What I Learned on my Trip out West:

I just got back from Vancouver and decided it might be interesting to look at my book purchasing behaviour while I was away.

Two things have to be mentioned first off. The first reason for my trip was to talk to the MPub class at SFU about BookNet Canada. The second reason was to pay some visits to some book retailers. So, God forbid I had to go to bookstores.

Let me start off by saying that I love buying books for gifts. I can always grab something and I know if I can't get to read it mayself, there is surely a present to be given away soon enough. But when I was packing I was torn. Should I buy some ebooks to read on my iphone? Or should I pack some books? I usually pack at least 3 books when I am travelling. One thing I noticed just now is that I didn't even consider loading up the Kindle. I don't use the Kindle. I like reading books on the iphone or on paper. Mind you if I could buy the book from anywhere and read it on anything who knows how that might play out.

Well a certain retailer was having a huge party. People were going 2party like it was $9.99. I absolutely loved that campaign. Who ever came up with it, committee or otherwise, is pure genius. So much is captured in those simple numbers. I bit. I bought 3 books from Kobo - three current books: Nikolski, and then the Steig Larsson books. And here is the funny thing about that - I have already bought both those in hardcopy as gifts and have had Nikolski out of the library - so is that ebooks cannibalizing pbooks? I don't know.

Once I got out west to all of those great bookstores I had to go to, believe me I was tempted in every one to drop a bundle. But I only had one suitcase after all. In a fit of home sickness and nostalgia I did buy the beautiful Family Fare cookbook by Gordon Ramsey. One look through those rich photos of food and the approach of Easter around the corner I had to have it. I had to have that book in that format from that store. No ebook could fill that need.

My next purchases were made after a performance of sublime handselling at the Vancouver Kidsbooks in Kitsilano. First off what a gorgeous store, well situated with great buyers. My hat is off to you, as well as my credit. I bought 8 kids books that I had never heard of, never seen and if I had ever seen them there was no one to tell me why I should buy them for my kids. It was art. When I went to buy the whole series I was told no don't do that give it a try first. When I said I didn't think my local store back home would have them, I was asked didn't I want them to have them, don't I want to tell them about this great series and get them to stock it and share them with my community? I thought -wow, yes I do.

Here is one last point and then I will stop. What did I read while I was away? I read the Steig Larsson book on the iphone. I read it in the plane, I read it at 1 in the morning when I couldn't sleep, I read it sitting in the park looking out over the bay, I read it in the cafes where I was eating my lunches, on the Sky train, in the many cabs I took, I read it everywhere. I had my phone on me where ever I went and so I had my books with me too, as well as the entire twittersphere, all the news I could ever want, a calculator, my gps, my local tour guides - I had it all.

No here is a funny part even though I said I wouldn't write anymore about this. Coming home I dutifully put my phone on airplane mode, and started to read my book. The woman beside me was reading a huge trade paper by Dianne Gabaldon. I looked at that book and smugly thought I am so glad I don't need to pull out a book like that and lug that thing around. The next second the stewardess came by and told me to turn my iphone off? I looked puzzled at her -what could she mean? It is on airplane mode. Does she really want me to turn it off -off? Never. But I realized she saw me reading a screen full of text and assumed I was online reading email or a blog or something. So I closed kobo because I am polite and I was confused - turned to the guy who had his iphone "on" and we both shrugged. I never thought a day would come on a plane when I would be asked to turn off my book