Books, advertising, and independent vs. large corporation

My books-to-read list keeps getting longer and longer, possibly because I wander the internet so much and find interesting titles.  My next problem is that when I choose a book to read, how shall I obtain it?  As a hard copy from a library, an independent bookstore, or a large corporation like Amazon?  Or shall I get an eBook from another large corporation, Apple?

Getting a book from a library is free and my borrowing a book helps it stay in circulation for others to read.  Getting my own hard copy is either calling ahead to an independent bookseller or ordering it online.  Getting it from a local bookseller helps the local economy.  Ordering it online may get the copy to me faster.  Most would opt for Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  I opt for ABE Books which is a consortium of independent booksellers.  An advantage to ABE Books is that I can find foreign titles and maybe even have them shipped free.

But then I already own so many books, where can I put new books without throwing out older ones.  And which ones?

If I get an eBook, I can have a bigger choice of reading when I'm away, I can easily add comments, and I can easily copy excerpts for a blog entry.

Life is so full of choices!

So, what does all this have to do with advertising?  I've noticed that many sites that mention a book have links to that book at Amazon.  From reading about Maria Popova's "Brain Pickings" and seeing some of her links, I know that web authors can get a small fee if readers click on the book reference, probably only if someone buys the book.

Now I always like to earn a few bucks more if I can, but do I want to earn those bucks by supporting a large corporation?  If I go that route, I'll probably have to drop the Google Ads, which aren't providing many bucks anyway.  The easiest thing is for me to do nothing; given the underwhelming readership of this blog, the revenue from either source would be about the same, not much.  Maybe I should make this blog a "cleaner" reading experience by having no ads at all.

So, dear reader, if you see me around, please let me know what you think.  I think I have five or six regular readers in Duluth.

A more thoughtful blog than this blog

Maria Popova is the "curator" of the blog "Brain Pickings".  If you are interested in books, this is a go-to-site for thoughtful commentary on books of many genres.  See "She's Got Some Big Ideas", , Bruce Feiler, New York Times, 2012-11-30.

From the article I added Albert Einstein's "Ideas and opinion" to my reading list.  Popova is quoted in the article with:

“In times of turmoil, I often turn to one of my existential pillars of comfort: Albert Einstein’s ‘Ideas and Opinion.’ ” She ended with this thought: “There is a way to critique intelligently and respectfully, without eroding the validity of your disagreement. It boils down to manners.”

Her latest entry as of 2012-12-06 is "The 10 Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2012"
By: Maria Popova 2012-12-04, "From Buddhism to the relationship between creativity and dishonesty, by way of storytelling and habit".

From the sidebar, I went to "Isaac Asimov on Science and Creativity in Education"
by Maria Popova, 2011-01-28 "What vintage science fiction has to do with the future of self-directed learning."

It includes some snippets of Bill Moyers' interview with Isaac Asimov.  From this article, I added Asimov's "The Roving Mind" to my reading list.

My booklist from suggestions on the web is getting so long, maybe I should turn my computer off, sit in an easy chair, and start reading the books on my list (plus a few I would like to reread).  Maybe I'll be halfway through my list be next Christmas?  Maybe by the time you make your way through all of Popova's blog entry you'll visit my blog again next Christmas.

Happy reading.  May you always find something not only interesting but something you find is more interesting than anything else for the moment.