Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Books versus Kindle?



I have to start this post with a shout out to my eldest Broseph. He and his lovely wife gave me this fantastic pressie on my last birthday. Actually before my last birthday. As a surprise. Which led to appreciative tears in the Post Office car park and consequent mortification, but we won’t go into that.

So 6 months on what say I? 
There are very few places I go now without this piece of kit. It fits perfectly into any handbag and the battery life means I’m rarely searching for the charger. Friends have been spared my wrath for being late to meetups or colleagues to meetings because that’s now valuable reading time. (The final in the series of Song and Ice and Fire at present seen as we’re sharing). The fact that it boasts free 3G also means that as soon as a book is recommended or a review is posted I can download a sample free of charge. No more draft texts or scrawled notes of Author or title reminders. If the book is not available yet I can pre order as I did with the current book and on the morning of release it pops up, ready for attention. No camping outside Waterstone’s for me. No, Siree.
'Well, I'm Team Jacob, Mary, you?'
The rate at which I go through books has, in the past, led to explosions of paperbacks all over the house. Having enjoyed the book too much to give to charity, though it will never be read again or having been too averse to public transport to re gift it to a fellow passenger as the Book Crossing movement suggests. The Kindle has sorted that. I can still loan books to anyone that has a Kindle, which I have done with d’Mammy. A fantastic feature. And the house is now clutter free (ish).

I’ve always read in bed or while stretched on a sun lounger on holliers, larger books lead to arm ache and constant turning to get comfortable, resulting of course with your best crocodile death roll in the sheets or not a scrap of sun on your fizzog. Changing pages on the kindle is a one touch button which can be held in one hand. Genius.


You may have gleaned from the above that, I’m a fan, a huge fan. There are, however, one or two niggles. The majority of Kindle books are counted in percentages and not page numbers, this isn’t a huge deal but when I’m reading I prefer to judge whether or not to finish a chapter or to gauge my progress. One book can end on 88% while another will go to 99%. This only dawned on me while wondering why it took 2 weeks, full pelt, to read the first 3 books in a series only to see them on the shelf of Eason’s and realise they were Monsters! The only other issue being, when I’m reading a book I sometimes like to flick back. To reread a paragraph or clarify a point, that’s not so easy when every page looks exactly the same. Again, this is a personal thing, not everyone has weird reading habits as I do and this could go unnoticed.

All in all, I wouldn’t be without the Kindle. I recommend it with a genuine passion to all that will listen. While I love it for books and blogs alike there are also those who use it to read graphic novels. The technology is versatile and constantly improving.

Also, anything that means you never have to lick your thumb again has to be a good thing, right?

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I have been debating this I am
A big lover of books ... I have an iPad and it's cool and I can bookmark pages but I still waited for the new Stephanie plum book in book version

blondie said...

Iagree with every single thing you said - all the positives & the 2 small negatives. I have been holding back on using mine as I'm off backpaking & I want to save most of what I've bought already for on the road, being as I will be on a budget!I'm thinkin it will be a godsend travelling - books are god damn heavy & I spent a fortune on mags the last time I backpacked. Have downloaded all the free classics also :)

cornflakegirl said...

Great post.

I'm a huge lover of books and have so far resisted the lure of the Kindle because I just love flicking back and re-reading passages. But I must admit that when my arthritis is flaring up I wish I had a Kindle because the pain of holding a book open is...well literally painful. I think this might be the answer to my prayers in that regard.

Something to start saving for I think.

Rob Jordan said...

Good blog sis and you're very welcome :)
I wouldn't be without my Kindle and nor would Cath. Last holiday I was on I read 9 novels in 2 weeks. I was distressed having to leave them there, so lots of people around the pool got some free books. That's a nice thing, however, not always appreciated.
I have entirely too many books on shelves back home with not much to do with them other than give to charity. Not that I begrudge it, but think of all of those unloved books just laying around. Kindle does have a nice ecological side to it also; less cutting down of trees in the future!
Brilliant bit of kit, highly recommended. No pages flapping in the wind, no heavy books to carry, read in bright sunlight, built in Thesaurus, internet connectivity....it's got quite a lot going for it.

Sue Jordan said...

Thanks for commenting folks & especially you Bert x

And you raise another great point (or two). The thesaurus! Gone are my days of sounding out unfamiliar words (It doesn't happen often, swear) but it's a great addition. That and highlighted passages, you can see what line(s) previous readers found poignant in the story and add your own.

Rockage.

nicolacc2008 said...

Great Post. I have kindle too and I absolutely love it. Great for traveling. Its paid for itself 10 times over

Susan Daly said...

Really enjoyed this post. You know I just got my Kindle from our Twitter chat (BiddyEarly here!) and I'm already with you on the pluses and minuses. Really, my only niggle is the difficulty in flicking back to clarify something. Although I'm not a big fan of the highlighted passages - they tend to interrupt the flow of my reading because I end up trying to figure out why they were given prominence.
Love the lightweight feel of it - just waiting for its cover to come in the post and then it's going to find a permanent home in my bag!

Scarie said...

Love love love my kindle! Best present ever but mine doesn't have 3 g any recommendations for books I should try

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