Have you wondered about reading books using a "smart phone"?

I bought an iPhone 4 about six weeks ago.


My second phone in about 15 months was about ready to die, as the previous one had.
I decided I needed a more reliable phone.


I mostly need a phone to be a phone; a way to be contacted reliably.
We have five children. That's enough reason, huh?


Of course as soon as I had my phone I downloaded all kinds of reader apps.
I am not more impressed by any one particular app than others. They all pretty much do the same thing; allow you to read books on the screen of your phone.


I read parts of Bill Bryson's "At Home" on my phone last month. I knew I could do that so I purposely left home without my NOOK once in a while so I would have to use my phone to read.


I found that I really do not enjoy reading on my phone.
It's just too small.
I also found that the lighted screen appears to be much harder on my eyes than the eInk screen of my original NOOK.


I am certainly glad that my phone can be used in that capacity.
I won't be switching to my phone for reading though. I'll only use it when it becomes necessary to do so.

October Sky by Homer Hickam

I love a good true story.  The movie, same title, is a favorite of ours too.





Homer H. Hickam, Jr. had dreams...and he wasn't about to remain in Coalwood, West Virginia. The town was dying, as do miners from the day they set foot into mines. Homer's father, however, was the superintendent of the mine. Fighting your father for the right to your own future can be a very big deal. Sputnik 1 raced across the "October Sky" and grabbed the interest of everyone but especially the interest of Homer and a few of his friends. 


Supporting the dreams of  Homer and his friends was Miss Riley, their chemistry and physics teacher. 

She urged them to enter a national science fair in 1960. The "Rocket Boys" won gold and silver medals for their work in propulsion. Later, Hickam served in the Vietnam War for the US Army. He worked as an engineer for the army and then for NASA. He was also a scuba instructor and has written about that as well as about war-related topics. Sky of Stone is another non-fiction book of his, a follow-up project to October Sky.  Hickam also works as an amateur paleontologist and to his credit are the finds of two tyrannosaur dinosaurs. He has written a fictional novel titled The Dinosaur Hunter. 

October Sky was made into a film in 1999. The film runs extremely true to the book. I was quite impressed by both. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the role of Homer Hickam. Chris Cooper plays his father, while Laura Dern plays Miss Riley. October Sky is also an anagram of "Rocket Boys", the initial title of Hickam's manuscript, which was changed by studio executives as the book was adapted to film. It was felt that the new name would bring with it a broader viewing audience. I imagine that proved to be true.