Nanny Nanny Boo Boo. I got one for Christmas, not you!
I put the Kindle on my Amazon wish list just because . . . just because I had to put something on the list to enter a contest on their site . . . just because it’s kind of a cool thing . . . just because . . . well, you never know.Â
And that’s the thing. I didn’t know. My very cool family splurged and bought me this amazing e-reader for a Christmas present. I was . . . I am blown away by their thoughtfulness and generosity.
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love to read. Books—or rather the stories in books—are like old friends. I still have a few Golden books from my preschool days. I have one book written in ITA (Initial Teaching Alphabet) from when I learned to read in first grade. There are books all over my house. In an attempt to economize, I rediscovered the library a few months ago. The library is definitely part of heaven on earth. I’ve decided that’s where all my tax dollars go; it makes paying taxes much less stressful.
I was a bit shocked by the lack of books in my brand new branch of the library the first few times I ventured into it. I soon learned how the modern library works and how to order books not on the shelves . I’ve been a reading maniac the last few months. I’ve also been enjoying the DVDs and Play Away books.
My biggest problems with the library are two fold. My life doesn’t always fit neatly into the time frame they allot for borrowing their goods. I travel a lot and don’t want to have to return something part way through the story. Neither do I want to take it with to some remote corner of the world to either have to pay overdue fees (best case) or lose it (worse case). While I love the heft of a book, the smell of the paper and ink, the sight of the type and illustrations, books are bulky things to take around the world.
Enter the Kindle. It’s slim and sleek and the reading’s cheap. Kindle books cost significantly less than paper and ink copies. Currently mine holds over 50 books—50+ free books at that!—and gets the Denver post (minus the comics) every day. I could never take 50 books on my next trip if I were taking them the old fashioned way. I’ll not soon run out of novels with my Kindle.
My love for Kindle won’t diminish my fondness for the library. I’m still economizing.
11 responses to “Nanny Nanny Boo Boo”
Oh wow! I have wanted to hold one of these babies in my hand to see what they are like. Can I have a looksie at yours? I’d love to see it in real life to figure out if it’s something I might splurge on one of these days.
Of course you can, Rebecca! I’ll be sure to bring it to the office when vacation is over.
Cool. I’m glad someone other than me actually understands what the Kindle is good for…no, it won’t replace the library or print-books, but man is it great for those who travel or want to take advantage of the Internet’s archive of public domain classics away from a screen. And slowly but surely eBook readers are becoming affordable. When we hit the $50 price point I predict they will change the way the US reads.
The one thing I’m not sure about with the Kindle and other eInk devices is the flash/screen-refresh on page-turn. How does that factor into the reading experience?
I can imagine that a $50 price point for an e-reader would revolutionize publishing as well as reading. Fast Company did an article earlier this year about Amazon changing the face of publishing. I’m sure once e-readers are more accessible that face will alter again.
The screen refresh thing was a little annoying at first. I thought there was something wrong with my device. Now that I know that’s what it’s supposed to do, I don’t even notice it.
Cool…I figure that after a while the flashy thingy would be kind of the like an actual page turn in that you don’t even remember seeing it when you’re engrossed in a book.
I am definitely jealous!
“The library is definitely part of heaven on earth. I’ve decided that’s where all my tax dollars go; it makes paying taxes much less stressful.” Ha ha! So true!
Sounds like you like it. I’ve been torn on the Kindle. It sounds great to me, but I’m afraid I would miss the smell of the books, the turning of pages, the design on the cover, the title on the spine. I suppose, like you said, owning a Kindle doesn’t mean you completely abandon books.
I just may have to put it on my birthday list! 🙂
I.Want.One. But I do love inter-library loan (and have had the same thought about my tax dollars) and I’m staying put for a while so that works best for me now.
Did I see that Barnes and Nobles version allows library (free? much cheaper?) downloads of books? That would be the best of all worlds for me.
I didn’t know that about the B&N reader. I know my library has free audiobook downloads. One of my friends is going through the classics with them as she works out.
We got one this summer and we love it too! It’s going to save us sooo much in getting our books to Africa. The only problem that we’ve found is that books are too easy to buy now! Imagine, and English bookstore with every book you could want right at your fingertips in Paris…a little dangerous sometimes.
Hilary—I’ve already thought about the ease of buying books. I can hear myself, “It’s not EVEN $10 . . . ” I hadn’t thought about the ease of getting your library overseas with it. What a great advantage!!! It could be more dangerous in Senegal where English bookstores are even more scarce. My thoughts would run along the lines of “It’s not EVEN $10 and there’s no shipping . . . and no wait!” A little dangerous indeed.
Oh Sheryl, it’s sooo true. I just bought another book tonight saying just that, “It’s not even $10” and I started reading it right away. I guess there are worse things to spend my money on!