use them for anything. Seems like a waste.
In addition, I’ve recently purchased a couple of hardcover books that I didn’t enjoy. So now what? They’ve gotta sit on my shelf forever? I suppose I could always give them away, but that’s also work. (Advantage, real books, though).
What about the library? While I love the idea of going to libraries, I almost never do. The pandemic hasn’t helped, of course.
I ruled out renting eBooks from my local library a couple years ago, since they didn’t use the only relevant rental/reading service, OverDrive with Libby. Haven’t thought about doing that again until recently, on a whim, I checked the library’s site and discovered that they have finally started making books available via OverDrive/Libby.
I signed in using my library card number, browsed a bit, and checked out 3 books. Two of these were only available in ePub format, so I’ll have to read them using the Books app on my iPad. But the third was available for the Kindle, which is what I was hoping for. For the record, the books are Permanent Record by Edward Snowden, Zero World by Jason M. Hough, and Blindsight by Peter Watts.
This is so cool! It means I get to experiment with all sorts of different books without the cost and commitment of ownership. I’ll still buy books, of course. I love books. I love having books. But I’ll only need to buy the ones I actually wish to own.
The down side is that it’s kind of slim pickings when it comes to availability. I had to put “holds” on a couple of books that were high on my reading list because they weren’t available. And worse, they aren’t scheduled to be available for 2 or 3 months. It’s OK, this just means I need to dig though the archives and find things that haven’t necessarily been top of mind while I wait.