But you CAN borrow e-books—from your local library. First I checked out the Berkeley Public Library, which has a huge downtown branch and several satellite branches, but all they have are Safari Tech Books Online, no literature. Then I went to the San Francisco Public Library and signed up for a library card. It turns out that you need to apply in person for a library card, so you can’t, for example, use the New York Public Library e-book system unless you go to New York, show them your New York ID, and get a New York Public Library card. In California, you don’t have to live in the city of the library, just in the state. So even though I live in Berkeley, I got myself a San Francisco library card. There I found three databases of e-books: Safari Tech Books again, NetLibrary Books, and Overdrive eBooks. Someone on staff (a librarian perhaps?) said Overdrive works best with iPads, so that’s where I began. If you’re interested, you can watch the tutorial here.

First I found a page that says I can listen to audio library books on my iPad but cannot read e-library books from Overdrive because it doesn’t support the ePub format. Here is a list of compatible devices, including the B&N nook, the Sony Reader, and the Kobo eReader. I haven’t gotten a clear feel yet for what books are available. Through Overdrive, when I click on “Most Popular,” I get a list of authors/books that begin with Stephanie Meyer, Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown, and page after page of romance novels. Since none of these books will work on my iPad, I lost interest in searching through the database. I’m working on finding out if library e-books will eventually work on the iPad or whether, thanks for Apple’s proprietary measures, I’ll be stuck paying $9.99 for every book forever. (Does anyone know the answer to this? I’ve queried Overdrive and am waiting for an answer.)

Meanwhile, what about you? Have you ever read a library e-books on your e-reader? Which database did you use? What was the selection like? And how easy/pleasant was the experience?

By the way, for those of you who look forward to Link Love on Fridays, I am headed off on my third camping trip in five weeks today (with a toddler and an infant) and have yet to pack, so I’ll be posting links next week. In the meantime, be sure to check out Nathan Bransford and Sierra Godfrey, who always have great roundups of links on Fridays.

An in case you wonder how I spend my free time, yesterday it was learning about the different Caterpillar trucks after my toddler saw a bunch doing construction on a Berkeley street. After perusing the website, I found this one pretty cool. I know it’s not environmentally friendly, but look at the way it slices and gathers trees! Now I understand why kids get excited about trucks.

Have a great weekend!

My only time to blog is the two days we have a babysitter, during which time I also have to go to doctor appointments, tour preschools, get haircuts, pay bills, do laundry, edit books, write, etc. etc. And in order not to go totally insane with sleep deprivation, I’ve been going to bed by 9 the past few nights (except last night was Mad Men, so I had to stick some toothpicks in my eyelids and stay up until 11. No, we don’t have TIVO), which nixes the idea of writing in the evening.

I miss my blog friends. I miss blogging, and I miss reading blogs and posting links. I have a backlog of posts half-written in my head, but until my munchkin starts sleeping better, I’ll have to settle for squeezing one or two out per week.

Pros

It’s VERY easy to buy a book. It’s easier through iBooks, but it’s not difficult through Amazon either. I haven’t tried the B&N app yet. Just one click and you own it. And you’re reading. Right there in the palm of your hand.

It’s great at night. If you’re in bed and don’t want to turn the light on because a baby is sleeping or your husband is sleeping or you’re in a tent and it’s really not comfortable to read with the battery pack of a headlamp behind your head, it’s fantastic.

Full color photos! I bought a cookbook through iBooks (you can’t do this with Amazon or B&N) and it has all the same graphics and color photos that the real book does.

Cons

It’s VERY easy to buy a book. Just one click and you own it. And you can’t return it. And it’s charged to your credit card. And you can’t pass it on afterward. I bought two books that I probably shouldn’t have. One I already owned in the paperback version but wanted to be able to read at night with the lights out. The other was a cookbook I wanted to take traveling without packing it in my suitcase. I used both for about five minutes each. It’s just too easy to make impulse purchases, and $10 here, $5 there, and $15 over there add up fast.

It’s great that there are so many things the iPad can do, but the drawback is that only one person can use it at a time. When I was on a four-hour plane ride and gave my iPad to my toddler to play games and watch Kipper to keep him from screaming and kicking the seat in front of him all flight, it was a godsend. Except that I couldn’t read any of my books. Fortunately, my 10-month-old was too busy jumping on my lap to let me read anyway. Still, on the return flight, I took a paperback along.

A lot of books aren’t available through iBooks yet, so you have to get them through Amazon. Which isn’t a bad thing, but the interface isn’t as nice (no color and the page doesn’t look like a real page.)

As much as I love my iPad, I still kinda prefer reading real books. Something about the feel, something about knowing what page I’m on, something about looking at the spine to see how far along I am in the book, I just love. I’ll keep reading iBooks, but I’ll keep reading real books as well.

What about you? Do you have an iPad? How do you like the e-reader function?

Cons

In random tech/social media news: Here are 10 Tips for being awesome online, a post on how to get more Twitter followers, and the best book editors on Twitter.

In all things iPad: From the New York Review of books, the iPad vs the Kindle. From Fast Company,10 essential iPad tips. For people who have an iPad and use Dropbox (like moi), DropBox has come to iPad. And from this past weekend’s Hacks/Hackers Unite Conference, a list of iPad media app ideas.

From SF Gate, three Bay Area authors use the Internet to get their books out.

In other news, agent Janet Reid foresees a publishing revolution in the arrival of the enhanced e-book.

Alan Rinzler hypes the benefits of creating an iPad app for your book.

Nathan Bransford had a great post on voice a while back and another on how to write a one-sentence pitch. Also, if you missed it, the one sentence, one paragraph, and two paragraph pitch.

Samuel Park sings the praises of wrieaders and answers the question we blogger writers ask ourselves every day: Does blogging help?

Intern deconstructs the novel.

Eric at Pimp My Novel says you don’t need an MFA to write literary fiction.

Agent Kristen Nelson answers the question, does age matter when you’re trying to get published?

Guest blogger for Rants & Ramblings, Mary DeMuth says writers must be three Ts in order to succeed: tenacious, talkative, teachable.

And in case you missed Betty White on SNL on May 8, you can see
here.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

KRISTAN!

Kristan, e-mail me your address and to whom you’d like the book addressed (Kristan, Kristan the Magnificent, etc.) to meghan (at) meghanward (dot) com. Then, whenever you’re ready, send me 20 pages of your manuscript or a short story, and I will critique it and send it back to you within a week.

And now for a few links. My list is going to be short for the next few weeks because I have DEADLINES.

Alan Rinzler has a great post on shelf wars at bookstores, including an interview with agent and former owner of Cody’s bookstore, Andy Ross.

Chris at Upstart Crow reminds writers to have patience, which I blogged about not long ago, but I think some of us need more patience than others!

Via Shelly at Market My Words, a post from Bubble Cow on how to find and keep your readers.

According to Kristin at Pub Rants, there’s a rumor that several of the six big publishers are coming out with new boiler plate contracts soon.

Anne over at Piedmont Writer discusses the drawbacks of having too many followers.

Sierra has a fabulous story about the word fortitude.

You can save the earth by changing your font.

And last but never least, from Galley Cat, how to make an iPad cover out of an old book, the Library of Congress is going to store ALL tweets, and a cat who loves his iPad:

Happy Weekend!

From the Guardian via Elizabeth at Fog City Writer, is crowfunding the way of the future?

Also from the Guardian, is your reading suffering from multimedia overload?

Agent Rachelle Gardner warns writers to think hard before self-publishing while editor Alan Rinzler gives four reasons self-published books get picked up by traditional publishers.

From Galley Cat, the National Book Critic Circle Award Winners, which were handed out last night.

Also from Galley Cat, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood is writing the score for the movie adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood.

And a glimpse at Apple’s iBooks store.

Guide to Literary Agents guest blogger Peta Jinnath Andersen has a post on what to do once you’ve set up your writers’ blog.

Intern puts out a call for guest bloggers. This is your chance to MOCK Intern while garnering tons of new followers. Get on it!

And before I disappear for the weekend, what were your favorite links these past couple of weeks? Any one in particular?

It has everything you would expect: Calendar, maps, iTunes, photos with slide shows, web browsing, e-mail, movies.

And here are the specs: 0.5-inches thin, weighs 1.5 pounds, 9.7-inch IPS display. 10 hours of battery life, a month of standby, accelerometer, compass, speaker, mic, dock connector.

It runs all third-party iPhone apps either small or full screen (2x), and developers can also develop specifically for the iPad, with fancier graphics for video games, etc.

It has iWork with spreadsheets, etc. (spreadsheet has onscreen calculator). iWork apps are $9.99, but I’m not sure what that means.

You can type on it with two hands, like a real keyboard, or you can connect an external keyboard through a keyboard dock.

It has a case (sold separately, like the keyboard?) that lets you prop it up a little or a lot to watch movie or read books.

It has an e-reader called iBooks, which looks like a (color) bookshelf and links to an iBooks store. Looks like all but RandomHouse of teh big five publishers are on board and book prices will vary (Ted Kennedy’s was priced at $14.99). Will use ePub format, which is way better than the Kindle because it allows you to download books from libraries and other e-book stores.

It syncs with USB, has WiFi and optional 3G. Data plans with ATT: $14.99/250mg; $29.99/unlimited. No contracts. Cancel anytime.

PRICE!: Wifi only: 16mb $499; 32mb $599; 32mb $699. Wifi+3G: 16mb $629, 32mb $729, 64mb $829.

Until I play with one, it will be hard to say, but it sounds like this thing could replace laptops altogether with the attached keyboard. Depends on whether you can work on a screen that small, though. I know I’d rather lug an iPad around than a MacBook Pro.

A few disappointments, but it sounds like @Jason of Endgadget had the next generation, due out in October (Why would they give him one that’s different than the one announced today? Seems odd.) Jason said the one he has has two cameras, one front and one back, mouse gestures, and fingerprint recognition. Will I have to wait until October to get mine? UGH! But seems worth it to get the cameras.

Now that you know the price – will you buy one? Will you, will you?