Almost all of my friends either received a Kindle/Nook for Christmas or purchased one for someone this year. I have seen several customers at work, using it while having their lunch. I’ve seen folks reading them at the park, at play dates, at doctor appointments…..etc. I realize how innovative and convenient they are, but are we really in an age when a book is an inconvenience? I LOVE books….old, new, broken in, highlighted, scribbled in, I love them all! When I get a new one, I usually open it first thing and smell it, some find this odd, my husband finds it endearing. If I find an old one, I tend to imagine whose hands had it last, what they liked most about it, where they kept it…I’m a bit unusual that way. All I know is I can’t write in the marginalia of Kindle, I can’t smell it, it has no character and who needs to worry about more batteries? I suppose because I’m an avid reader, I will eventually own one, but for now, it’s just me and my books…..dust and all! 🙂
January 13, 2012
truebloodcreator
truebloodcreator 
2 responses to “Books….Dust and All!”
Derek
January 17th, 2012 at 13:45
I guess I see it as a trade-off. Sure, you can’t smell books on the Kindle; true enough. But paper-bound books are bulky and heavy. The Kindle is not. You can underline and annotate in the Kindle; even better, you can search the annotations, which is not especially easy in a paper-bound book. Batter life is quite good. I can read for twenty-plus hours on the Kindle without charging it. So, I don’t know; it seems like a trade-off. And, as I see it, the Kindle doesn’t negatively impact my interests in reading paper-bound books. They’re not mutually exclusive. Downloads are quick, and I can share books with my family more readily than if I had to mail them. I guess I see Kindles or e-readers and paper-bound books as occupying parallel, compatible universes, and I’m content to stand with one foot in each.
truebloodcreator
January 17th, 2012 at 17:43
I suppose my eccentric habit of smelling my books isn’t a general habit of everyone else, but it is a habit, nevertheless. However, I didn’t realize that I could make annotations on Kindle. I know for a fact I’ll end up investing in one, I suppose it’s just a matter of time. I still have an unusual attraction to books, I can’t quite explain why. I was just at the library today and there’s always a table with older books for sale there. No matter what my reason is for visiting, I always leave with at least one book. Today I found a copy of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden for $1 and I refused to let it slip through my fingers. I have an entire book case of books that I have not read yet, it’s a hopeless feeling to see all of the wonderful places and people sitting on my shelf, and know that I won’t be able to visit any of it until I graduate, or at least until I find a way to assign them as readings (:P) Until I decide to initiate my love affair with Kindle, I’m reveling in the dust and smell of my books….or a sinus infection, which ever comes first.