I Still Love My Kindle!

          September at Routines for Writers is Book Month. We’ll talk about books we’ve read, discuss things we’ve learned from books, explore ways to publish books and more. Anything about books. A writer’s favorite subject, right?

          I come from a reading family. Some of my earliest memories are of my mom reading, to me or for herself. My grandmother or my aunts always had books available. One aunt had a special shelf of books. The higher the shelf, the more advanced the books. I went from Dr. Seuss on the bottom shelf to Little Women on one of the higher shelves. I missed that bookshelf as much as I did my aunt when we moved away and were too far to visit often.

          It’s no surprise that my daughter reads even more prolifically that me. She won prizes in every summer reading program she entered. What does surprise me is how much she hates electronic books. She’s only picked up my Kindle once. And put it down within five minutes in disgust. No matter how I extol the benefits of electronic books, she’s adamant. Nothing is better than paper and ink books. Nothing comes close to paper and ink books. She wants nothing to do with anything other than paper and ink books.

          Some time ago I wrote about how much I love my Kindle. That was right after it had been given to me. I still love it. (I’m a little perturbed at Amazon over what I consider a warranty issue, but I still love the Kindle.) I thought today, the beginning of Book Month at RFW, would be a good time to continue the discussion of this alternate ways to buy, store, read and publish books.

          What do I like about my Kindle. Let me count the ways.

          As a faithful patron of libraries, I’m always discovering books I want to read. In the past, I was limited to the books I could borrow. My small-town library doesn’t always have everything I want, even with inter-library loan (which I utilize to the hilt). My Kindle has changed that! I can download a sample of more books than I could ever read. And more books become available everyday. (Recently, I ordered a book in paperback because it wasn’t available in Kindle. Two weeks later, when I went to order it again for a gift, there it was in Kindle version. (And the free books! I spend hours browsing and “buying” free books.)

          After reading the sample of a book, it’s easy to buy. With a push of a button, it’s purchased. Another few seconds, it’s downloaded to my Kindle. No matter where I am in the world. I bought more books while over in China than I have living in the States.

          I can carry multiple books with me. This is wonderful for traveling. I’m always in the middle of several books. When I go away for a day or ten, I’m never sure which book to take with me. I usually take several. Now I can take as many as I want and not give a thought to space or weight.

          I’m in the middle of a road trip in which I’m the only driver. Most of the time I’m chatting with my travel-mate. Sometimes, though, during long stretches of silence, I read my Kindle. Yes, you read that right. I read my Kindle. I turn on the text-to-speech feature, put my earbud in and listen to my Kindle read to me. It’s an unemotional computer-generated voice and mispronounces many of the words, but I still like it.

          I still love my Kindle. What about you? Have you tried any of the electronic books? What do you like about it? What do you not like about it?