Born in the early 60’s, with a great love of books and reading, I thought I would never be one to convert from paperback books to an e-reader or ‘Kindle’.
Many of my friends had converted to the Kindle but I have never been very tech savvy and am quite old fashioned in many ways. I still use a paper diary and pencil in all my appointments, much to the horror of some of my peers and the younger generation!
So, to me, the magic of reading a book is all about the physical act of turning a page. The thought of even having to ‘swipe’ a screen to turn a page was beyond me and just something I didn’t want to do. I love the excitement of buying a new book. I love the smell of the paper of a new book. I love to look at the photographs in the middle if I am reading a biography even before I start my book. Very often it is the cover of a book that will entice me to buy as well as being able to read the back cover so I can get a quick overview of what I am about to read.
I knew this ‘old-fashioned’ way of reading wasn’t going to last and I found that out when I travelled to Europe for my 50thbirthday. I love reading on holidays, so I packed three paperbacks in my suitcase and one in my hand luggage and I have to say it was a bit of a mistake. They added weight to my luggage as well as taking up too much room and were a pain to carry around. The other question was what to do with them when I had finished reading them? I didn’t want to throw them out as I love keeping books, but it just wasn’t practical to drag them around with me for 6 weeks. I ended up leaving them in the hotels I stayed in. My books were left in hotel libraries in Paris, Italy, the Greek Islands and Thailand and I hope someone else enjoyed reading them! I also ran out of books by the end of the trip but luckily found a little café in Kho Samui Thailand that had a book swap and luckily, I found a couple that I wanted to read.
On returning from the trip I decided it was time to maybe switch to a Kindle as I wasn’t going to cart books around with me on my next holiday. My eyesight was also starting to go so I was finding it hard to read my paperbacks unless I was in good strong natural light, so it was time to convert. My partner bought me one for birthday and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t hard to use, and I slowly got used to ‘swiping’ rather than ‘turning’ the pages. I loved the fact that I could just browse my bookstore on my device by simply putting my favourite authors or genres into the search menu on my Kindle. Once I found a book that I liked it was only a matter of seconds before my book was paid for and downloaded to my library ready to read!
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I am now a convert and absolutely love my Kindle. I take it with me everywhere and have over one hundred books stored in my virtual library. I can read it anywhere no matter what the light is like as the Kindle is back lit and very bright. I can adjust the font size to my liking, and I love that if a friend recommends a good read, I can instantly download the book and store in my library ready to read before I forget what the name of it is!
My verdict on Kindle vs Paperback has the Kindle as my preferred choice of reading these days but it’s mainly for practical reasons. I believe there are pros and cons to both. I still love the nostalgic feeling of holding a book and turning pages too, but I am afraid to say that technology has finally caught up with me!
For more information on the Kindle and how to use it go to our You Tube channel Mid Life Fabulous Kindle vs Paperback.
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