Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Pros and Cons of My Kindle



I was squirreling away my pennies, saving to buy myself a Kindle when Loverman beat me to the punch and gave me one for Christmas. To say I’m enjoying it would be an understatement.  It’s sleek, sexy and best of all, it fits perfectly in my pocketbook.

I thought maybe I’d miss the physicality of books, but so far, I don’t.  I also thought I’d miss trolling the aisles of Barnes & Noble and Borders, but not yet.  I also don’t miss the small piles of books cluttering my side of the bed, and oh!... did I mention that Kindle books are a lot cheaper than hard/soft book copies?

The first book I wirelessly downloaded was The Thing Around Your Neck by Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  I first learned of Adichie after checking out her TED address on the danger of a single story.  Chimamanda must have spent some amount of time in Philadelphia because a few of the stories are based in Philadelphia or a suburb of Philly.  Once I finished Adichie's most recent offering, I downloaded her first novel, Purple Hibiscus.  I finished it today and now I’m in mourning. I’ll miss the main character, Kambili, terribly.  I guess I’ll just have to move onto Adichie’s 2006 release, Half of a Yellow Sun. 

These books were so good that I often found myself reading late into the night and to be honest, as much as I’ve enjoyed reading books, I have discovered one huge drawback of my sweet, sexy Kindle---- once you finish the book, you don’t get the satisfaction of sharing your copy with a friend.

3 comments:

Nerd Girl said...

Really? I love books and really haven't been tempted by the Kindle at all. I just feel like I'd miss my books too much. I'm surprised to hear that's not an issue.

I'll put those books on my reading list - I've been looking for a few good reads. Thanks!

Mango Mama said...

Hi Nerd Girl, I really thought I'd miss the books too, but so far, I haven't. The Kindle is very intuitive and it's been fun learning all that I can do with it.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the books. Take care!

Tonya said...

As a diehard gadgeteer, my greatest concern about surrendering to an e-reader is missing the sensation of page turning. I've been experimenting with e-reading. I have Amazon's e-reader on my iPod Touch which isn't nearly as readable as a Kindle and actually completed a book that way. I had decided to get a Nook when B&N makes it available but I think I'm going to reward myself with an iPad after I accomplish some goals in June.