As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I’ve always dreamt of having my own library. Imagine having a whole room with walls clad in bookcases, where the scent of paper fills your lungs as soon as you enter, and all the books are yours.
It’s a beautiful dream, but in reality I don’t actually have room for a library.
All I got is one cluttered bookcase with books crammed together and on top of each other.
Too bad I suck at borrowing from the library… I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but every time (every. single. time.) I borrow something from the library I end up completely forgetting about it until like 3 months later. By then it’s not only embarrassing to return it, I also have to pay an overdue fee.
But I still want to read, and this Christmas I was handed a solution: my very first e-reader!
It’s a Kindle Paperwhite, and I got it from Markus. (Last time we moved he cursed loudly and fully over the heavy book boxes, he’s very much in favour of the idea of digital books…)
We don’t officially have Amazon in Sweden, but you can still order a Kindle and set up an account. What surprised me was that when I logged in I was automatically sent to the US Amazon site, with the US range of books and US prices. I thought I would get UK Amazon because I’m in Europe, but apparently, you get US Amazon by default if you’re in an “outsider” country.
This of course means my Kindle interface is in English too, but I don’t mind that.
So far I’ve only purchased one book. I wanted to read the new Bridget Jones book, Mad About the Boy, by Helen Fielding* and decided it would make a good test case for the Kindle. And it worked perfectly! A little too perfect almost… It was so easy to just click “buy” and download that I’m afraid I’ll end up spending way more money than intended on books. :blush:
Well, better books than makeup and candy and other mindless junk, I guess.
* Not very good to be honest. I love the previous Bridget Jones books, but this wasn’t anywhere near as funny or clever. The character works better as a confused early 30s singleton, Bridget as a 50+ single mother was mostly just… saddening. Unfortunately.
The actual reading was really nice. I’ve tried reading books on the iPad previously, and it hasn’t been gentle on the eyes, but the Kindle screen was comfortable to look at even for long periods of time. It took me a while to get used to the flickering though. At first, I thought it was something wrong with it, because when flipping a page the whole screen would turn inverted (black background, white text) for half a second before showing the new page, but apparently that’s just how e-ink works. It needs to “wipe” the screen clean before “printing” a new page.
After just a short while I completely forgot about it though and didn’t even notice it, the flicker is not really that intrusive.
One downside I’ve noticed is that because we don’t have Amazon here, there aren’t many Swedish books to download, but I don’t mind that much. The number of Swedish authors I’m interested in is so small compared to the massive list of English-speaking authors, so it’s not the end of the world. And I’m still keeping up with my resolution to read books in English if that’s their original language, so having an endless supply of English books just a click away is very helpful!
In conclusion: I love it! <3 How do you read books? Do you have digital or physical libraries?
Welcome to the club! I have a Nook Simple Touch and I love it, I take it with me everywhere because it’s so light. What I usually do is read a book on my Nook and if I end up loving it I’ll buy a physical copy to keep.
Well, you know I had over 200 physical books. Now since the move I have 0 physical books & over 5000 digital books. I do not have the space nor the bookshelves to house my physical books so they were given away. I am still upset about that, but it was needed to be done. So I get physical books from the library & if I like them then I buy a digital book of it. I love the fact that I can carry over 1000 books with me at all times. No matter what or where I am I always have a book with me. Either my Nook HD, my phone, or my tablet. As much as I love the smell & reading a physical book, digital books allow me to have more books that I want to read & I don’t have to worry about the book falling apart.
Congrats! I think you will find that you will enjoy your Kindle quite a bit.
Why do you say first Kindle? Do you plan to get more than one? Maybe a whole shelf of them?
Haha, I’m going to start a Kindle farm! :D As soon as I figure out the sex of this Kindle, I’m going to buy another of the opposite sex so I get a breeding pair.
I’ve never had a Kindle before, so it’s my first.
I’ve debated frequently about getting a Kindle, or some other E-reader, but my problem is I love owning physical books!
Yay for getting a Kindle! I’m glad you like it :) I had considered getting one before, but now I just read on my iPad. I get most books in digital form now. For comics, I still prefer having the physical book, though I’m not sure how good comics show up on e-readers anyway. It’s definitely more convenient to have the digital version!
Congratulations on your new Digital Book! I’ve always been soo against digital books, since I LOVE having the physical books… But in the recent months, with some free books available to me, and stuff like Oyster popping up, I’ve come to look a bit more fondly at E-Books. I use my iPad, and it’s a bit clunkier, but works pretty well. :) Also, you find random books to read that you wouldn’t have otherwise picked up at the stores.
I might even invest in a real ebook in a bit… Though I really can’t get over the fact that you have to pay as much as a physical book to get ebooks! I’m hoping things like Scribd or Oyster will start to get a lot more books with varied topics so that I can read a lot of what I want through subscriptions. :)
That’s a pretty nice gift. I’m not sure if I would enjoy reading books on off of a screen. Is it comfortable to hold? I don’t read THAT many books so I will stick to the paper version. But it definitely would reduce a few boxes when moving if you didn’t have to move any physical books.
It’s very comfortable to hold, it’s light and the material is not slippery. It took a while to get used to reading on a screen like that, with the flipping and such, but after just a few minutes I didn’t think about it any more.
Jag är gammaldags och älskar att äga fysiska böcker. Har alltid haft en svaghet för att köpa snarare än låna böcker vilket lett till en samling på närmare 400 böcker.Jag tänker ibland på hur den yta min bokförvaring upptar kunde användas bättre. En 25-facks Expidit-hylla är inte optimalt i en etta på 29 kvadrat. Kanske övergår jag någon gång till E-böcker eller så flyttar jag förhoppningsvis någon gång till ett större boende där jag kan inreda mitt eget bibliotek. Japp, jag när också biblioteksdrömmar. :)
I have about 600 books and I just moved all of them in the new apartment.. can you imagine what a pain in the ass that was?? :twisted: I guess that’s already the benefit of a Kindle ;D But I love books and could never get rid of them. I’ve read on an iPad and just like you I didn’t like it.. so that’s mostly why I am a bit sceptical about the Kindle.. I do think that, if its comfortable to read like you say, it would be great to take with you while traveling so you don’t have to carry heavy books around.. but to live a life without a paper book, naw! Not for me :)
I don’t have an e-reader, but I do have an iPad. That is where I do most of my reading. Yes, it’s a bit hard on the eyes, but I don’t know anything else, so I am fine with it. How is your kindle in the sun? I would be curious to know. The iPad is impossible to see in the sun so that is one HUGE downside to it.
Have you joined Goodreads? They have an e-book selection. Most of them are free I think. You might want to give it a look :) I look forward to hearing how your very own library expands and develops.
I haven’t had a chance to test the Kindle in the sun yet, mostly because this winter sucks and I haven’t really seen the sun in like 2 months… But the Paperwhite has a backlit screen and is supposed to be readable even in bright light. I’ll test it when I see the sun next time!
Hehe, I know exactly what you mean! I always wanted a library like in ‘Beauty & The Beast’. ^_^ I have far too many books for my own good. :oops: I’d absolutely love a Kindle too, and hope to get one this year! :heart: *pets yours* XD Some people name their electronics, are you going to name yours? ;)
I do! I already have a laptop named Nazgûl (it’s all black and sleek) so I call my Kindle (which is also all black) Wraith. :D
You know, I’ve always believed the best books are made out of paper, but everyone is getting into their digital readers and it’s got me a bit curious :) I kind of want one, hell, my mom even has one! My eyes are super sensitive, so I’m not sure if even the tiniest bit of flickering would interfere with a good time. I should try out my mother’s Kindle to see how it works for me :) I’m glad you love yours!!
:heart:
I used to think I would never stray from physical books, but then I got a Nook SimpleTouch. It’s sooo nice for traveling, and it saves a lot of space since my bookshelves are overflowing. :P It’s so crazy and awesome to basically have an entire library in the palm of my hand!