I really never thought I’d be writing a post like this, but I have to admit that I really like the Kindle.
I was definitely not expecting to like it—for several reasons.
One is that I love being in places where there are books. I grew up surrounded by books in the public library and my house. There was always a book on the table and books making the bookcases groan.
Another reason is that I have enough screen time as it is. If I’ve had a busy writing week (or promo week, or both), then by the end of the day my head aches and my eyes hurt and I just can’t wait to get away from my laptop, the desktop, my smart phone, whatever.
So I wasn’t exactly expecting to be a fan of the Kindle when my husband bought one a few weeks ago.
But—it’s so sensible.
It takes up hardly any space. The screen isn’t backlit like a computer screen, so (as yet) I haven’t experienced any eyestrain. I can actually read the Kindle outdoors because there won’t be glare on the screen. It can hold all the books I want.
Unfortunately, I think we’ve reached the point where we can’t collect many more books. Books are even stacked on the floor in some rooms…and this is after culling our collection! No, if some come in, then some have to go out….
Unless you have a Kindle. Then you can have a huge library on a single device…and back it up to another.
Usually, if I go out of town, I have to make a big decision as to which books I’m going to bring with me. This involves skimming the first chapter of each book to see which ones I’m more likely to want to read.
If you have a Kindle, you can bring all the books with you.
I’m a clumsy person. Very. Yes, I’ve already dropped this brand-new device. While I wouldn’t recommend dropping the Kindle, it has survived its scary experience.
Do you like to write in the margins of your books? I’m a margin-writer and highlighter, myself. Yes, you can do it in the Kindle.
Like a book, you will still need a booklight if you read the Kindle in your bed in the middle of the night and don’t want to wake the person sleeping next to you. That’s because it’s not backlit. But that’s sort of comforting and almost book-like.
I really don’t have anything bad to say about it. I’m a fan.
I still go hang out where there are books. I go to the library once or twice a week. I’m frequently in the bookstores…and yes, I’m still buying paper books (after I give away several to make room for the new ones.)
But I think I’m seeing a glimpse of the future. It’s a little scary because it’s creating a lot of discord in the publishing industry…but I’m definitely a convert.
Have you got an eReader? Are you planning on buying one? How do you like yours?
I too am a convert. I got the Kindle first because I planned to publish on it, wanted to be able to look at my book and see that is was formatted alright. But I fell in love with how easy and comforting is was to take when traveling to see my Dad, who has Alzheimer’s.
I too find it less strain on my eyes, particularly when I can use a larger print. It even is easier to hold than hardbacks, and my cat doesn’t object as much to sharing my lap with it cause I can hold and turn the pages in one hand and continue to pat her with the other! And it means I can hold on to more of my favorite old books-since I had a strict policy of weeding books before I could bring more into the house.
I also love that I can read books by authors I can’t find in traditional book stores (who are writing short stories and novellas and reissuing their long out of print books) and that people are reading my book and short story, who would never have taken a chance on me if there hadn’t been an inexpensive alternative to a print book.
M. Louisa Locke
author of Maids of Misfortune: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery and Dandy Detects
Elizabeth, An eReader is sensible, but…does it have that book smell? Or…or does it close accidently losing your place?
Really they are great!
Elizabeth – I’m so very glad you like your Kindle. And I can completely understand all your reasons for not thinking that you would. I love the feel of books, too. But you’ve got so many reasons, too, for liking it.
I don’t have an E-reader,, so I can’t speak from experience. But I probably will end up saving up the money for one. It just seems to me such a terrific way to store and read books when one’s space is limited.
Another Kindle convert. Hmm. I (think) I’m planning to buy an ereader this holiday season. In fact, I posed your exact questions today on my blog–what kind of ereader do people have and do they like it!
A Million Blogging Monkeys: Ooo, Shiny
Ok, lady — back to synchronicity. I’ve already answered your questions at my blog today, so no need to repeat them here!
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
I just got my Kindle in the mail two days ago!
I haven’t read a book on it yet because I promised myself I’d complete the library book I’m halfway through, but I’ve already uploaded a bunch of free classics from Amazon.
Like you, I didn’t think I’d ever buy one or like it, but I really like the portability. Planning to do a full review in the next week or so.
Thanks!
No secret I love my iPad! (Which I can read in bed with the lights off – not that I’ve had the energy to do so.) We still have room for physical books, but I’ve enjoyed downloading them to my iPad.
ONE backside of the coin: it is far too easy to buy books :D
But I agree one hundred per cent: a Kindle is an excellent supplement to your beloved paperbooks.
Probably won’t invest until it comes in waterproof, but I’m gettin warmer and fuzzier, and have ALWAYS thought it was ideal for travel (or living abroad–my friend in Japan adores hers–both because her house is small, and because she can buy online things she used to have to have shipped from the States)
You know what I am getting excited about though–education… like my kids and college… I’m sure books will still cost a lot, even Kindled, but imagine one, light-weight device having ALL your books.
I AM curious whether libraries have ‘Kindle books’ to check out and how that works…
I ADORE my Kindle. I’ve had it for over 2 yrs now. Its font size feature is a big plus for me.
You don’t even need to back up your books onto something else, delete them from the Kindle and they’re still held on Amazon for you.
I just started thinking about getting some sort of ereader. My favorite books, I will still pick up in hardcopy, but there’s so many I would like to keep on hand, just in case I get in the mood to read them, but take up space we need for other things. Like more of my favorite books.
I just haven’t settled on one I want for sure. I like the concept of eink, but a couple of the ones I’ve seen do not have a strong enough contrast between print and background. That makes it more strenuous to read than backlit, and so much grey makes me sleepy.
My husband got a Kindle a month or two ago. As the Luddite in the house, I have looked on with severe skepticism. However, when I wanted to read a book and couldn’t find it at the store or library, we got it in minutes and I read it on the Kindle.
For me, the big plus is portability. If I ever have to travel much, I’ll probably get one of my own so I don’t have to carry pounds of books.
But I’m not in a hurry to own one for the moment for two reasons. The first is that I love to read in the bath and being a klutz am worried about dropping the thing. The second is that the “intuitive” buttons aren’t intuitive to me. I kept trying to use the left hand button to go backwards, but it turned out to be a forward button (the back being above it).
So I am currently ambivalent.
I enjoy your blog posts. I have to say I went through the same conversion last year when my wife gave me a Kindle. Now, I would rather read the Kindle than the book. What I find funny is that I would never have made the switch myself. If not for my wife I would still be reading books in the conventional way. But now that I’ve read on a Kindle I can’t seem to go back. I have posted many times about this same phenomenon on my own blog puborperish.blogspot.com.
Keep up the great writing, I look forward to more.
Dick
puborperish.blogspot.com
I was an early adopter of the Kindle, so I have one of the old ones (that has expandable memory). Does it have that old book smell? Yes, because I bought a leather cover for it :)
My husband mocked me for reading on a Kindle. He despaired that my soul had been sucked away by a black hole of technology.
You guessed it. He got his Kindle a month ago. He got it because a huge book he wanted to read was coming out at the same time he was going to be doing traveling, and he didn’t want to carry the huge book on a plane.
He loves it.
We still have walls and walls covered in books in our house, and that won’t change. But we do love our Kindles!
Bwa-ha haha hahaha!
A new convert!
I’ve been reading ebooks for more years than would seem possible. I used to read on my Palm. Now I read on my iPod Touch. (I have four or five ebook apps, including the Kindle app.)
I still love real books. My father died last week, and I spent a lot of time this weekend going through his books for the personal artifacts – the treasures of his life. (And with ebooks, if I fall in love with a book, I will often buy the paper copy as well as a keepsake.)
But it is SO nice to be able to move your library around with a click.
I haven’t converted to ebooks yet. But if I do I’ll probably end up going with a Nook considering Amazon’s recent (and past) fiasco (s). I just can’t bring myself to buy anything from them any more.
I love my Kindle and I’ve done a post to state that fact. I think everyone who has bought one, loved it.
CD
The Kindles and other E-books are great and more writers are e-publishing because of them. I can’t wait to purchase mine, but I’m hoping Someone will buy me one for Christmas… Hint… Hint!
Mary Lou–Good point…the Kindle is sized small enough so that you could find a good book to relax with while you take care of your dad, and then have the rest of the series on the device, if you like the first book. And it’s so *light*.
If it has the cat seal of approval, you should keep it, for sure! Cats are so picky.
I really do like the fact that we can find books on the Kindle that weren’t at the library and were hard to find.
Suzannah-Write It Sideways–Looking forward to your review!
Teresa–I think the Kindle people should figure out the new-book-fragrance and spritz it all over these things!
Alex–I thought the iPad’s reader was cool–the way the pages “flip” is amazing!
Margot–It’s just so *practical*! I never thought I’d like it this much.
Alan–Too funny! We all had e-readers on the brain.
Terry–I don’t know how we do it! Perfectly in sync. :)
Hart–It would be *perfect* for someone who doesn’t have a lot of space. I do think they have waterproof covers…I’d hate to put them to the test, though. Although I hear that ziplocks work well.
Those textbooks are SO heavy! I can’t wait for the day. :)
Our library is having major funding cuts, but I’m sure that eventually they’ll have them ready for download…maybe similar to the audio download for MP3 players that they have now?
Laura–Yes–the font size! Forgot to mention that. I’m starting to need reading glasses and I love the ability to increase font size. :)
Thanks for the tip! I didn’t realize that we could get lost data/books back from Amazon.
Jaleh–I have some really awful-looking paperback books from the 1980s…Agatha Christies. From time to time I like to reread her books or parts of them. I’m thinking that now I can just download them to Kindle and get rid of the shabby editions I have.
I think everything makes me sleepy lately. :)
Kit–You’ve brought up another good point–being able to download books that are hard to find. Or foreign editions. I think I’m saving tons of money in shipping costs.
I did the same thing with the buttons!Ha!
As far as the tub, I understand that if you put the device in a ziplock, it’ll protect it and you can read through it. I dunno if I trust myself, though…I’m REALLY clumsy.
Dick–I was the same way–thinking about getting one, but not committing…until my husband ordered it.
Suzi–Smart! Maybe I should invest in a leather bookcover!
Your husband sounds like mine! My hubbie reads computer tomes and the Kindle makes it easy. And the cost break is nice on the books, too. :)
Heather–Oh, I know–Amazon definitely makes me grit my teeth sometimes…
Clarissa–It’s a very addicting device!
Dorte–It almost doesn’t seem like you’re spending money, does it? That’s the problem with spending with a click!
Sandra–Hope someone will take the hint and you’ll end up with one in your stocking! :)
The Daring Novelist–I think that once you get one, you’re hooked!
So sorry to hear about your father! I do know what you mean about books as a way to treasure memories of family–I love the novels and poetry volumes that belonged to my grandmother–with her thoughts written in the margins.
I don’t have an eReader, but my husband has the iPad – and he loves it. It travels with him everywhere and he always has a book to read.
Helen–Hope he lets you borrow it! :)
No eReader yet but I’m hoping to get one for Christmas. An iPad would be awesome but I’d be happy with a Kindle as well. Have fun with your new toy!
I can see that you have already received LOTS of comments on your Kindle blog. One issue I find difficult is highlighting and note making. You’re right that you can do this – although the typing is tedious – but it is still very difficult to quickly flip and find your comments. So, for example, I don’t usually use my Kindle for bookclub books where I like to have lots of stickies or for non-fiction books where I like to make notes and underlines that I can quickly find. One other nitpick item – it took me quite a while to discover how to print my highlights and notes. Perhaps Amazon could make it just a bit more user friendly. I’m sure future products will be even slicker!!
On the subject of ‘borrowing’ books from the library. Unfortunately, the Kindle is not compatible with the downloadable books available from many public libraries throughout the country. The NOOK is compatible. It has to do with DRM rights from the publisher, etc, and I don’t profess to understand the whole thing.
The ones available through our library system (from Overdrive) are compatible with the Nook, the Sony E-reader, and many others. Only the Kindle and Ipad seem to be out of the loop.
The Nook also handles the MP3 audio files for audio books. So I’ve asked Santa for a NOOK and can hardly wait. Most of the books available for the Kindle are also available for the NOOK, they are about the same price and have most of the same features. And….the Nook is now out in COLOR, although that is more expensive, is back-lit like a computer and uses a LOT more battery.
Great discussion…..
I have an iPad and the books I read now are from the Kindle app. I also read on my laptop and my Android. I’ll get my girlfriend a Kindle for Christmas.