'The worth of a book...'

"How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book." ~ Henry David Thoreau

Ahhh. Summer days are stretching their last legs, and that summer reading pile of yours likely is a bit smaller is stature.

Sigh. I'm in 'like' with Kindle.

I have an Amazon Kindle. I love it.

Of course, I love tangible new (and old) books — holding them, smelling their fresh pages and ink, gliding through the aisles as I search for what to pick up next — more, but the Kindle is a lovely addition to my literary collection. Anyway, I'll leave any reviews on Kindle to a future discussion.

Sony is expected to announce a new e-reader that will be $100 cheaper than the Kindle. Considering Amazon.com dropped its price on the smaller product, Kindle 2, from $359 to $299, putting the new Sony item at $199, well, that's quite a bit of bank!

One of the current Sony Readers

Yes, perhaps, still too much to pay for a reading platform, but it could give Amazon some healthy competition (finally!), especially after that whole book-deletion-lawsuit situation.

I know not everyone is comfortable — or even interested — in this digital-reading phenomenon, and I don't blame them, but a little Sony-Amazon battle would be pretty interesting on the tech front, whether  you care for e-readers or not. Kind of like if Google and Apple threw down and what the declared victor's win would mean for the industry. We would all buy tickets to THAT fight.

But how will it measure up? Will it be worth it? Is there a future in e-readers? The digital plot thickens. Let's see what Sony's next entrant offers. :)

It's your birthday, Mr. President

I wouldn't even know how to cut
this thing, but it looks yummy!

August 4 is President Barack Obama's birthday.

I know, he didn't even invite us to the party, but that doesn't mean we can't send a belated gift and hope for some cake.

So, what kind of birthday gift do you get for the person who runs your country?


I'll assume Michelle's got his clothes picks covered. And yes, I know she's got more going than just her fabulous attire choices — but, well, her attire choices are fabulous, so whatever.

I'm going to go ahead and picture her handing him a gift bag containing new jeans for his next baseball-throwing adventure. You can picture her gift-wrapping a riveting nonfiction work on tax litigation. Everyone wins.

'Hilarious! Oh, wait, were you
pointing at me, Mr. President?'

Taking note of the random, quirky gifts (I mean, really??) presented to past presidents, I have to wonder, what exactly goes into buying for the master chief these days?

I can almost hear the random thought trains: "Gift wrap? Check. Birthday card? Check. Giant moldy cheese ball with sticker of Obama on side? Check and check. I think we're done here; he's going to love it!"

What would you get him?

It seems he's had to dismiss quite a few people; perhaps he'd like a "You're Fired" T-shirt? Maybe. Or is that too weird?

You know you want one, Barry...

... Or how about a bobblehead of his himself? I bet he doesn't have one of those for his desk in the Oval Office.

I wonder what he'd have his aides get me for my birthday? I already have an iPhone, after all. :)

P.S. Oh, and no one ask me about his birth certificate. Seriously.

Hogwarts must have one high tuition

The sixth Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, premiered today in theaters. But you already knew that (it reportedly earned about $22.2 million today, selling out in multiple cinemas and setting a midnight showing record). Chances are good you probably already saw it, even if you don't want to tell anyone you dressed up as Dumbledore and sat in the back.

Hogwarts Castle, Harry Potter LEGO set, selling
on Amazon.com for wha? $388.88?!
Yeah, OK. Do you take Monopoly money?

With every popular book series comes the movie series comes the horde of merchandise to entice the wee ones and the fun-loving adults. As much as I'd love to purchase this Lego set for, um, my younger brother, well, recession or no, that's just a bit too much for what essentially is a toy that he likely won't even be taking out of the box.

Are there better, and possibly more amusing, alternatives? Well, first, if you haven't done so already, purchase the book series! Trust me on this. If you're even marginally mildly entertained by the movies and you decide you'll deign yourself to read maybe just a few chapters of the first book, it'll only be a matter of moments before you're bleary-eyed and not eating as you try to rush through the pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — the seventh and final book in Ms. Rowling's series. And if not for you, get them for the child in your life, who will thank you for it. After all, who doesn't want to encourage tots to read? For your page-turning pleasure, a box set might be your best bet should you want to purchase all seven; Barnes & Noble offers an online discount for the set. Compare and pick what's best for you.

Barnes & Noble also is selling the Harry Potter film DVDs for up to 30 percent through the end of July. A bargain, yes, for them, but Target also has an equally good — if not better, in some locations — bargain on the movies should you miss the sale or wish to go elsewhere.

Now, for toys. Skipping right over that nauseatingly expensive LEGO set, other products include a Harry Potter-themed Clue game, Scene It? game and other assorted playtime goodies.

Anyway, go see the movie. We'll discuss. :)