How much do you love the books you own? Do you take pride in your ever-growing collection of literature, and the way you have to triple-layer it on your only bookcase? Are there boxes of books in the basement at your parents' house that you know you'll someday have endless space to store yourself? Are you secretly excited whenever you have to spend the big bucks on armfuls of novels for lit classes? ("Oh, shooooot, I had to spend money on a bunch of novellllsss....guess my bookshelves will just keep getting fullerrrrrr...") Do you dream of that wood-paneled library that we all wish we'll have in our future homes, filled with thousands of books English Patient or Beauty and the Beast-style?
Yeah. I am this way. I love my books. I have one bookshelf in my room and boxes and boxes and boxes of books in my parents' basement, as well as stacks of them in the trunk of my car and all over any available floor space. A huge part of reading for me, growing up, was the security of the book in my hand, its (more-often-than-not) cheap gray paper pages covered in potato chip crumbs and its spine wavy from reading it an inch above the bathwater.
I'm getting a Kindle.
Have you all heard of a Kindle? Or its Barnes and Noble twin, the Nook?
Does anyone have one already? They're pretty steeply priced for their usability, for all of you who like to chat/design wedding invitations/read the news/watch a music video/surf the web at the same time, because all the Kindle does is hold books (and a tiny mp3 player), but I'm buying a used one from a friend who made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
Now, I love my books. I LOVE my books. But I am also entirely fascinated by the idea of a device the size and weight of a DVD case that can hold 1500 books at a time.
So, I'm getting one. A review will be up sometime next week, after I've read off it, chewed on it, and seen how well it works as a wakeboard.
What do you guys think about this new way of reading? Think it's worth the $$$? Anyone scared for the day when electronic books are ALL we'll use?
Lemme know what you think. And here's some Kindle reading I found useful when researching to see if I should actually buy one, if you're interested:
Ten reasons to buy or not buy a Kindle.
A great review with huge pictures. I like huge pictures.
I read everything on this magazine anyway, and this article is funny and very long and very informative. I agree with the author's wife, the Kindle should probably come with a kickstand so you can prop it up and read while you eat. Oh, the possibilities!
Also, if you're going to comment and tell me I should get an iPad instead, don't bother. I don't have $500 and I have a laptop that works perfectly fine, thank you. AND I don't buy first-generation Mac products.
ALSO AGAIN, please become our six more followers on the way to fifty! You could get a nice, real book out of it! With pages! Made of paper!
