I’ve learned a thing or two about choosing books in the three months I’ve owned my Kindle—or it has owned me. Very catlike is this little device. It sleeps as much as you will let it, even as it tugs your thoughts to the page (or pages) it holds for you, waiting—waiting until you give it the equivalent of a scratch behind the ears and bring it to life. One you’ve flipped that little switch Kindle has your undivided attention. Your whole (new) library lies in your lap. If you are one who reads multiple books at a time, you find you begin to do this on steroids.
There may be good reason for switching from book to book on Kindle, especially if you’ve downloaded a lot of freebies or 99 cent books, and here’s why. You read a few reviews of a book and it sounds pretty good, Pretty good is enough to hit the “one click” button if it’s free. How bad can it be? I’ll admit I haven’t gotten books with a lot of misspellings as others have, but some have broken very basic principals in writing. You have to wonder how they got on Amazon. Yes, this is early e-book era and yes, they are free or cheap, but supposedly an editor or critique group at the very least has read them before they made it this far. The sad thing is that some have good stories and characters and I might have really enjoyed them had not POV ping ponged back and forth so freely that I didn’t know who was thinking what. Then there were fairly prominent characters flimsily developed.
Several of these experiences have been with Christian lit. Now you don’t know they are Christian lit until you get into them in most cases. I am a Christian and the characters’ actions seemed natural to me even as they stood out because I rarely see characters in mainstream literature doing or thinking as these do. “Invisible” by Lorena McCourtney falls in this category. I thoroughly enjoyed her self-appointed senior investigator Ivy Malone. She was endearing and daring, a real fun read. I will not name the book I forced myself to finish (the POV gone wild book) because I am hoping for better ones from this author. Her plot was interesting, as were most of the characters.
Even as I read the last word of my favorite blind download I was asking, “Was this Christian lit?” and perhaps that’s the best compliment of all. I suspect the title, “The Dirty Parts of the Bible” will attract a wide, curious audience: They won’t be disappointed in this humorous novel set during the Great Depression. The humor wanes a bit during the odyssey Tobias is forced to take in desperate times. He is son of a fundamentalist preacher who questions all he has been taught and gains insight from the unlikeliest of characters. Sam Torode has written an unforgettable novel I suspect will do well.
You can’t go wrong with the (free) classics. This was my chance to re-read “The Secret Garden,” last heard when my second grade teacher read it to the class. I have since learned that every child in Texas apparently had this novel read to them in school. I was just as engrossed today as I was then, and probably learned the lessons the author intended even better. There is also Poe, Twain, London and so many favorites there for the taking.
I’ve even downloaded something called “Anywhere Abs,” which gently prods me to exercise my abs on the road or anywhere. Of course, I have to open it up, get on the floor and sweat.
For reference I have a dictionary, familiar quotations, the Bible, and Kindle Users Guide and Shortcuts—so far.
Kindle is changing the way I entertain myself. When the daily TV schedule shows few or no shows I enjoy, instead of disappointment I see a chance to open that new download or continue with one I am reading. In waiting rooms I open one of several books with short pieces, like “Stupid American History.” The rest of the time my Kindle sits there in its little red cover purring like a kitten—or is that me?
A N H I N G A 
I continue to resist the lure of the Kindle, mainly because I have plenty of what I think some Kindle-folk are calling DTB (Dead Tree Books). If they weren’t already sitting there, in their dead-tree-ness, having already been sacrificed for my reading, I might go for the Kindle. (This sounds weirdly like a conversation about meat eaters vs. vegetarians…lol!)
It’s not a vs. conversation at all, of course. I am tempted by the Kindle and I love your comparison to a kitten because kittens ALWAYS tempt me. And then I remember that they grow up to be cats who might not be so cute and, without the cuteness, who knows if I’ll like it or not?
How is it on the beach? That’s my main question. I’m not worried so much about lighting (since they keep answering that in their ad with the sexy woman saying she paid more for her sunglasses than she did her Kindle — and if she was my age and had to buy prescription sunglasses, that statement wouldn’t mean so much since my Rx sunglasses cost about 5x the amount of a Kindle so Pffft to that — but I worry about actually being on the beach. With SAND. Wind and sand and water. My books always come back water warped and filled with sand.
I haven’t taken mine to the beach and rarely go, though I’m about a half hour from Daytona Beach. I wouldn’t want to get it sandy, certainly not drop it in the sand, but I think it is sealed and would withstand that. The little keys…I don’t know. Nook has touch pad even for the keys, so that might be an advantage in that regard, but I don’t care for a touch keypad. Most people keep Kindle in a case. Mine zips it up securely.
I still read DTB, but a lot less often. I’m reading about 4 novels a month on Kindle. I don’t think I averaged that before. And I do have real books, just don’t pick them up as often. In fact, I am so tempted to order those I have on Kindle instead. That’s exactly what my daughter did when I loaned her one of mine. The experience is so superior (I know, heresy) that you come to prefer it very fast.
Yes to Robin
books are solid,
they have texture and a ‘feel’ about them.
The thought of holding a book is more appetizing
than cold, plastic, computerized contraptions –
BUT, each to their own!
You “Kindlers” have what you want,
literally at your fingertips –
I find the excitement in searching the stacks
finding that special book,
especially those considered antiques –
Give me leather, the plates and parchment paper,
that smell of pulp and tanning
somehow the ‘mottled calf’ and ‘foxing’
makes that plastic cat
purr on empty…
(call me old fashioned)
I agree with everything you say about “real books,” just see an e-reader as an added way to get at the content. After all, content is the heart of a book. All else is packaging. Like you, I love some of the packaging and own a few beautiful, old books. However, so many of mine are cheap, used paperbacks, bought just so I could get to the writing. I can’t afford to buy a physical novel a week (imagine what 52 a year would cost!) but I can afford them on Kindle. I don’t think it is either/or. If we love the written word the source doesn’t matter. Remember when they said TV would mean an end to radio? I don’t think e-readers will mean an end to books–at least I hope not.
No prob Beda, enjoy all the reading, that’s what it’s about!
Hey, Anhinga–
I wandered over from Writing Wench’s blog, attracted by your analogizing your Kindle to a cat! Nice connection. I have two of one and none of the other (Hint: No batteries required to make the purring happen), but your sweet simile might bring the day closer that I get the electronic one.
Also, tonight at the (hard copy) library, I saw a copy of THE SECRET GARDEN on the go-back cart. I almost grabbed it, but let it go in favor of–really!–MIDDLEMARCH. It’s been a long time since I’ve read actual, real 19th century British lit, and, as a writing teacher by trade, figured I should give my brain some exercise.
Anyway, THE SECRET GARDEN is one of the few books that I wish I had written. All of it seems so right to me–or it did the last time I read it, maybe fifteen years ago. But the movie? YUCK!
Now, with your mention of it, right after my spotting it on the library cart, I’ll go back for a re-read. If I live through MIDDLEMARCH, that is.
Jamie, thanks for stopping by. I think a lot of readers are rediscovering (or discovering) The Secret Garden now that it is free on Kindle. It blew me away. No way did I understand the importance and brilliance of the story and writing in the second grade. At least that memory brought me back. So many lessons in that book. I have not seen the movie and don’t think I will now. 🙂
Good luck with Middlemarch, and stop by again.
I’ve been following your conversation on The Secret Garden. I did not read it when I was a child, but discovered it as an adult when I read it to my youngest child. We found it at the library and for some reason it interested him. I thought, at the time, that it was the most wonderful book I’d ever read and wondered why I’d been forced to reach such things as Silas Marner (which I hated) when there were far more wondrous things in print.
I owe my youngest son tons of gratitude for introducing me to a lot of books I might not have read if were not for him. He started reading very early and gobbled up pretty much everything he could. For several years we read together, out loud. The Secret Garden was one of those books.
I still have our copy. Perhaps it’s time to read it again. 🙂
Go for it. I think the world would be a better place if we all read The Secret Garden.
Your son reminds me of my oldest. He was only five when he became fascinated with the tiny books I kept in a shelf by the door. They were Shakespeare’s works. After telling him day after day it was not stories he would understand yet, I gave up, sat him down and grabbed “Othello.” He sucked his little finger and listened until he fell asleep. I continued because I had not read that one. He asked again and again. He didn’t know the meaning I’m sure, but loved the sound and rhythm of the words, I’m sure. He’s a very bright not-so-young man now, which doesn’t surprise me.
I have never read The Secret Garden. I guess I’ll have to download it for my Kindle. Someone mentioned Silas Marner…now there’s a book! I loved it when I had to read it for school and have gone back and re-read it a number of times.
Kindle. With my Kindle I have been able to read a lot more than with DTB. My eyesight is so horrible (I wear the strongest contacts available but still have to wear glasses to read) that I cannot read DTB and when I do, I read very slowly because it’s so difficult and I can only read for 20 to 30 minutes without a break. With Kindle, I can adjust the size of the text so that it is comfortable to read without glasses and the pearl screen is so easy on the eyes that I can sit and read for hours and hours at a time with no break!
My Kindle was a gift from my kids. I would not have chosen it but I am so so so happy that they did! It is the best gift I have ever received! Now when I try to read a regular book, I can’t. I have been Kindle-ized. No going back.
As far as reading at the beach. You can. I don’t think you can get any sand in it. As long as you have a screen protector so no sand can scratch your screen, you’re fine. I would also recommend sticking it in a ziploc bag while you read. I do that when I take it in the tub. The ziploc bag lets me see the screen to read and access the page turn buttons very easily. There are also special water/weather proof bags that are made for cameras and other digital devices. The small one will fit the Kindle very nicely and they are available on Amazon for under $15.
Very catlike is this little device.
Nice descriptor. 🙂