Last month I had a birthday. Pretty much every one who knows me knows I am addicted to reading, so no surprise my gifts are often books or something related to reading. This year I received a Kindle from my daughter and her fella. I can't say I was jumping for joy. I just wasn't sure I would really use this thing. Now understand, I love technology.... love gadgets and gizmos... but I still could not see me reading on a machine instead of holding a book.
A friend had given me a site to find free Kindle books some time ago and I actually had a bunch saved on an old laptop. I had tried to read there via Kindle for PC and hated it. But for some reason I kept collecting free books. I mean really, who can resist!?
So once my new toy was set up, I was able to move my collection of freebies to it. 60+ books. I played with it a bit and finally decided to give it a try. Oh my... I will not give up real books, but oh my. Here is the thing.. you can change the font size! I am 49 and have always had poor eyesight. I was legally blind at birth... had surgery at 2... one eye was saved and is just slightly less than 20/20 these days. The other eye is just on the edge of still being legally blind. Both eyes are over 40 and strain to read tiny print especially late in the day when they are tired. So this feature... being able to change font size... is like a dream!
It still feels odd to hold a gadget instead of a book and to click a button instead of turn a page, but I have gotten rather use to it and even have a rhythm to it once I get going.
Again, it won't replace books for me.... I love them too much and am an avid supporter of my local library! Plus once I have grandchildren, we will be reading the real thing not an imagine on a screen. And I have to have real books for the bathtub. I have dipped many a page into the water. Not a tragedy to me... adds character.. shows love.. I don't think the Kindle would fair as well.
I am adding a list here on the sidebar of a few books on my Kindle. So far all free... I haven't found anything I want there badly enough that I need to purchase it. Books I want to own are going to be in paper for now. But I won't toss the Kindle out either. It definitely has its place in my life... not replacing my beloved books, but adding a new dimension to the reading experience.
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