Soooooo Eva wants to read some Discworld

[conuly]

The trouble is, our editions have too-small print. It's hard for her to read books with such small print and margins.

We also have them on Kindle, but... footnotes.

Are there better editions out there? More readable for her?

Comments

[fred_mouse]

Our local library used to have discworld in the large print section -- possibly just a library hardback would be sufficient?

[jessie_c]

A magnifying glass won't work?

[conuly]

No, this is not a vision problem. It's a dyslexia +/- ADHD problem. My normal go-to for this is to recommend an index card, but it's a bit of a hassle with this size of paperback. (Or generally, but moreso with this size of paperback.)

[conuly]

Mmm. You're in Australia - maybe your editions over there are different from the American ones?

[fred_mouse]

Possibly - we get a right mix of locally published, UK editions and USA editions. Checking the state library catalogue for 'discworld large print' gets https://encore.slwa.wa.gov.au/iii/encore/search/C__Sdiscworld%20large%20print__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=def, looking at a couple of those finds that they are 'Charnwood 1st edition'; the internet tells me that Charnwood were a UK publishing house.

My personal collection of discworld is a mix of mass market paperback, hardback (including first edition hardbacks that were gifts), and some odd format paperbacks. Of these, the large size hardbacks are the easiest to read.

If you are in a position to buy them, thrift books has one or two < $5 (and some other pratchett), and more <$10 - https://www.thriftbooks.com/browse/?b.search=Terry%20Pratchett#b.s=mostPopular-desc&b.p=1&b.pp=30&b.f.form%5B%5D=45&b.p.mn=5&b.p.mx=10&b.tile

[cosmolinguist]

The audiobooks are very good, if that is a possibility.

[kareina]

What is the problem with footnotes on Kindle? If a book has footnotes I strongly prefer to read it on Kindle, as I can touch the footnote, and it jumps right to the right place, then touch the button by the footnote to jump right back to the right place. Way, way easier than the paper version...

[redbird]

See if the library has the hardcovers, maybe? I remember those as having reasonably large print, but our copies seem to still be in boxes.

I know that's trickier than it used to be--I have a paperback I need to get back to one library, and a book on hold at another library that I probably won't pick up because I'd rather not make that trip into Boston during the pandemic.

[silveradept]

If screen reading is possible, perhaps get copies of it that can be read on a computer, or load the Kindle books into a web browser interface? That usually allows for arbitrary resizing with the browser's zoom feature above and beyond the app's resizing.

[killing_rose]

Large print books for those with vision issues might be a possible solution? It's what I relied on pre-kindle if i was having a bad reading small print stage. (I second the kindle question ngl)

[jo]

How is that easier than on paper where you just move your eyes to the bottom of the page to read the footnote? Or are you thinking of endnotes rather than footnotes? I agree that endnotes in an actual book are stupid and should be banned. But footnotes aren't a problem -- they're just there at the bottom of the page where the footnote occurs in the text.

[conuly]

I always find it's a hassle - sometimes footnotes pop up, sometimes they take me to a new page....

[kareina]

I have always hated footnotes because of the difficulty in getting back to the exact place I was just reading and the way it messes up the flow. It wasn't till I encountered them on Kindle and the computer jumped me back to exactly the right spot that I learned to like them.