to Kindle or not to Kindle . . .

I have always been an avid reader, my mom was a book lover and she passed that on to me.  I grew up on a farm 5 miles outside of a town of 2000, so these books took my to far off lands, on adventures with people much more daring that I.  It was also something special I shared with Mom, we took trips to the Library together when I was young and as I got older we would swap books and then discuss them afterwards.

To this day I travel with books, I always have a book in my car or in my bag.  I dig them out on lunch breaks, while waiting for my husband, or when I arrive to work or an appointment early.   I have been kind of the butt of jokes to my family when we would go on trips, I would have a duffel of clothes and then another heavy bag of books to read on the trip.

When e-readers first came out on the market I was not impressed.  There is something about the feel of the book in your hand, and the crack that comes when you open a brand new book for the first time that can no be replaced.   The first person I “knew” that had a Kindle was Martha Stewart.  She raved about her Kindle on the Martha show one day.  I didn’t think much of it, and thought I would probably never have or want on ( I am sure the $400 price tag had something to do with that). 

I forgot all about the Kindle until late last fall when Amazon really started to advertise the new Kindle and the new price and then my ears started to perk up.  A co-worker of mine, who is also an avid reader, asked me about it one day, he wanted to know if I was going to get one.  I gave him my moral high ground speech about keeping the books alive and doing it old school.  But it was then that I realized I didn’t really know a thing about it.  So that night a checked it out on Amazon and I became obsessed  . . . . .

After stewing about it for a couple of weeks, I told my hubby one night, that after Christmas I was going to by myself a Kindle.  He stood stock still, and then smiled and said, “I got you one, it should come in the mail tomorrow.”   Yes, my husband really does listen when I talk!

I have to admit I really love my Kindle, but I still love paper books.  Right now I read both, my Kindle travels with me in my bag and my hard- and soft-covers generally stay home (at least until I get to the good part). 

Maybe I am a sell out.  But I have read more the Classics for free on my Kindle that I have ever read before.  I have also been able to de-clutter my house by getting books electronically.   I am also reading books I wouldn’t generally have read before, especially memoirs and other non-fiction.   There are also books that would not work well with an e-reader:  cookbooks, how-to and craft books.  Real books still hold a special place in my heart, and I still regularly swap books and visit my local library. 

My name is Cassie and I am a Kindle addict . . .