The More Things Change (Un-Scientific E-Book Thoughts)

With my debut coming out (hurrah!) later this year, I find myself getting a bit more serious about studying The Marketplace. I want kids, parents, teachers, librarians and random passers-by with an inclination to read to know how great DOUBLE VISION is, and where to buy it.

So I follow the talk on e-books, Kindles (with and without Fire), Nooks and apps--I mean, there are lots of serious people doing brilliant research on this stuff. All I have to do is listen, one would think. Who's reading what, and in what format?

This article tells me teens are reading more e-books! (Publishers Weekly, reporting on Digital Book World panels)

But then this one says: actually, not so much. (paidContent.org; ironically, reporting on the same convention, I believe).

So I'm still not that much wiser. I remember reading the same books as my friends, and then talking about them at recess. I know, four score and seven years ago...

Are kids really going to be doing all their reading on a phone, or a tablet device? Those things make my eyes hurt--that can't be very different for a kid, right? Will they read on a reading device instead?

I still have no idea, and I have a sneaking suspicion that nobody else really does either. But here's a cool un-scientific study of my eleven year-old. She was texting excessively the other day, so I asked her what the deal was, in my grumpy-mom-monitoring-technology-use voice.

"Emma and I are reading the same books, Mom. We're talking about them."

Maybe print vs. e-book doesn't matter. Maybe it's all about how we communicate our love for books--now isn't that a great kumbaya thought for a Wednesday?