Chatter Of The Squirrel

Books Books Books

September 27, 2005 on 9:06 am | In Books |

There are many reasons why you should own a PDA

#1 : Shaman’s Crossing, by Robin Hobb in e-book format
#2 : Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman in e-book format
#3 : … and so it goes …

I’ve ‘earned’ back the price of my Tungsten T2 by reading e-books on it.

Paperbacks generally cost MYR 30.00 in bookshops here.

To put that into relative terms…
MYR 30 is 10 plates of the cheapest chicken rice you can find in KL.
MYR 30 is almost 10% of what I usually spend on food + groceries for a month.

Thus having a ‘free’ source of books to assuage my addiction is fantastic.

But don’t look at me like I’m a thieving pirate! The national libraries in Malaysia sucks! I went to the main library in KL almost 10 years ago and only found one Lat comic worth reading. Everything else was garbage, such as a Madonna autobiography and worse.

Yet all the books seem old and well read. My suspicion is that the administration spends their budget buying in discounted/rejected old books discarded from other libraries/publishers just to make their quota of book acquisitions. And someone is reaping the difference. Corrupted bastards.

The only national library that’s any good is the one in Kota Kinabalu, built and stocked during colonial days I suspect. There, at least you can still find some Frank Herbert and James Clavell that has not gotten lost in the intervening decades. And it’s also the only place I’ve ever seen a collection of Richard Gordon’s Doctor in the House series.

I can’t count on the library, so I have to get my fix elsewhere. Books that deserve my note, I will still pay for. I’ve always had my sis buy every Robin Hobb book as soon as it’s out cos Melbourne gets them really quick. She already bought Shaman’s Crossing there, and had it signed by the author when Megan (R.Hobb is a nom de plume) was doing a con there in July.

I didn’t want the precious autographed book to be damaged by ham-fisted postal workers, so she’s keeping the book first while I read the e-book.

And today, just half an hour ago…. I’ve finally gotten an electronic copy of Anansi Boys.

Happy Happy Joy Joy