Friday, April 12, 2013

Kindle

The days when the kids bring home Scholastic Book orders make me so very happy.  I love going through the pamphlets, circling the books I'm going to purchase.  I always stock up on the $1 books, buying extras to give to a friend who works in an inner-city school.   I pick out books to give as gifts to my many nieces and nephews and godchildren.  I study the blurbs and covers, looking for items my own kids might like.  I'm happy because I don't have to pay shipping or tax.

The days when the books arrive, I am thrilled.  New book smell is one of my favorites in the whole world.  The feel of a new book in my hands calms me.  The thoughts of the smiles these books will put on kids' faces makes me smile, too.

Books make me happy.

For a long time, I swore I would never buy an ereader.  An ereader doesn't have a special smell.  It doesn't have pages for me to turn.  It doesn't have fun covers to admire.

It's a screen.  With no character whatsoever.

I didn't want one, and I certainly didn't ask for one, but Hubby bought one for me anyway.  His heart was in the right place, as always.  He knows how much I love to read, so he thought I would love this little gadget.

Amazingly enough, I do.

I love it.

While I still love the smell and feel of a good, new book, I no longer want to read a real, physical book.

For one, I don't have to worry about kids taking my bookmark out of my book.  I NEVER lose my page.

Secondly, I can read without any hands.  I like to read while I eat my breakfast.  With a real book, I need to use one hand to hold the book open.  That's not exactly handy when I'm trying to peel my hard boiled egg and read at the same time.

Thirdly, I can read for longer periods of time.  With this Lupus thing I have going on, my wrists give out pretty quickly.  Holding books, especially hard backs, hurt like the dickens.  My Kindle is so light, I never have trouble holding it through 10 chapters. 

I love my Kindle.

Today, I thought I'd list my most recent purchases for the Kindle and what I thought of them.

1. 

OK, this is harder than I thought.  I have so much to keep track of around here my brain can't retain all of it.  I rarely remember a book after I've finished it.  I'm actually going through my Kindle, looking at the titles and saying, "Did I read this?"  So I open it, and lo and behold, it's at the end of the book.  I must have read it.  So I go to the beginning and start rereading it to see what it was.  I just did that to one of them, and had to get to the second chapter before I recognized the book.  I won't tell you which one, because this does not in any way tell you whether I liked a book.  It just tells you that we were really busy when I read it.

Let's try this again.

1.  The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.
Our book club pick for the month.  I loved it.  Even stayed up until 2:00am to finish it. 

2.  Out of Time by Deborah Truscott
One of the $3 and under books.  It's a time travel story that I actually liked.

3.  The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
I didn't realize it was a novella prequel until now, when I went to find the author.  I was just going to say it was a short story.  It's a pretty predictable love story.  Doubt I'll sign up for the book it was supposed to prequel.

4.  Whipped, Not Beaten by Melissa Westemeier
This is a book written by a blog friend (Green Girl in Wisconsin).  I was a bit nervous to buy it, seeing as how if I didn't like it I'd feel a bit awkward.  Fortunately, I did like it.  And even laughed aloud a few times.

5.  Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Don't be impressed, I only made it 9% of the way through it.  (The ONE thing I don't love about my Kindle.  For the love, just give me a page number!!!!)  While I did like the bit I read, it just required too much concentration.  I never get to read more than 2 paragraphs before I'm interrupted, so concentration I don't have.  There is a lot of unfamiliar language and unnecessary details to wade through.  But of course, I don't know what's necessary and what's not, except I've heard you can pretty much skip all of Waterloo.  Whatever that means. 

6.  The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell
My pick for book club, and I really liked it.  It's dark, but has some funny, ridiculous parts.

7.  Ruby Lake by Sherrill Willie
It's supposed to be a comedic love story.  She over thought the comedic part.  Perhaps they all seem too predictable?  I only made it through 47% of the book.

8.  The Boy Who Harnassed The Wind by William Kamkwamba
The true story of a boy who figured out how to build a windmill by himself to save his family and his village in Malawi.  Great book.

9.  The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
I was wary about this when it was picked for book club, seeing as how it is narrated by a dog, but I ended up loving the book.  I'm not even a "dog lover".  More of a dog tolerater.

10.  Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas
A biography about William Wilberforce.  He was British, an abolitionist, and a man of Parliament who basically managed to end slavery.  I'm only 32% through it, but I will finish it.  Soon.  It's very interesting. 

11.  Special Deliveries: Life Changing Moments By D.J. Kirby
Short stories from the life of a midwife and the women she helped.  It's next on my reading list.  I love a good baby story. 

So, what books do you have on your shelf?  Or your ereader?

Have a lovely day!

25 comments:

  1. I also love a new book smell. I remember in school the scholastic book orders were one of my most favorite times. I always tried to get Garfield books. They were my favorite!

    Sorry to hear about the Lupus :( *hug* is this a recent development?

    I have yet to get an ereader. I am sure I will someday.

    Books to read on my docket are:
    Book 1 of Game of Thrones
    American Gods
    Rincewind the Wizzard
    and I need to finish The Artist's Way

    Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of Ink

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    1. Garfield always was a favorite. They haven't had one in the scholastic orders for a long time now. So sad.

      The Lupus symptoms started about 3 years ago. We've done test after test after test, and the hematologist finally said we're going to call it pre-Lupus. My numbers aren't low enough to be dangerous, and hopefully never will necessitate meds. I just need to change some things, like the amount of time I spend in the sun, and suffer through the flares. I try to ignore it most of the time.

      I have never heard of a single one of those books. I'll give at least one of them a try.

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    2. Wow no Garfield? That is tragic :( I know the comics are still going, at least.

      I am glad your numbers aren't at a dangerous level, and hope they never get there.

      Considering I don't know your taste, I would maybe recommend American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

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  2. I went over to the e-reading dark side when I got my iPad. It just became so much easier to have it rather than lug around half a dozen books, especially when I went on holidays.

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    1. My favorite part of the Kindle is traveling. I don't have to bring anything but the charger, and if I'm in the car when I finish the book, I just get another one.

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  3. I have a Nook which is nice, but I still like the feeling of dog-earing a page in a real book.

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    1. This is precisely why my kids have shelves upon shelves of books. I still get to read them and smell them when I read to the kids.

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  4. Kindle is definitely an amazing creation but nothing like a book like u told :)

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  5. I was reluctant to jump on the kindle bandwagon. Then I got one for free and couldn't say no. Now I wonder how I ever read without it. While we were sick I went through about 10 classics (Austen, Tolstoy, etc) because they were all free on amazon. I also love using it in my kitchen for nonlinear recipes. I just put it in a ziploc bag and cook away. :)

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    1. I have read a bunch of classics, too, because of the free aspect. I never thought to use it for recipes...

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  6. I'm still not an e-reader, but am SO relieved that you liked my book! Thanks for the kind words!

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    1. You're welcome. I really did like it. You did a nice job.

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  7. I used to love getting books from the book fair. My favorite? Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

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    1. That one is always a favorite with my boys. Any gross trivia book, really.

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  8. I'm glad the smell is important to you - that really matters to me too. Especially old books. I LOVE old book smell.

    I am still firmly in the 'won't have a Kindle' camp, though I can appreciate how handy it is.

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    1. Old books certainly have their own wonderful smell. Even though I've never met you in person, I can't imagine you ever getting a Kindle.

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  9. I have hundreds of books on my iPad now. Every time one of my author buddies releases a new one, I purchase it. I will never run out of reading material.

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    1. I am not even close to having hundreds. Tens maybe. I do like purchasing books from new authors. When they are famous, I can say, "I knew them when..."

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  10. I fought the same fight you did, as I didn't think I would like it. I finally downloaded a book on my iPad and now I love it. I really love it. Isn't that crazy?

    Does your library have the ability to check out books electronically? I discovered that gem a while back and it's amazing. You download the book you want (assuming it's available), and when it's due, you can either renew it, or it expires and there's no late fees!

    I LOVED "Kitchen House." Loved it. I considered "The Boy who Harnessed the Wind" but I was afraid it would be....I don't know...something. I am a huge dog lover, so I've been hesitant to read "The Art of Racing in the Rain" just because I know I will cry because of how much I love my own dogs.

    Why am I babbling on your page? I will stop now. Anyway, I enjoyed this post. You should definitely do one of these every once in a while. I might just read one of these books because of your recommendation!

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    1. Our library does have ebooks, but they aren't Kindle compatible. I was told Amazon won't let them. Quite annoying.

      Racing in the rain certainly was a tear jerker, but in a good way. You must read it!

      I'm glad you liked it. Read the dog book!

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  11. I'm still digging in my heels about an e-reader, although my husband has crossed over to the dark side and absolutely loves it. I like to read when I go to bed, which usually means I read until I fall asleep and drop the book on my face. Bad enough with a book, but an e-reader? Ouch!

    My meds make my hands hurt, so I understand your lupus pain in your hands. Not. Fun.

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    1. Ha! I used to read until I dropped my book on the floor. I now stay more towards the middle of the bed, so my kindle will just fall on the bed, not the floor.

      It really is a pain when the wrists give out.

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  12. My oldest got a Kindle as a gift and I have completely stolen - ummm, I mean borrowed it from him. I didn't think I would enjoy it either, but I really, really do!

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    1. Does this mean your son isn't much of a reader?

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Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you're thinking!