Bus Readers, K edition

This afternoon's bus ride home was brought to you by the letter K.

• One fellow was reading a book about mountain climbing, the chapter he was reading: K2
• Another gentleman was reading a Phillip K. Dick novel
• The woman next to me was reading her Kindle (lame, I judged her)
• and I was reading my new NME magazine cover story on The Killers

I obviously had the best reading material. At the very least, mine was the most beautiful.

Here's a funny story about the letter K. A few months back, when I was trying to be a little less crazy about The Killers (instead of my current and more comfortable state as full-on Killers historian...stalker) I was hanging out with Carrie, and determined not to bring up the subject of the world's greatest band.  Here's how the conversation went:

C: What'd you do today?

E: I returned some books to the library...I lied, I was returning cds.

C: I love that you lie about it and then tell the truth in the same sentence.

E: Well, returning books sounds more intellectual than returning cds.

C: Were they Killers cds?

E: No.

C: ...

E: THEY WEREN'T!

C: Were they cds of bands that Brandon Flowers likes?

E: ...

C: Those are Killers cds!

E: No, they aren't and besides...(enter some long-ass story about The Killers' musical influences here)...Man! I wasn't going to talk about them tonight! It's your fault.  How did you do that?

C: Me?!? All I have to mention is their name and you've got a new story about their favorite foods, or what happened at some recent show, or what Brandon Flowers said in an interview...hell, all I have to do is say the letter K.

She's right. It's a powerful letter.

I Love David Sedaris

In a street fight between Stephen King and David Sedaris, you can bet I'll be backing that Franco-phile, snark-loving, little essayist. Spread the word folks, doom is upon us. And to Mr. Sedaris, booksellers around the world thank you, but next time, try autographing the front of the Kindle, right across the screen.

Are You Serious!?!

I know it's late, but I'm having a heart attack. I just went on GoodReads to rate my latest, (4 out of 5 if you're interested). Anyhow, I happened upon a person's page that had a bookshelf called "Kindle". And then I clicked on it. And found countless more people with Kindle bookshelves. First off, don't they realize how absolutely ridiculous it is to label a bookshelf-BOOKshelf as Kindle? It should be a "Small Data File Shelf". Second of all...oh my God! How can you be a book lover, a bookstore lover, a written word lover, and use that dreadful, awful, soul-sucking, portable reading device (God I hate Stephen King). Ug! I'm disgusted! At this moment I have decided that I am a born again Luddite. Goodbye Blog, and facebook and GoodReads. From now on it's letters instead of email, checks instead of debit, BOOKS instead of Kindle, and fresh-baked bread instead of Pop Tarts.

Boycott Alert!

I've had a couple of beefs with Stephen King recently. For one thing, he publicly blasted Stephenie Meyer, saying she, "can't write worth a damn." Now you all know I read the Twilight books. I enjoyed them, and I will admit that the writing is mediocre at best, and the message is appalling. But really Stephen King. Really! You're going to judge someone on their writing capabilities, really? What a douche bag. Here's the original article if you're so inclined

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/booksmags/bal-al.bk.read15feb15,0,3335694.story

Moving on to beef number two. Stephen King has written a novel exclusively for Kindle aka Amazon. For those of you who don't know, Kindle is the "wireless" reading device sold by Amazon, it's like an Ipod for the bookishly inclined. There are a couple of issues with Kindle. A "wireless" reading device? When was the last time a book had wires?! Also, apparently the books that you buy on Kindle are not yours forever. After a certain period time the books are erased form your "wireless" reading device. So buy your books at a local bookstore and own them forever, or buy them from Kindle/Amazon and own them for as long as the next American Idol season lasts.
All that aside...Stephen King has written a novel for Kindle. This novel will not be available in bookstores. So the hard-core King fans, will have to buy a Kindle, and will subsequently buy all their books from Kindle. How on Earth does someone, or his publicist, justify the screwing of all the stores that have provided his livelihood for the last 30 years? Curious indeed.
Some of my coworkers thoughts after hearing the Kindle news...
"Stephen King is an ass."
"I hope he gets hit by another car."

My sentiments exactly.