in my mailbox (5)

my mailbox  - or rather: harddrive - has been flooded by novels in the past couple of days, so i don't even know where to begin the account of the new additions to my never-ending 'to be read' pile. earlier this week i downloaded adobe's ebook reader software, so i could read the ebooks i have stacked up on my computer in epub format. then on friday when i got my new clever phone, one of the first applications i downloaded was for ebook reading, named aldiko. and since then there's been no stopping me in building my digital library and compiling the books i am going to read in the next 3 or 4 months.

 

by the way, i am very impressed with this aldiko app, as it turns my phone into an excellent ebook reader. the screen is not over bright, as i can adjust brightness, i can also set the font size (and even the font itself), and turn the page by pushing the button on the side of the phone. i can also arrange my virtual books on different shelves, create categories, and download free ebooks directly to the phone from the net. (or with this other great software, dropbox, which is basically online storage for files, i can transport my files without having to connect the phone to the computer with a cord. no more looking for the cord, plugging, unplugging, and copying endless files, yay!)
 

the ereader app also remembers which book i read the last time, and automatically bookmarks the last page i was reading earlier. isn't that great? no more dogearing, that's for sure. i had thought that this screen (which is just under 4 inches large) would be too small and uncomfortable for reading, but i was completely wrong. it's great, i am in love with it already. it's light and small enough for me to carry around wherever i am going (and i would take my phone anyway), and i always have a book - or rather: dozens of books -  at hand to entertain me, even if only for a few minutes while i am standing in line or waiting for the bus. i can hardly wait to read all the many books i have gathered in the past couple of days. (nevertheless: i am a bit anxious whether i will read all those unread hard copies i have on my actual shelves. but under no circumstance am i to abandon them.)

so, here's a few of the books i am especially excited to read in the very near future:

• the casual vacancy by j.k. rowling - as i mentioned earlier, i am very curious about j.k. rowling's new novel, even though i never read the harry potter series.
• the fault in our stars by john green -  john green is a highly appraised and utterly hyped author on tumblr, probably one of the most popular writers of his era and genre. i have read - and enjoyed - a couple of books by him in hungarian translation, but not yet in original. it is his freshest piece which has already gained a classic status among young adult fiction novels. i can hardly wait to thumb through it.
• looking for alaska by john green  - i liked it enough to read it again, this time in english.
• the happiness project by gretchen rubin - this will also be a reread. this is a sort of self-help book on how to find the beauty in the details and how to make life happier by making small changes in our everyday routine. i read it about a year ago in hungarian, but i think it would be beneficial to reread it, this time in original, while taking notes and then writing a proper review.

and what i am reading currently:

• summer in the city by candace bushnell - last summer i read the carrie diaries, a novel that accounts the teenager and pre- new york city years of sex and the city protagonist carrie bradshaw. summer in the city is the sequel of the carrie diaries, in which 18 year old carrie sets her foot on some serious big apple ground. i am about halfway through this book, and i cannot really say i am having fun while reading. it consists mostly of pointless dialogues, and doesn't seem to have any kind of storyline, but since i hate not to finish and to abandon books, i am keen on making it to the last page. plus, i am sort of curious about the pre- sex and the city years and how the four leading characters met and became friends.
• a good year by peter mayle  - as a big fan of peter mayle books and worshipper of the film this very novel was turned into, i am curious to find out what the original story is like. i am only about 30 pages in, but enjoying it utterly already.
• coco chanel by axel madsen - i still haven't finished it yet, and i have no idea when i will. i am just not into this kind of reading material right now, not to mention that i simply don't find the later years of chanel fascinating enough. the last third of the book is a bit of a bore, to put it bluntly.

so what have you been reading lately? and what are your thoughts on digital books and ebook readers?

in my mailbox is a weekly meme originally hosted by the story siren, in which book bloggers post about the books they have bought, borrowed or received in the past week. since it began it has become fairly popular, and numerous book blogs post their weekly in my mailbox meme.