In this Day and Page

 E-Books   How Format Effects Book Choice   Quarantine pushed me to start reading e-books. I had always meant to, in order to be a well-rounded librarian, but the format never appealed to me as a reader, and I find there are drawbacks (as well as pros) to the experience.  Fewer clues exist to recommend an e-book to the online browser. Artwork is limited to a front cover image and many e-books open to the first page of chapter text, skipping cover pages and table of contents that give aesthetic clues to the book’s tone and subject. E-readers also present every title in the same font, further reducing the stylistic clues and individual feel of books.  Length, especially, effects a book’s appeal at least to anyone with schedules and obligations. Overdrive lists file size but readers must determine book length by checking the page count after they have downloaded a book or by doing a web search first via Google or Amazon or Goodreads. Length is also a conven...

  Redeye: A Western Clyde Edgerton 1996 256 pages Penguin Books Synopsis: A motley crew of characters populate the remote region of Mumford Rock, Colorado in 1892. A ragged vigilante cowboy, a Mormon zealot, an opportunistic pitchman, a few amateur archaeologists and one mean red-eyed dog are a few of the parties interested in the excavation of the ancient cliff dwelling discovered on the nearby mesa. The historic Mountain Meadows Massacre also plays a role in the ultimate confrontation at the ruins. Edgerton displays a knack for authentic dialogue, telling this quirky tale through multiple voices and short vignettes. The gentle observations of the orphan Bumpy Copeland add a thoughtful element to the sometimes slapstick humor. Redeye offers the reader a Wild West that is as odd as it is adventurous.  Western Appeal: Landscape is the lifeblood of the western novel. Wyatt and Saricks wrote, “Indeed, the openness and the infinite possibilities of the landscape make possib...