Some people know exactly what to look for at the bookstore –
others spend hours without finding what they have in mind…
Did you ever mistake the body lotion tube for the toothpaste
a sleepy morning? No? Good, it’s not the best way to start the day.
This might be an awkward approach if you're aiming at the
problem of choosing literature, but frankly, haven’t you too picked the ‘wrong’
book by a random grab at the bookshop or at the library? The book you put away
with a sigh after three chapters.
It might have been the perfect choice for someone else. One
of my friends reads nothing but books about religious history. I tried one.
Though I don't mind the subject, I had a feeling of pedalling a bicycle with a
leaking tire. You know how that is, you want to get as far as possible before
the tire is empty, but you know that if you speed up, it leaks faster.
The first impression of a book is the cover, so the eye
leads us to the next step – the time-consuming intellectual process. At the
rare occasions when we have the time, we would like to read full chapters from
some books at the bookstore. The problem is we would feel like shoplifters if
we did. Besides, the book dealer would fear that the book might look used if
too many pages have been turned. Not everyone is careful. This is where the Internet enters the scene.
Alone with our computer, we can spend days reading free
chapters. And the people who provide the service are happy if we do. The
opportunity to form an opinion gives us a freedom that older generations of
book readers could only dream of. And when we eventually have found the book we
want to read; we can simply click to order it or ask our local retailer to
order it for us.
Except for being a door opener, the Internet is the perfect
instrument for digging deeper down into the literature world. Those of us who
are in the habit of roaming around the web with this purpose know that there
are many ways of introducing the stories. One concept is extensive samples
including long summaries, free chapters, excerpts and facts. This is what I
like best, so – naturally - it’s the way my books are introduced.
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