, the benefit of the Reader doesn't really apply to travel writing for me. I don't tend to read travel when I'm on the road. I'm too involved in what's going on around me.

[John]

Hi Murray. Interesting, why would you say they prefer Sony? You're right about reading while on the road, I guess most people would be enjoying enjoying their travels rather than reading about them.

John Dwyer, author of High Road To Tibet - Travels in China, Tibet, Nepal and India.

[Murray]

It was a throw away comment driven by my frustration at Amazon's business practices regarding ebooks, but I love my Sony because I can edit and annotate what I'm writing without having to be ruining my eyes sitting at the computer.

Julia, both the Sony and the Kobo use Adobe's epub DRM so you should be able to get exactly the same set of books on each. One book store may have a better selection than the other, but you can use the books you buy at each on both devices if you have them both registered with the same Adobe account.

[Murray]

You'll need to register the Kobo with Adobe before you can view DRM books on it.

[John]

I never thought of checking out Sony's or Kobo's offering when it came to eBooks, I'm afraid I've been blinkered by Kindle. I'll have a look at their travel offerings now though, thanks for the suggestion.

John Dwyer, author of High Road To Tibet - Travels in China, Tibet, Nepal and India.

[Rachel]

I take my Kindle everywhere - on holiday and at home. It's great to be able to buy a new book for the plane without being limited by the selection in airport bookshops :)

[Glenn]

I read Kathryn Schulz's Being Wrong on my iPhone while in Swaziland. For whatever that's worth.

If anybody's interested in reading about Brazil's Estrada Real, "Journey on the Estrada Real: Encounters in the Mountains of Brazil" is available in Kindle, Nook, and iBooks editions. Unlike the printed edition, it has photos. It's also a lot cheaper.

[John]

What's it like reading on the iPhone? I imagine it's hard going, small screen and what.
John

[Glenn]

John (et al):

I was amazed at how easy it was to read the phone. I didn't expect to like it at all, and I'm absurdly opposed to using the phone for anything at all. (I can barely use the thing to make phone calls.) But I was desperate for something to read and elated when I found a hotspot in a city and it occurred to me that I could get myself a book in a matter of seconds. It was actually very easy to read on the phone -- easy to hold, easy to read.

[John]

The Kindle and Sony T1 have the ability to download library books directly to those devices. Recently, the woman sitting next to me on the bus was kind enough to show me the book she was reading on her phone after I asked about it, which displayed nicely; she said, and I'd agree, that it's not great as a primary reading device, but as a backup when you need something it's fine.
This begs the question of whether one considers a book of reminiscences of "I was an expat in (this place)" to be "travel writing"? I do, for the most part, though it's not the same as "I went there, and here's what I saw and did."

[Harvey]

John wrote: "The Kindle and Sony T1 have the ability to download library books directly to those devices. Recently, the woman sitting next to me on the bus was kind enough to show me the book she was reading on..."

On the 'I was an expat...' question. I AM an expat. I dare say the world will one day see something more from me than journalism/PR work. The expat, assuming he/she has intelligence can bury deep inside the psyche of the place/culture more than the traveler. Understand in depth the divisions or lack of them on religious/social/tribal lines. The traveler passes through and of course the dividing lines can be very blurred insofar as some of the best travel writers have very penetrating minds. Gertrude Bell, Richard Burton... traveler or expat?
Another blurred distinction!

[John]

An "expat" to me means the person has moved to another place, with that location as their permanent (or at least long term) residence.

[Harvey]

John wrote: "An "expat" to me means the person has moved to another place, with that location as their permanent (or at least long term) residence."

Exactly! That is what makes Burton and Bell expats, though they are classed as travelers.
But not Gypsies!

[Glenn]

To go back to reading on a kindle or iphone. I don't read my travel books on them but, when I'm traveling I now take all my travel guides - Lonely Planet or recently a Brandt guide to Ghana that was good - and I definitely carry them and use them only on my iphone. That's been really really useful. Still like a good ol' book to bring along too though, despite the extra weight in my backpack.

[John]

I need a print book to read at takeoff and landing (no electronics), as well as breakfast buffets, where I don't leave my e-reader on the table.
I don't see why reading a travel narrative on a trip is much different than any other non-fiction?

[Veronica]

John wrote: "An "expat" to me means the person has moved to another place, with that location as their permanent (or at least long term) residence."
To me an expat is someone who "has moved to another place, with that location as their permanent (or at least long term) residence" but still defines him- or herself in terms of the place he/she left. This is why I never call myself an expat. I'm an immigrant.

But I don't see how being either an expat or an immigrant disqualifies you from being a traveller.

On topic: I'm reading Black Lamb and Grey Falcon on my Kindle, which feels kind of weird :)

[John]

My library added Black Lamb and Grey Falcon to their holdings as an ebook at my request, but I haven't found the right time to tackle it yet.

[Lori]

Yes, I do a lot of travelling and my Kindle saves me luggage space and backache – essential! If anyone is looking for interesting reads, I have 2 travel e-books out:
Churchill: Navigating bugs, belugas and polar bears

and

Jordan: A Different Middle East

$2.99 each

[Alison]

Hi, I am new to the group and I hope this is the right place to post this. There is a book called "For Fukui's Sake: Two Years in Rural Japan" available for free on the kindle right now. It has been on my Amazon wish-list for a while and I just noticed it was free. Wanted to let you all know!

[Priti]

I have a kindle and I am currently reading The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux, on it. The main reason I picked up a kindle was so that I could use it on my travels and reduce the luggage weight, so yes. :)

[John]

I have a Sony that handles EPUB format, rather than Kindle, but am currently in the middle of Mediterranean Winter: The Pleasures of History and Landscape in Tunisia, Sicily, Dalmatia, and the Peloponnese (a downloaded library book), which I think folks here might appreciate.

[Anja]

I use the sony reader, next to the joy of being able to take 20, 30, 50 books with me on holiday I found a lot (very old, which I love!) travelstories for free to download!