Earlier this week, I received a Kindle (for those of you who don’t know, a Kindle is a small electronic device that can hold thousands of books and magazines in it [or is it on it] and you really should get out more often) and I promptly paid to download five books and then downloaded 15 additional free books.
In my pre-Kindle days, I had a book by the bed, a book by my chair in the den, a book on my desk at work, and a book in my bag that I gave a ride from work to home and back again each day. I can read all these books and not get them confused. This is not to impress you but just a feeble attempt to explain how my sick little twisted mind works.
Now I have currently have 20 books at my fingertips and I am like a crack addict working up a good fix. So far, I’ve read a chapter of Sherlock Holmes, two pages of Anna Karenina, a passage or two of Frankenstein, four chapters of Born to Run, six recipes in Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Recipes, almost the first chapter of The Happiness Project, and the first two chapters of Unclutter Your Life in One Week. My hand shakes as I convince myself not to open up another book.
Last night, I woke up during the night wondering where the heck I last stored the slow cooker, pondering how I could go about arranging my own happiness project, worrying if I purged enough from my closet yesterday after being inspired to rid my life of clutter, contemplating taking a run without shoes (not really) and thinking about ways I can convince my husband that we must have a pet praying mantis (that last one is random and actually wasn’t an idea presented in any of the books).
Today, I’ve pledged to only read from one book on the Kindle and I’m struggling with which one. My head feels like it could explode. I don’t understand why this many choices gets to me because I have far more options on my book shelf. Is it because I am inherently lazy and once there is a book in my hand, I am not so inspired to get up and look for another? Is there something hypnotic about turning the pages of an actual book?
It is possible I’ll need an intervention…
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21 comments:
haha. have not gotten into the kindle...there is just something about the smell of a book...but if i did i would probably be in the same position...lol.
That is my next gadget... a friend at work has one and I fell instantly in love...
You know you can read blogs on that thing too?
Swoon.
My next gadget is an iPad so I can read books, and surf the internet. I currently have 4 or 5 books going. I don't mind so much, but it would be way more fun to download the book I'm dying to read rather than go to Borders...
Good to see you posting!!
Pre-Kindle, you had a book in each room and in the car. Now you have to walk all over the place to find the Kindle. Or hang it on a cord around your neck. Or in a giant pocket. Or pay someone to go find it for you. Am I being silly?
that is hilarious, glad to hear someone who owns one of these talk about it. i admit i'm curious. mainly, b/c i am a slob (i start books and leave them piled next to my bed and on my side table). and i love all things computer. speaking of me being a slob, do you recommend the unlcutter book? i currently have 2 of these type books started.
It all comes down to discipline. I know from where I speak because I have none. I don't have a Kindle -- I will soon buy an iPad though -- and if I did have one, I'd be lost in the "pages" all the time. With a neck ache. But this is the way of technology, and e-readers are only going to get more popular over time. I fear the demise of the book, but for the benefit of trees everywhere, maybe it's a good thing?
The Kindle is such an amazing device...yet I doubt I will ever get one. I love holding books.
I can never read more than one book at a time.
I hope you have enough time this summer to get all of this done!
(These are the good kind of problems to have! :) )
The Omnivorous (and Voracious) Reader's Dilemma. I hear you. Mine books form a pile of rubble by my side of the bed. There's always a parenting book, a Serious book, a guilty pleasure, and something overdue.
Look at it this way - there are worse things to be addicted to, right?
You definitely have it bad. At least reading a lot isn't bad for your health. Bonus, right?
No electronic device for me. I sit at a computer all day, and when I read at night, I want a real book with paper pages. When I go to Florida, I sometimes hang on the ledge of the pool with my elbows and hold a book in my hands. Try THAT with an electronic device. Oh, and I do get splashed, too.
Oh, and I read one book from start to finish before I start another one. I had a book on CD in the car, and when I picked up my book at night I kept forgetting which story it was.
Paper, all the way, baby! And may I be dead before they stop making paper books, because no more books might just kill me.
Anna Karenina!!! One of my favorites!!!
I know just what you mean -- I think you can keep multiple books straight in your head because of the tactile nature of holding their distinctive selves :-)
I love going into a book store and seeing all the books. I love touching and holding the books and seeing the covers. The cover is a big sell for me if I like the cover I will read the flap of a book. I would miss all of that if I had a Kindle. I hope it never comes to where books are obsolete(hope that's the way that is spelled)I would miss them way too much.
I don't know if I'd like the kindle because there is something so satisfying at turning a page and shutting the book when finished.
Although I don't have a Kindle, I do tend to take more books out of the library than I could possibly read in the limited 4-week term. That pile is looking at me from the coffee table as we speak...
Even modern technology can be overwhelming when it comes to the simple act of reading.
Ah, the allure of slim, sexy electronics! Just like the books on the shelf, the ones on the Kindle will wait patiently for you to read them a couple at time...unless that somehow offends its tender new technology ego.
I absolutely LOVE my Kindle. Did you know there's a "wish list" feature in the Kindle Store where you can add all the books you want to buy without actually buying them? Saves browsing time later.
And did you further know that the humor blog "Knucklehead" is indeed available for your Kindle? Just saying.
Everyone is talking about your Kindle... I just had to comment and say that you make me smile! I love reading you, and I'm glad to see you back! C
http://lifedramatic.blogspot.com
LOL Beth! Love that you've finally gotten a Kindle as I think it's one of the best reading devices "out there" and I truly love mine. Unlike you, I read one book at a time as I get truly immersed in it... or want too if it's well written! But I love your take on dealing with the Kindle versus your other way of having books all over the place. I just finished rereading The Pillars of the Earth, one of the first books I downloaded on my K and am about to reread World Without End...and was thankful that neither was an actual book because I would have purchased the hardback and can only imagine how heavy it would have been. If you haven't read either of these, they absolutely fasinating and I highly recommend both. At very good prices on Amazon, too!
Jane
Well, you came to the right address, I'm a psychologist., so...
my intervention is to tell you first of, "that's what you have, when you wanna keep up with every new little book that you can get on your Kindle!" You are obvious too curious for your own good, and are signing yourself up for confusionitus, it's the newest mental disorder you haven't heard about!
Sorry, but I couldn't resist this one:):)
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