E.M. Kingston started a prompt called Sunday Ramble a few weeks ago and today’s topic is “books”. The idea of the Sunday Ramble is that she poses five questions on the topic and you’re allowed to ramble as you please. By this she seems to mean that you don’t need to answer the questions in order, but can turn them into an essay too. I am just going to answer her questions though. Here they are.
1. Do you prefer digital, paperback, or hard bound books?
This is a no-brainer: digital! The reason is simple: I am blind and cannot read print. Back in the days before eBooks became accessible with screen readers, when I’d still have to digitalize my own books, I preferred hard bound books because they were easier to place on the scanner. Then again, I never liked the process of scanning my own books.
2. Do you have a library full of books or just your favorite tales?
Library of books! I have a Bookshare membership, which is like a library service for the print disabled which lets you download an almost unlimited number of books for $50 per year. You can also keep them as long as you’re a member of the service as far as I’m aware. I currently have roughly 260 books downloaded off there. That is, I have 263 books in Voice Dream Reader, the app I use to access Bookshare books, but that includes some PDFs I downloaded elsewhere and DAISY books from the Dutch library for the blind too.
In addition to using Bookshare, I occasionally buy Kindle books or eBooks off Apple Books. I also like to use BookBub to get free books on Kindle or Apple Books. So if the question had been about number of books bought rather than number of books I have on my shelves, the answer would be quite different, since most books I get either free through BookBub or via my Bookshare membership.
3. Harry Potter, Narnia, or Twilight? (You can choose all three or pick and choose.)
Uhm, am I going to get laughed at if I say I haven’t read any of these at all? If I have to choose though, I’m going with Narnia because it’s Christian-based.
4. Do you like when books are turned into movies? Why or why not?
I don’t really ever watch movies, so I consider that a no.
5. What is a book that you have read over and over again?
I hardly ever reread books now. As a teen though, in the days of scanning books, I had fewer books to choose from. That is, of course I was a member of the Dutch library for the blind then too, but I didn’t like listening to audiobooks. Anyway, I could read Caja Cazemier’s Dutch young adult novels over and over again. My favorite was probably Iris, about a girl who runs away from her mother and is placed in a youth home.
A Multitude of Musings 
This was fascinating. Digitalising your own books must have been tedious, though also a magical process to bring them to life effectively. There must have been errors in the digitalisation too?
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Well to be honest, I didn’t see the magic in it as much at the time. I hated the work, as did my parents, who did the scanning when I was still in high school. As for the errors, yes, definitely! My parents and I were eventually pretty proficient at picking up on particularly recurring errors.
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Those were interested answers. We’ve never read Harry Potter, Narnia, or Twilight either.
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Oh, thanks for sharing, I’m so glad I’m not the only one.
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I still dont know how to download the free books from book bub?
I get the daily email but I don’t know how to download the books! Any ideas?
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You don’t download them from BookBub. Rather, the links are directly to Apple Books or Amazon or whichever book seller you select. I’ve selected Amazon and Apple Books but because I use the American version of BookBub, the Amazon links go to Amazon.com, so I’ll have to search for the book on Amazon.nl manually. With Apple Books though, when you click on the link in the E-mail at least on your iPhone or Mac, it should automatically open Apple Books. I’m pretty sure there’s a UK version of BookBub too and since you’re in Ireland you might be able to use Amazon.co.uk. Hope this helps.
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Thanks Astrid, are use Amazon in America from my kindle books so that won’t really matter but yes that’s helpful advice, thanks a mill for that
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You’re welcome, I’m glad it was helpful.
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I read my books on a Kindle and have kept about 300 books. There are many that I read and delte. Fun post! #MMBC
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Thank you for sharing. I don’t tend to delete the books I’ve read, but then again I don’t read that many books.
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Hey Astrid 🙂 Thanks for joining in on my rambles about books. You were not alone in not having those three series in your library 🙂 I used to spend quite a bit of money on Audible to build up my library of Stephen King and J.D. Ward books. I enjoyed reading this!
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Thank you for sharing. Oh, I’ve never used Audible, particularly because it’s a subscription service and Amazon (which Audible belongs to) accepts credit cards only for that. Then again, I rarely buy audiobooks anyway.
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You’re welcome! Yeah I had to cancel my subscription until I get financials figured out 🙂
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