The Virtual Bookshelf

I remember that last Spring I raised the question, what books reside in a permanent place of honor on your bookshelf? You know, those books that you re-read time and again. That special bookshelf. On my own shelf I reported several, including:

The Great Plains, by Walter Prescott Webb.
The Eternal Frontier, by Tim Flannery.
Wicked, by Gregory Maguire.

And those three are still there, with a few others. And some poetry.

But times they are achangin’. I am now building a virtual bookshelf of e-books. Works I’ve found to be, from my perspective, unusually good. Things I'll read over and over. So far, I've found two:

Here on Earth, by Tim Flannery. Yes, another Flannery. His description of a holistic concept of the earth, in contrast to the reductionist views of Darwin or Dawkins, is just excellent. Deserves visiting again and again.

The Social Animal. The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement, by David Brooks. I know hims from the Brooks and Shields segment on PBS. Yes, he’s a Conservative and that’s not quite my style, but he writes a thought-provoking book.

So, now both of these reside on my virtual bookshelf in the cloud, wherever that may be, and I can call them up on my iPad when I want to refer to them.

Is this the future?

The poetry I'd rather hold in my hand.

Dac Crossley
November 20,2011

“The tragedy of life is not that the beautiful things die young; it is that they grow old and mean.” – Raymond Chandler.

Comments

[Mac Jr.]

Hey Dac-

My indispensable books are as follows:

1) Moby Dick

2) The Border Trilogy by Cormack McCarthy

3) All of the Kurt Vonnegut novels

4) Soil Biology Guide edited by Daniel Dindal

Moby Dick still stands as one of the most amazing works of American fiction, and I don't care what anybody else says! The Border Trilogy has some of the most beautiful imagery and raw savagery in recent American fiction. And, Vonnegut is odd and funny, and great story-telling.

The Soil Biology Guide needs no justification!

[irene black]

I've lived with books all my life. Each time I open one there is a special thrill, but like many others I find myself downloading e-books especially those I know I'll only read once and have discovered some jewels I wouldn't have found otherwise.
Cost is another factor for a retired person who seems to only have her nose above water each time the proverty stats are issued. it was true in 1964 and remains true today when I'm outside the second job range.

[Dac Crossley Jr.]

Well, Ive downloaded more e-books than i an keep up with. One advantage of print - it sets there on the shelf staring at you, making you feel guilty. E-books are easy to ignore.

Dac

[Caroline Clemmons]

I do have a few books I just want to hold in my hands too. But I'm finding some really good ebooks. Among them are Suzanne Adair's PAPER WOMAN and REGULATED FOR MURDER set in the American Revolution.

[Celia Yeary]

Dac--yes, this is the future, but I call these "disposable books." It's just not the same as reaching to your bookshelf and pulling down a beloved book--you like how it looks, how it feels, how it smells...ebooks...just not the same.

[Jean Henry Mead]

Dac, I'm afraid that ebooks will continue to crowd out print editions to the point of extinction. I'm a bibliophile with thousands of books crowding us out of house and home, but we continue to download ebook editions.