We can still be friends but I don’t want to feel that I’m
tied to you.
That was not an easy thing to say, especially as I was
talking to my Kindle. I thought this was going to be a lasting relationship but
somehow things haven’t quite worked out between us. I know all the points in
favour of my Kindle.
- I can take a whole pile of books on holiday with me and I don’t have to pay any excess baggage costs.
- I can open it up and there is the last page that I read, no risk of the bookmark sliding onto the floor leaving me growling with frustration.
- I can buy and start reading a new book at any time day or night, instantly.
- I can make the print larger when I’m feeling tired and the world is blurring before my eyes.
- I can tag good bits.
- I can search for specific words…
...but it’s not a book!
Two days ago, when the frost was thick on the ground and I
couldn’t face going out, I ordered some books from Amazon. They arrived this
morning. They’re on the settee next to me as I type this and I keep glancing at them.
I can’t wait to open them and start reading. I’ve missed a shiny front cover. I’ve
missed flicking through the pages. I’ve
missed being able to sniff the paper… [Did I really admit to that in public?
Whoops!]
So I’m sorry, little red Kindle. [Yes, I even treated it to
a flashy leather jacket.] I may still take you out occasionally because I quite
like you, but it’s books that I really love and I guess I always will.
This is my 200th post.
Just thought I’d mention it. Hurray! J
Yippee - I am with you on this. I don't have any sort of eReader and I don't want one. I have a room full of books and sometimes I just sit in there and stare at them :)
ReplyDeleteI think I left a comment but it vanished... I said Yippee! I completely agree with you on this - I don't have an eReader and I don't want one. I have a room full of books and sometimes I just sit in there and look at them :)
ReplyDeleteAll I have ever done with a Kindle is to glance at another person's in a waiting room. She loved it. I couldn't see why, and this is because I have always loved the actual book itself. I also smell books. :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 200th post!
I'm so glad you posted this because I have been thinking about getting a Kindle. I worried about reception here in the canyon, but more than that, I worried about the reading experience. And I know I would feel just like you do. I have discovered a wonderful thrift shop where they have lots of used books. Paperbacks are 25 cents and hardcover $1.00. And they are really, really good books. There must be some smart people living here somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI'm in a similar boat, though I don't actually have one. But I'm so in love with books that I've only seen the benefit of e-readers in regards with travel.
ReplyDeleteI don't even like my Kindle. I've read a few books on it, meh. It feels more like reading a manuscript than a real book. I got it for ebook research, and it's been extremely useful for that purpose but it will never never replace the book-reading experience I truly cherish.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the 200th post!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I do love to curl up with a good BOOK. I like the kindle for all the reasons you mentioned, but, I do like books, so it looks like I'm sharing my love around. :)
When he bought me my Kindle, I think my husband thought that our book storage problem (bookshelves in three rooms and counting!) was at an end. And, while I love my Kindle for all the reasons you mention in your post, I still get books from the library and I continue to buy paperback versions of some books. Because books in that format were my first love and you never forget your first love!
ReplyDeleteI do love my kindle, mainly due to NetGalley, but it really can't replace a real book can it? Great post and congrats on your 200th post! :D
ReplyDeleteIt's true! I'll always read on my Kindle (for the reasons you state) but I love to read a book too. So to all those who groan that it's the end of paper-books - you're wrong!!!
ReplyDeleteMy Kindle is allowing me to read old books I'd never buy. But having just received a parcel of free real books from Icon books for sharing their Facebook post on the origin of turkeys I'm literally knee deep in books. I can't possibly read them all. I have the Kindle permanently on a large font; it goes with me when I' travelling - horses for courses springs to mind.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Nook. We lean towards books but will use it when we have to. It is a bit of a love-hate relationship.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on both your 200th post and staying loyal to books. There's no substitute, is there?
ReplyDeletexoRobyn
Happy 200th post! I love my new Kindle, but it will NEVER take precedence over my love for real honest-to-God leather-bound books with paper pages.
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm a radio journalist, and I use technology all the time. But for me reading is such a pleasure....always hasbeen and always will be.
ReplyDeletebooks for me are so tactile ...yes, like you, I sniff them!I love the flick as I turn the page, I read in the bath and on the beach ...I couldn't do that with a kindle.Goish, imagine where the sand would go!
In fact, call me a luddite, but the thught of a kindle jsut doesn't excite me liek a ral book does. )even though your red cover is lovely!)
Hi Ros .. I'm about to start catching up with blogging friends .. Happy 200th post = impressive.
ReplyDeleteI haven't got a kindle or such .. am looking forward one day to get one - but I do love my books .. and the sniffing!
This is a weekend for sniffing I think .. enjoy your new books - cheers for now .. Hilary
We're humans, not robots. Me too. At first I was in joy over my kindle but that was fickle and fleeting. Once in a while I put in something I know I won't keep but yes, how I miss the smell. How can an electronic thing replace that comforting smell of ink and paper. So it's adios kindle.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 200th post!
ReplyDeleteI downloaded the Kindle app for my laptop, and I've perfected the 'reading position', but I'll only be using it to buy books that are exclusively digital. If there's a print edition, especially one I can buy from a bookshop, then I'll buy the book, and probably treat myself to a hot choc while I read the first chapter.
Books are forever. With ebooks, I keep wondering what will happen if the technology changes - like VHS to DVD etc.
I'm always so worried that I'll buy a Kindle, only to find that I don't like it. :-)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your 200th post.
well Ros, as you know I love my Kindle but that's probably partly because I do most of my reading whilst traveling on buses and also because books bought from Amazon take a long time to get here to Israel and the postage is quite hefty.
ReplyDeleteKindle does away with all of that as well.
I would like to think that both can live in harmony but I sense that like you I would want the tactile, olfactory experience that the book brings. Lets' hope both can survive!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on no 200!
Congratulations on your 200th post! Wow.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry it didn't work out with your Kindle as you hoped. I still haven't gotten one, but I enjoy hearing the pros and cons from others.
As we are going on holiday in a few days I got my wife's kindle out to have a proper look at it. Since buying it, the red covered machine (yes we have one as well) has mostly sat in a cupboard untouched. But surely this is where it should come into it's own, for a holiday? I actually found it uncomfortable to hold (although I am sure that I would get used to it) and whilst being really easy to read, just didn't seem the same as a book. Turning the pages by tapping a button also didn't give the satisfaction of progressing through the book. And the books are so expensive and so few in number when compared to cheap paperbacks. So I might download one to her machine for the holiday, but I will probably end up reading the paperback and not getting around to the machine.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on 200 posts! I'd love a Kindle, but I don't think it would ever beat 'real' books :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't have an e-reader yet. I'm not sure when I'll take the plunge. I don't really travel that much, so regular books work for me. It's so good that you admitted this. I think I will always have a soft spot for *real* books, too.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 200th post Rosalind! I agree that there still is more excitement in opening up a new book, or even a library classic. For now I'll alternate between all of the above. Julie
ReplyDeleteI meant to leave a comment when I first read this.I agree with everything you've said,I lile my Kindle but I love books.Sometimes if a book has a lot of characters I need to remind myself of them and it's harder to do this on a kindle.I cannot pass a bookshop and half my time doing my shopping is taken up by looking at books. Coming home with a new book or having a parcel of them delivered can never be replaced it gives you the feel good factor.Well done on your 200th post,pass the champagne.
ReplyDeleteHi Rubye, yay another book sniffer :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Inger, sorry if I put you off buying one but then again if I saved you money they that’s great.
Hi Gwen, they’re great if you go travelling a lot I suppose but I’m not much of a traveller.
Hi Karen, I love that word – meh – it says it all :-)
Hi Rebecca, sharing your love around can’t be bad… I guess!
Hi Kath, that’s very true. I bet we can all remember our first love!
Hi TBAG, not sure what NetGalley is. Will it enhance my Kindle?
Hi Susan, agreed, it’s definitely not the end of paper-books.
Hi Bob, I’m also using my Kindle to read old who-dun-its that I’d never buy and they don’t have in the library.
Hi Rebecca, I wonder if a Nook is any better than a Kindle.
ReplyDeleteHi Robyn, there certainly isn’t.
Hi Susan, oh the smell of a leather-bound book with top quality paper pages, heaven!
Hi Bridget, you’re most definitely not what I would call a luddite, especially as you now have two blogs when some people haven’t even got one! I think Kindles are fine on a beach but not in the bath, oh no.
Hi Hilary, another book sniffer, yay!
Hi Manzanita, yet another book sniffer. There are more than I suspected. I won’t say adios to my Kindle but it doesn’t get opened every day.
Hi Annalisa, I’d be interested to know what your ‘reading position’ is because I can’t work one out.
Hi Misha, hope I haven’t put you off Kindles for life. Some people love them... like Ann…
Hi Ann, I can see that in your situation a Kindle is ideal but I suspect if you were still here in the UK you might possibly belong to the ‘not quite sure’ brigade.
Hi Susan, I think both will survive and that they’ll each have their place in our lives.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth, I hope I haven’t put you off buying one. It’s only my opinion.
Hi Martin, I find it uncomfortable to hold too and as I’ve made the print a bit larger (old or rather oldish eyes I’m afraid) I have to tap that page turning button even more than you do!
Hi Sarah, I think we’re most of us in agreement that a Kindle will never beat books but it might sit happily beside books for odd occasions.
Hi Amy, hope I haven’t put you off from ‘taking the plunge’.
Hi Julie, alternating sounds like a reasonable compromise.
Hi Anne, I’m always flicking backwards and forwards in a book as I’m useless at remembering names and frequently get characters mixed up. I’m drinking sparkling grape juice but do have a glass of champers. Cheers!
Hi BIP, Is a Kobo the same as a Kindle?