reading books

[escapeartist]

Does anyone care to share their thoughts on the best way to keep reading when in a foreign country?

I am sure some people use reading devices and recently someone mentioned becoming a member of a library and checking out e-books.

Preferences? Pros and cons?

Thanks in advance.

[overseasvet2]

Many schools have a lending library in the lounge where you can exchange books. Other countries have great access to books with large bookstores like Kinokunia (Japanese chain).

I like the iPad for reading. It is light for travel and I can buy even when in a foreign country. Depends on how much you like actually holding a book.

[heyteach]

I started out toting a 50 lb. carton of books and supplementing it with books from an excellent school library (boy, was I lucky there!) I'm pretty picky about what I want to read--virtually no fiction. My iPad was a godsend as I no longer fretted about running out of things to read. It may have been my post that mentioned downloading books from the public library; you have to be a card-carryin' member of the library to do this.

What I especially like about the iPad is its versatility for living and traveling abroad. And I can read in bed in hotels when there is no or poor bedside lighting.

[PsyGuy]

Ive always found the amount of English reading material lacking. You can usually get the top 20 NYT bestsellers and English magazines at the airport if you need too and you dont have an English bookstore or other outlet available.

I myself am an ebook/digital convert. My iPad and public library is a godsend. Not only can I borrow ebooks from my library (I have two different public library cards) but magazines and newspapers as well. Books are harder for me, because many publishers limit the number of ebooks and some publishers/authors for very popular new release books either arent released in loanable ebook format or the library has such a long waiting list its months before mine comes up. I had to wait almost 3 months for 50 Shades of Grey. Magazines and newspapers are a different matter. My library has about 100 of the most popular magazines with unlimited patron access meaning I can read the Economist or Cosmo each month for free. My library also subscribes to the NYT which I can read daily for free.

Of course do need to be a member of that library to get access, and generally larger city libraries have better collections then small town libraries. Universities are also an option but unless you a student public access when it comes to digital formats is either very limited or restricted.

You can also access a number of classic fiction works for free from the various webstores (Kobo, Google Play, iTunes, Amazon, B&N) or through the internet at the Gutenberg project. Their are other digital libraries but most of them allow access to historical works etc. The problem is that publishers control the materials, and most of the popular fiction that people want to read is only released in ebook for purchase or hardcopy for lending.

[wanderluzt]

I use a kindle. We can download books and magazines from the amazon account with no problem where we are located. BUT our Kindle is registered on an Amazon account from USA. I know of a few people who had the amazon account registered in other countries (their credit card was not with an American address) and it did not work. We can not download the movies or TV shows unless we are in the USA due to copyright laws but the books work fine and I have not found any restrictions.

[IAMBOG]

Double post

[IAMBOG]

We have an Amazon account in the UK and have no problem downloading books.

There is a Kindle download for PCs, so you can view all your Amazon downloads on a laptop too.

[wntriscoming]

I love reading. I boxed up 2 boxes of books for my first posting and found that the school's library had over 30,000 books and spent over $20,000 a year for new books. There were plenty of things to read, but I love having books at my home, and it's comforting to have my favorites plus ones to lend to other teachers. My second school isn't quite as good with the book selection, but there are still 20-30,000 books in their library.

I suggest e-readers, too. Check out your local library and see if they have an e-lending program. I was going to do amazon.com to get the free check-outs, but they only let you borrow for free if you have a kindle, which I do not.

Also, ask your new school if they have a book club. Many do, and you can join a group of like-minded book lovers.

[cam2016]

I just wanted to get more info on the Kindle book topic. I have an iPad and use the Kindle app, registered user in the USA. From online searches I've read that any books that aren't actually downloaded onto my iPad, I might have trouble downloading them once I'm in another country? I saw that they might charge an extra $2 per book and also that the wireless download might not work? I am just wondering if I can continue to log into Amazon.com, buy US books, and download them onto my iPad like normal once I'm abroad. I can't get a clear answer on this from google searches, I keep finding conflicting information.

I will be in a country that has it's own Amazon, I don't know if that makes a difference. I'm sure I will be setting up an Amazon account in the host country to buy retail goods, but would want to continue buying English books from the US site. Also, what would happen if I'm downloading Kindle books from both sites for some reason? I doubt that I would, but I'm just not sure how that would work. I mainly don't want to lose the books I've already purchased!

TIA!

[marieh]

cam2016 - I've never heard of this before. I used my kindle overseas for a few years before switching to an iPad with the Kindle app, all registered in the USA. I've never once had a problem downloading or transferring books, and have never been charged an extra fee, even though I've probably purchased books while in a dozen different countries. Right now I even have a subscription to Kindle unlimited, which is working fine here in my current country. All of my books that I have bought while on vacation in the US are also accessible.

[Helen Back]

I've never heard that before. I have been using Kindle with a UK account for years and I can download books I've already purchased without a problem (and purchase new ones).

My only problem has been my phone, which was purchased in Canada. The phone insisted on connecting to amazon.ca, not amazon.co.uk. I think the Amazon Canada app might have been pre-installed. Eventually I went to amazon.co.uk website and downloaded the app from there. It now works fine.

I find as you soon as you are paying for things companies seem to forget where you live. I have a Spotify Canada account. As long as I'm paying the bill (with a Canadian credit card) they don't seem to care I'm not in Canada.

[rake]

Never had a problem buying or downloading books from Amazon for either Kindle or iPad when abroad. As previously stated, if your account is connected to a domestic billing address with a domestic credit card, it shouldn't matter where you are internationally when you buy books.

[PsyGuy]

I concur with the previous contributors. The only real issue is which store you buy your reading materials through and the inconvenience of having to log in to the specific store a book was purchased through, even then you should only have to do it once. Of course using a foreign purchasing method (credit/debit card) thats attached to your western account is typically the purchasing issue when things go wrong

Depending ont he region you may be unable to log in to your western Amazon account, some Amazon stores are inaccessible from other regions, in which case you would need a VPN.

Wireless download may not work, again depends on the region and the store.

[vandsmith]

in theory i don't like the e-readers but after shipping books in and out of countries, i have succumbed. i have a kobo and it has been invaluable. i still buy books of course, but you can't beat an e-reader for portability. depending on where i am, you can still find english book stores to trade in your read books for unread books.

v.

[PsyGuy]

@vandsmith

The vast majority of English sections even for trade tend to be heavy on romance novels, top 10 thrillers (J. Grisham, S. King), or teen fantasy/paranormal (often romance) books.
I have zero interest in another set of Harlequin, Twilight and Harry Potter.