Posts Tagged
books
I don’t know when it happened for me, but I got to a point in life where I truly started to enjoy reading. Maybe it was after I got done with grad school and I actually had time to read. I’ll admit that I don’t read as often as I would like, and now that I am back in school and a father to a two year old, that time has shrunk even further. But, that still hasn’t stopped me from finding books that I want to get to “someday”, as I know I will get to them eventually.
A year or so ago, I started to experiment with different ways that I could save book titiles that I was interested in reading so that when I did have some time, I could actually find a book to read. I defaulted to Evernote since I practically use it for just about everything these days, but about a month ago, I stumbled upon a web app called Slice Bookshelf. To be perfectly honest, the only reason why I even found it was the fact that I had been using Slice for other reasons. If you are unfamiliar with Slice, I did a review on their app a little while back and I still use it till this day. So, when I saw that they had a book saving app, I knew I had to try it out to see if it was worth it.
There are so many good books to read, movies to watch, and music to listen to. I don’t know about you, but I always find myself without enough time in the day to be able to sit down and just dive into a good book. Then, there are those times when I hear a good song on the radio and I try to remember it so I can buy it later, but that never works. I am not sure if it’s because I am getting older (I am really not that old), but I cannot seem to remember things unless I write them down.
I have been using a web app called Done Note Done to jot down some of the books, music, and movies that I want to check out. It has been a good way for me to keep track of all the things that I want to get to later – with a dash of social networking thrown in. Granted, you can use your favorite task manager for this as well, but this app may just get me to read and watch more movies. Let’s take a deeper look into Done Not Done.
I love books. As Elizabeth Scott said, “I like that the moment you open one and sink into it you can escape from the world, into a story that’s way more interesting than yours will ever be”. Books are my best friends; they don’t lie to my face, for one thing. They keep me entertained and encouraged. Whenever I feel depressed or need a shoulder to lean on, I turn back to a book, be it Jonathan Livingston Seagull or Goblet of Fire.
But not all the books are worth your time. We often rely on critics like NYTimes, who heavily rely on sales numbers to measure a book’s quality, to find our next book. But, more often than not, we walk away disappointed. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to listen to your like-minded friends rather than a complete stranger? That’s what GoodReads is all about.
I’m a sucker for anything Adam Lisagor is commissioned to make a video for, and Small Demons is no exception. While I was originally drawn in by the internet-celebrity video endorsement, I signed up for the service and have continued to use it because of how awesome Small Demons actually is.
I can’t give too much away right here in the intro–that’s not what AppStorm pays me for–but rest assured that once you enter the Storyverse, you won’t want to leave.
I want to make this crystal clear: I love bookstores. I love going to them and checking out the bookshelves and the magazine racks, and finding some good things to read. I discovered a bunch of books and magazine because of bookstores, including the .net Magazine, the best web development magazine out there. That being said, I find more and more often that I go into bookstores and leave empty handed. Here’s why.
Let me start off by saying that even though I have a Kindle and read magazines on my tablet from time to time, sometimes there is just no substitute for a real, physical book. This is especially true of programming and web development books, which I tend to reference a lot so I prefer the physical copy to its digital counterpart. I also have a pretty nice bookshelf that would go to waste if I didn’t keep buying print books. So I truly enjoy going into bookstores in hopes of finding something new to read, whether it be a coding book, fiction, or a new magazine. But as I said in the intro, I tend to go into bookstores with the intention of buying a book, and end up leaving empty handed. The culprit for this is technology as a whole, specifically smart phones, the Internet, and e-readers.
I have a confession to make; I am a huge Harry Potter fan. This may not be too surprising if you know I’m a pretty big nerd. What may be more surprising is I just got into it within the last two years, so I had some catching up to do. But once I read all of the books and saw all of the movies, I wanted more. I started reading interviews with JK Rowling and other websites and came to find that the Harry Potter World is a very well thought out and immersive one with endless depth to the characters. Fans (myself included) wanted a resource where we could tap into that world.
Pottermore gives us that.
I know that the summer, a time in particular where people take time to read, is just about done, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop reading! Heck, when Hurricane Irene hit my neck of the woods and power was out, just about all I could do was read. Plus, winter is right around the corner, and what better thing to do to pass the time than read (when you’re not shoveling snow)? With all of that in mind, I’ve put together a list of 12+ websites and eBook stores to help you find whatever book it is you’re looking to read.
We live in a very interesting world now, with the advent of browser and cloud based applications. We can talk to people anywhere in the world and share just about anything we want: where we are, what we’re buying, what movies we watch, what books we’re reading, etc. I’ve been looking for a good way to share books for a while (and even started developing my own WordPress plugin for it), and think I found a pretty nice solution in Readernaut.
(more…)
I love comics. So do tens of millions of people transcending age and gender. But sadly, like all the other old media houses, the comics industry hasn’t been very eager to join the digital revolution. Half hearted attempts from publishing houses hasn’t leveraged the full power of the internet as a cheap distribution channel.
Graphic.ly is a great app on the web and on the desktop to not just read a comic but also to engage with it. Follow me after the fold to learn how cool this app really is.
