I love books, I love reading, I love owning and buying books. I love standing in front of my bookcase and thinking hmmmm, what shall I read next. Shall I pick one that I have never read before or re-read a favourite, should it be easy reading or a bit more intellectual, English or Dutch, fiction or non-fiction, so many choices. In life I hate choosing, but when it comes to books I love it.
I have several bookcases at home and some books move from one to another. This is because I have a favourites bookcase. The one in the living room has all my favourite books in, but when I acquire a new book and really enjoy it, a current favourite might have to move to make room. Within the favourites bookcase I even have favourite shelves, they are basically the ones I have the best view of from the sofa, and that’s where the favourites of all favourites live. The ones like: Love in the times of cholera, The shadow of the wind, Simon, Memoirs of a Geisha, The time travellers wife, I could go on.
Anyway, my point is that I really like books. So when e-readers were starting to become really popular I was confused; why would anyone want one? I could obviously see that it is practical for commuters and on holidays, but still, surely you would rather have actual books? So it was clear to me from the start; I didn’t want one. I asked my husband (who doesn’t like reading and therefore probably doesn’t get my obsession with books) to please never buy me a Kindle.
Fast forward to the following Christmas…… My husband, who is the most wonderful person in the world but also most likely the worst listener, bought me a Kindle! When he gave me the present he said he was a bit nervous about it because he wasn’t sure whether I wanted one. Ha ha, I guess some of the comment ‘I don’t want one’ must have gotten through :-). I immediately knew what it was and I had about 10 seconds (whilst I opened the present) to decide how to react when I “found out what it was”. I obviously didn’t want to be ungrateful, but I had specifically asked him not to buy me one. By the time I opened it I was actually quite interested to find out how it worked, what it would look like and what it would be like to read a book on it, so actually, even though I still didn’t want one, I was pleased to be able to satisfy my curiosity. I could always sell it it if I really didn’t like it.
Fast forward to the day after Boxing Day….. My husband looks at me and says: “For someone who didn’t want a Kindle (so he had been paying attention!) you’ve used it an awful lot so far.” He was right, By that evening, I had only owned it for about 60 hours, I had finished the first book and had built up quite a library of interesting and free books. Free books! That was something I hadn’t counted on. I knew you could get some of the classics for free, but I was not aware of the enormous amount of free and/or cheap books that were out there just waiting for me to download. And I loved it!
But don’t worry, I will never ever give up on actual books. If I really want a book or if one of my favourite authors has a new book out, or just when I fancy, I will go into a bookshop and buy actual books. But I also love my Kindle because without it there would be a lot of books that I would never have read. So I would like to thank my husband for completely ignoring my request, thinking he knew better and being right. You rock!
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glad you are enjoying your new kindle. I rarely buy books at this point (don’t own a kindle). I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to accumulate alot of stuff. I am a big library person.
I am very fond of the local library as well, mainly as I could never afford to buy as many books as I read 🙂
I found the quantity of free or very cheap Kindle books astounding, too. Isn’t it wonderful? 🙂
It’s great! I love discovering new writers and e-readers and books have really opened up the market to people who otherwise might never have been read.
I heard the same experience from someone else. Avoided the kindle, got a present, then really loved using it. I haven’t tried it yet. Enjoy!
Thank you. It is very strange, I guess it should be looked at as an addition to books, not a replacement of.
Haha I was the same, and I can’t put my kindle down now either! Like you say, you end up buying books that you might not normally have picked up plus you can buy a book any time of day or night! I love that I can just buy one when I want and not have to wait till I can get to a shop. Like you, I have my favourites on a shelf and the author gets the royalities either way. I think Kindles are making people read more which can only be a good thing :O) xxxx I saw men on holiday reading this year, probably cause is was on a “gadget” they gave it a go lol x
Anything that gets people reading is great! Hope you had a nice holiday.
Neal bought me a kindle as an early birthday present, I didn’t want one either, but now I love it! The only downside is that it seems much harder to choose a book to read by browsing the kindle shop than looking on the shelves in a bookstore! I still look in the shops and text myself with titles I think look good!!!
Funny how so many people have the same experience. I agree it is not as good for choosing books as a bookshop, and certainly not as much fun.