Not too long ago, I finished reading “Alexander Hamilton,” by Ron Chernow. It took me over a year to read this book. It wasn’t densely written or complex. In fact, it was a good read. The problem was the physical size of the book. At 900-some-odd pages in hardcover, it was simply too big and heavy to take with me on my travels. The only time I have to read at home is that brief phase between crawling into bed and falling asleep. Typically, I got through a page or two before drifting off.

I actually read about 30 other books while I was reading “Hamilton.” They were small paperbacks that tucked nicely into my briefcase.

This is no longer a problem. My wife, sympathizing with my plight, bought me a Sony Reader. It holds up to 80 books, is light, thin, and easy to use. The screen is very readable, I can adjust the font size, and a battery charge lasts forever. (At least, I haven’t had to recharge while on a weeklong business trip, and that includes reading in the hotel room as well as on the plane and in the terminal.)

There have been a number of complaints raised about the Reader. Some think it’s too expensive, but $300 is less than I paid for my 80GB iPod. Some think it’s too confusing. (I don’t get this. I find it downright simple.) Some lament the lack of a backlight (I bought a $30 snap-on light.) I was listening to “This Week in Tech,” the episode about the iPhone in which Leo Laporte talked about waiting in line at the Apple Store. One of his guests commented that people just left their laptops on the sidewalk while they went to use a bathroom; their new friends in line watched after them. Laporte said he left his Sony Reader hoping someone would take it, but nobody did.

I just don’t get it. I do hope that a next generation Reader does a better job of placing buttons; I sometimes inadvertently push buttons when holding the book. But overall, I love this gadget. I’m currently reading “The Naked Corporation” by Dan Tapscott. I’ve already read half a dozen other books. I have a few other business books, a couple American history books, and a few Elmore Leonard and Robert B. Parker novels loaded and ready for reading, as well as Charles Dickens’ “Hard Times,” which was a free download.

My one real complaint is the lack of titles available at sony’s Connect store, which stocks only about 10% of the popular titles available elsewhere. But there’s still plenty for me to read and those books not available in the proprietary Reader format (like David Weinberger’s “Everything is Miscellaneous”) I buy in the traditional paper format and put on my nightstand.

I was thrilled to read in a BusinessWeek story that Sony is not discouraged by the tepid sales of its Reader. The company has several plans in the works, particularly since it looks like it may have to compete with an Amazon-branded gadget the online retailer has in the works.

To begin with, Sony is going to incorporate Adobe’s ebook software into the Reader, which will let me obtain books from outlets other than the Connect store. That’s great news. Most of the other tweaks are of more interest to people who don’t already have a Reader. The price is coming down, for example, and marketing will target business travelers (like me).