Adventures with A Kindle

As with most other hobbies, there are aspects of reading that I hate, and aspects that I love. And overall, reading is great. You get to travel to new worlds, experience different characters, and just have a good time. But I have run into a few problems with this reading thing. 1) My local library doesn’t have as many books as I thought it did.  2) Books are expensive. And 3) it’s tough to read things on my TBR list when it’s hard to get access to that book. 

For years, my mom has been telling me to buy a kindle. I never wanted to buy one because I like physical books. (We’ll ignore the fact that, at this time, I hadn’t tried anything other than physical books.) Then I discovered that my state has an online library that has so many more books than the local library. So I reconsidered, tried reading on my mom’s kindle, and then gave in and bought one for myself. 

The Possibilities Are Officially Endless 

With this bigger library, I’m able to read more books that have sat and gathered dust on my TBR list for months. Reading on a kindle was pretty much like reading on a physical book, but I will forever love physical books. Deciding to buy a kindle was… very prolonged. I’ve been told to get one for a few years now. So, being the very indecisive human bean I am, I made a list of pros and cons. 

Physical Books: 

This might sound a little silly, but physical books look pretty on a shelf. Especially books with gorgeous covers. It’s also nice to feel the paper and turn the page. And it’s a ton of fun to buy physical books as opposed to e-books. 

There are a few issues with physical books, though. They aren’t super cheap. (I won’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten angry at the e-book price when buying books because it’s so gosh darn cheap.) They also take up space. When going on trips, it’s hard to take books with you because you know you will read a lot, but you don’t want to lug 5 big books. Books also get damaged pretty easily. I’ve spent many minutes of my life worrying about the way I’m holding a book because I want to keep it nice and *pristine* 

Kindles/E-readers

Ebooks are cheap. *commences to keep screaming at the price difference* There are even some books that are only available as an ebook. There are also free online libraries where you can borrow books. (I’m super excited about this.) 

Some things I’m not a huge fan of about kindles is that you can’t really immerse yourself into the reading experience as much? There aren’t paper pages to turn or the solid feel of a cover in your hand. I also don’t like that the covers aren’t in color, but it makes sense because then the kindle isn’t like a screen with bluelight? (Technology is confusing, guys.) 

Reading on a Screen 

I hate reading on a screen. Long articles for school, short stories, I just don’t like it. Reading on a kindle isn’t like reading on a screen, though. It’s all in black and white, which from my very minimal understanding of science means that there isn’t any blue light, which is what makes a screen… screeny? 

You can also adjust the brightness. Usually when I’m reading, I’ll have the brightness all the way down so it’s just like a piece of paper. But one of the pluses about a kindle is that you can make the brightness go up so you can read in the dark. *thinks back to all of the times I wanted to read in the car, but alas, it was dark* 

So, all in all, I’m glad I bought myself a kindle. I’ll forever love reading physical books, but it’s opened up a whole new world of reading. If you’re interested in getting a kindle, maybe try to find someone who has one. Ask them what they think of it. Try reading on it. I’m super happy with my decision (that only took a few years to make). Do you have a kindle? What are some of your favorite aspects of physical books compared to kindles? Until next time! 

-Hannah

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