Wednesday, March 13, 2013

21st Century Reading



Still wandering down blog-memory lane, I came across this post.

I was pondering the Kindle, which hadn't taken off in the way it has now, and five years on I've finally... FINALLY, given in and got myself one of the blighters.  A Kindle Fire to be exact, but not the latest model, because I'll only use it for reading books and manuscripts, and won't require it to do all the singing and dancing with bells on it's undoubtedly capable of.

In a way I thought it only polite I succumb, as I actually have an eBook out.  It would have been rude not to, really.

It'll never replace the traditional book in my affections, but already I'm a little bit hooked.  It's so easy to carry around, and to read whenever required. At the dentist's, for instance, I'm never called in on time and I had to be called in twice today I was so absorbed in the book I'd started reading.  (Mind you, I hate going to see the dentist so it might have been a bit psychological.)

So at the moment, I have a traditional book for bedtime, an audio-book for the car, and now I can whip out my Kindle (that's not a euphemism) and read wherever I am.  Which can't be a bad thing.

It definitely butters my parsnips.

17 comments:

Wendy's Writing said...

I had my kindle for Christmas. So far, I've only managed to use it for reading online friends' ebooks. Guess what I'm reading now - 'My Future Husband'. Just got to the watercress soup part ha ha!

Karen said...

That's made my day, Wendy :o)

Librarian said...

While I will never entirely lose my love of paper books, I don't want to miss my kindle anymore. It is now a year ago I got mine, and the number of books I can carry around without much extra weight to my handbag is just fantastic! Also, while waiting for the train to work and standing on the cold platform with my gloves on, I can read on my kindle, "turning the pages" without having to remove my gloves - wonderful! Not to mention the incredible number of really good reads I have found for free, which has introduced me to authors and books I would have probably never come across otherwise.

Patsy said...

I love real books but I'm becoming fond of my kindle (a Christmas gift) too. All those free and bargain ebooks are very tempting!

DAB said...

"It definitely butters my parsnips" I love those words Clarkey :-) (butI still don't like Kindles!) Tommox

Rosemary Gemmell said...

Like you, I still love my print books, Karen, but I wouldn't be without my kindle for bedtime reading (the original model) as it's so much lighter to hold!

Kath McGurl said...

I LOVE my Kindle, especially on holidays and long train journeys when I never need fret I'll run out of reading material again.

Anna May said...

I am a Kindle convert but don't like that I can't see what people are reading on the bus when they use one.
Anna May x

Talli Roland said...

Hey, anything that butters parsnips... :) I love my Kindle Fire.

Unknown said...

We recently got two tablets and a Kindle Paperwhite ourselves.

A family member had said they'd never read a book on Kindle, but here they are reading several.

Myself, I like them a lot. Firstly, having an ebook of Under the Dome as an example, 1072 pages, is great. I don't have to hold the tome.

Secondly, I don't have much storage space for books, so that's another problem solved. I also love the ability to leave notes on the ebooks, so I can refer to passages at a later date.

And to be frank, I find them quite usable. I can have the light out and read in bed too.

Deborah Carr said...

I have a Kindle, but it's one of the basic ones and I love it. I never thought I'd enjoy reading on an e-reader, but as soon as I tried using one, I loved it.

In fact, I have a Kobo too.

Greedy, moi?

Romance Book Haven said...

I read on a kindle and use a kindle fire to browse net etc.

All the best!

~Nas~

Lydia said...

Love my Kindle! Especially for holidays and snatched reading moments - so portable! But will always want real books too - you can't smell a Kindle! x

Guernsey Girl said...

Hello Karen Really good to catch up with your blog - we met at the Festival or Romance last year. When I read a book review, that's the time I appreciate my Kindle - I can download for instant gratification...!

Susie Vereker said...

Yes, I'm a big Kindle fan as it means I can buy more books, like yours. :)

Karen said...

Librarian - All brilliant reasons, and I love reading mine in bed :o)

Patsy - It's a bit too tempting, all this 'one-click' business!

Tommo - I was saying that this time last year old chum. Never say never :o) (Though they'd be even better if you COULD butter parsnips with them).

Rosemary - Bedtime reading is the best thing about them for me, espeically as you can adjust the brightness :o)

womagwriter - When you think about it, there are loads of advantages over 'real' books (hope my 'real' books don't read this, I feel disloyal!)

Anna May - That's a very good point, though on a longish journey recently - where I had to stand up most of the way - I managed to read a good few pages of a thriller on someone's Kindle, as the print was nice and large :o)

Talli - I'm a reluctant convert!

David - All the reasons I like my Kindle, especially the reading in bed one :o)

Debs - Kindle AND a Kobo - now that's too much to handle!

Nas - I must admit I haven't tried browsing the net on mine - I probably shouldn't even start or it'll never be out of my hands!

Lydia - I so agree, I LOVE smelling the pages of new books and I'm glad I'm not the only one!

Gurnsey Girl - It was lovely to meet you there, seems ages ago now :o) The instant gratification is getting dangerous, I'll soon have more books than I can ever read!

Susie - That's lovely :o) When will you have a new book out?


nellaal said...

I can read gloves on my kindle, "flip" need to delete my gloves - great! Not to mention the incredible number of really good reading I have found free of charge.
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