I Caved for a Kindle (Sippy Cups and Blackberries)

I live in a house with a technology geek. It makes it hard not to always hear about and want the latest and greatest gadget. We have a MAC laptop and PCs, more iPhones and iPods than we can handle, an iPad, and blackberries galore.... Our computer somehow links to our stereo which has speakers throughout the house. I can start a playlist in iTunes and have it play in the kitchen and change the song from my iPhone. Cool, huh? Absolutely NO IDEA HOW IT WORKS. We have a Wii and it can play movies from Netflix. The list goes on. Some of you may be wondering > yeah, big deal we do to. But really, it is a bit weird. We actually have to have a manual for our tv remote which controls every other electronic in the house so when a poor teenager comes over to babysit our kids for our yearly evening out, they can watch something other than PBS.

I hear constantly about how we should have an Apple TV, wireless way to backup files, some other strange video consoles, different computers, etc. I have no idea and listen idlely as I wonder if I could ever get a Le Creuset pot. I have no idea why I want one. Really, what a strange desire. I am not exactly a master chief, but it is so pretty - that yummy apple green color - it makes me want to cook.

Anyway, the one electronic that hubby has been haunting me about for years is that I should get a Kindle. Actually, he thinks I need an iPad, but considering I have an iPhone, usually am at the house for at least 75% of the day and have access to TV and computers for the majority of that time, and I HATE VIDEO GAMES, I am not sure that is really a necessity in life. I mean really, I can only be so plugged in. I can check facebook, emails, blogs and be perfectly happy on my iPhone. But I digress.

So, anyway, he has decided I need a Kindle and I have resisted and resisted and resisted. I love books. I love the way they look. I love the way they smell. I love all the shiny colors on a bookshelf looking back at me, winking. I can gaze at my bookshelves for hours and read the titles of the books in there. I don't think I have ever thrown away a book. I still have books from college. Heck, in my attic I have EVERY SINGLE ONE of my childhood books. Sweet Valley High? Sweet Valley Twins? Babysitters Club? (Yeah, apparently I developed a love of chick lit at a young age.) Superfudge? Judy Blume? Ramona? Yep they are all up in my attic, lovingly packed away. I occasionally look through them, get misty eyed and remember the stories as sometimes these characters were my closest friends. Then I remember they are books for girls and I am apparently a boy maker and put them back away. Anyway, I have a love affair with books, that despite having kids, has not stopped. It may hide away, but usually comes back every couple of months where I sit down and literally ravish a book away. I disappear to a bookstore, childless, and return hours later with a book in hand. Hubby sees the glint in my eye and it is 2 full days where I sit on a couch and speak not a word to anyone. Not hubby, kids or anyone else. I literally devour it and feeling a bit satisfied I can go back to my daily everyday life.

So to recap, I have a love affair with books. Hubby says I have to get a kindle. I say no way in hell, until this winter.

I finally caved and got a Kindle for Christmas. It was right before the first of the 1 million snowstorms that have hit the Northeast in 3 weeks. It was the week after Christmas and I caved. I needed a book to read. So I drove myself to Barnes and Noble and stared at the Nooks. Then I decided, what the hell. Best Buy is next door and they let you return now with no restocking fee. I will try it out for this blizzard and I can always return it. So I bought the last Kindle in the area and went home.

Let me tell you, I did not fall in love with the Kindle. It was not a book. And yes, it reads like a book (although sometimes you still get a glare). But it is not a book. Can I say it again, it is not a book. But, I can still fall into a story and read and read and read. I can still get the high from the story. So I caved to the kindle. I don't have the book spines winking at me from a bookshelf. I don't have the glossy pictures to gaze at while I try to remember the story. I don't have the weight of it keeping me comfort. I don't have the hours of silence wandering a bookstore looking for the next great book.

But, you know what I do have? UNLIMITED ACCESS TO BOOKS!!! I don't have to wait until there is time in the day to go to the bookstore. I don't have to drag 2 kids that just want me to read them books in the children's section with me. I don't have only enough time to quickly glance at the NYTimes bestsellers section and grab the next thing that looks like chick lit. I can now sit and read. I can finish a book and start another. I can read any book I want. I can look through lists and lists of books and find something that might be interesting. And I can read the first chapter first to decide if I like it before I actually buy it. And I can do it while sitting in my pajamas on my couch at midnight. I now can always have a book to read. Since the week after christmas I have read 4 books. Yes, count 'em - 4 books in 4 weeks! Hot Damn People! I haven't been able to do that since - well, since ever. I can sit down at 8 PM after the kids are snug in their beds and read to 11 EVERY NIGHT for the rest of my life.

I can read again. And that is why I caved for a Kindle.

4 Comments

I have a Kindle... and I love it. I still love books, too. Nothing can compare to getting a new book... the feel of it in your hands, the way it smells.

BUT.

The Kindle is very convenient. I love mine!

Posted by: Shannon | January 26, 2011 at 01:12 AM

I have a Nook and LOVE her! I daresay it has changed my life as a reader. Because now I want to read more, which I didn't even think was possible. The lady at B&N asked if I liked my Nook today and I told her "like" isn't strong enough of a word!

Posted by: Finding Normal | January 26, 2011 at 04:06 PM