Love It-Hate It
When I first read about the Kindle (technology-wise, that means in the Dark Ages), I thought I would never, ever get over the need to hold and smell a book. And, if I am being honest, after years of usage, I still do miss several features about real books. When I am reading non-fiction, I miss the ability to thumb back and forth very quickly and easily between chapters and sections. I miss traditional notetaking in the margins. Yes, yes, I know you can underline and write notes with Kindle, but when I get to my book club, I still come with a traditional tablet where I have written down my thoughts (and the location number on the Kindle). Much faster and easier than trying to next page through my notes.
Of course, I also miss being able to really see maps and pictures, so if a book has a lot of those, I buy the actual book instead of the ebook. How else to best see those wonderful illustrations “In Which A House is Built at Poor Corner for Eeyore” for example? I had to have a non-Kindle friend photocopy the maps of A Game of Thrones so I could locate Winterfell, The Wall, and King’s Landing while reading on my Kindle.
I love the ability to sample books at home (or anywhere, really) instead of vying for the three chairs in my nearby bookstore, which some people use as their personal library while they sit there all day reading through everything and then leaving a big pile of books on the floor! Right now I have over 30 samples. If I read about a book that even sounds remotely interesting, I simply download a free sample. Sometimes it takes so long for me to get to my samples that I forget why I downloaded it in the first place! Then I have to go back to Amazon and re-read about the book before I decide to invest any time. I wonder what made me download Starship Trooper, Dr. Zhivago, Don Quixote, 1Q84, The Night Strangers, Nanjing Requiem, and Midnight Rising – all at the same time? What could I have been thinking? Drinking?
I recall the first time I really, really got into the whole Kindle experience. I was home, sick, and watching daytime TV and every show and advertisement had something about the teen phenomenon Twilight. They had the actors on, the author on, clips from the movie coming out, passages from the book being read, and, well, I was just so curious about the whole thing – so, from my sick bed I just turned my wireless on, searched for the book, and as their ads say, “In under a minute…” and there it was, Book 1. It was childish, poorly written, really simplistic, and the minute I finished Book 1 (which did not take too long), I went right back on line and downloaded Book 2.
People can no longer peruse my home library, thumb through books on my coffee table, glance at what I am reading in the airport or in waiting rooms – somehow that feels like a personal loss to me. Where else to show off the broad and extremely quaint range of my reading habits? I am what I read?
