For people who love to read

I'm not the ebook-type either. Occasionally, I try to read an ebook, but I always get a headache after ten or twenty pages, so normally when I like an ebook I just buy it. I just wanted to ask: Are you not even more disappointed when you buy a book and then discover you don't like it? I do a mixed thing of library and bookshop: I always buy titles by authors I know and love or sequels to any books I like but use the library to discover new authors. When I really, really love a library-book, I just go into the next bookshop and get it. I think in my case it's better like that, as I read an awful lot and also move around pretty frequently, every two years or so, so it wouldn't be too great if I owned even more books than I already have. About iliteracy: I can't imagine how a kid that doesn't know to read and write can even get through the first years of school. It couldn't participate in a single school test, so how can they possibly hide that they don't know how to read? The strange thing is, I think you have to be really clever to get through life without knowing to read and write, so for a person who can't, it should be much easier to simply learn it. But I imagine that people are ashamed and won't admit they're illiterate, so that's why they never get a chance to learn it.

I'm usually not too dissapointed with most books. Most the time I buy ones that I know I will like by the author or series. If I'm in uncharted territory I give it the first few pages, to first chapter test. If I'm not hooked by that time, I pass on it and look for something else. If I do run into a book I don't like, I take it to a used book store and trade it in for something else. As for illitercy, I think it speaks volumes of our educational system. If a student can't read or has a learning disability they are often moved into a special ed class, whose job it is to make sure they graduate somehow. I have a relative who can barely read, and yes this person is quite smart. But the problem is that if you can't read and you can't write, you can't communicate either. These people don't grasp language, they don't understand words; what they mean or how to use them. I've seen my relative get into so many arguments and misunderstandings simply because this person did not understand what has being said, and the other party couldn't make out what they were trying to say. It is very, very sad... and a lot of them don't want to put out the effort to learn, or have themselves mentally defeated that it's even possible for them to be literate.

There is also the World Public Library. They give some access to non-members but the selection is limited. Most you can get on the Gutenberg site. Membership is $8.95 US dollars per year and then the selection is huge. There's enough on the Gutenberg site to keep me happy for years! LOL. Here's the site if you want to look at the other one. http://worldlibrary.net

OOOH i just found Homer's "The Odyseey and the Iliad" which are both supposed to be excellent accordign to a close friend of mine :-D YAY

You'll love them if you're into mythology (and I know you are). It's strange you mention those, I started re-reading the Iliad last night... ah great minds... LOL! I haven't read it in about 10 yrs so I thought it was time to re-read it.