Our lives are full of distractions: overheard conversations, the neighbor’s lawnmower, a baby crying in the row behind us, pop-up ads on our computers. Much of the time we can mentally dismiss their presence. But what about when we are reading? I have been studying how people read with printed text versus on digital devices.
The post Concentrate! The challenges of reading onscreen appeared first on OUPblog.
Winter is a popular time for book lovers, the season where many of us enjoy staying in, rugging up and delving into a good book. But do we read more in the winter months or in summer? Summer brings to mind images of sunny days, cool drinks and reading a book on the deck or under the […]
Michael Orthofer reports from the Complete Review that Milan Kundera refuses to sign contracts to release his titles to e-publishing:
...for several years, he's insisted on a clause in his contracts stipulating that his books only appear in 'traditional' (i.e. printed) form -- no e-book versions. And, indeed, you won't find any Kundera titles on Kindle (etc.).
Not many authors are still holding out from e-formats -- and, indeed, presumably few have enough clout to be able to do so. Kundera can afford to -- though one has to wonder: to what end ?
I’ve been trying to read more manga lately. Manga in book form is very popular at my library, so I have been working on building up our print collection. My anime club kids are always telling me about new titles. There is also a lot of manga to be read electronically. Reading scanlated manga online has been a longtime habit of many fans, regardless of the copyright issues involved, (scroll down on this page for a good definition of scanlation) but more manga is becoming available electronically either for free or for reasonable prices. It will be nice if this encourages more fans to pay for content and support the creators whose work they enjoy. Even if it doesn’t, it does afford more options for consuming content for people who enjoy reading on their mobile devices. Viz Media and Yen Press, are two popular publishers making manga available via mobile app. I decided to check out how these apps work and compare and contrast their features.
Title: Viz Manga
Cost: Free App includes previews, but manga prices vary (3.99 – 8.99)
Platform: iOS (also available for Android and web browsers at VIZmanga.com)
To look through the available titles in the VIZ app, you can have options to view all series, or select titles by featured, new, or free options. A rotating banner at the top of the home page promotes titles as well. The first chapter (about 50 pages) of a manga series is offered as a free preview. This is enough that I felt like I could really tell if I was enjoying a series and if was interested in buying it or reading more by the end of the preview. Selections from Shonen Jump Alpha are also free through the VIZ app, which is nice because I think people will be missing the print version of Shonen Jump now that it has gone digital only. You can zoom in the regular way by pinching and pulling. The only thing I didn’t like about this app was that the screen alignment doesn’t change when you flip your device sideways. I like having that option because sometimes it makes things easier to read.
Some VIZ titles worth checking out: Blue Exorcist, Dengeki Daisy and Bakuman.
Title: Yen Press
Cost: Free App includes previews, but manga prices vary (6.99 -12.99 an issue)
Platform: iOS
There are three different options for viewing the available titles on the Yen Press app. You can scroll through cover images horizontally, which is fun if you swip
