Kindle Update #2

Okay, I'm a believer.  A convert.  A fan.  A lover.  A hater.  Whatever.  All I know is that I very much like my Kindle.

Is it the same as reading an actual book?  Um, no.  It doesn't feel the same, smell the same, or even look the same.  And, of course, you can't highlight.  But you know what?  I got used to it.

While I miss my highlighter, there is a "highlighting" feature.  It's really just underlining but I really didn't mind.  It also shows you the passages most often highlighted by other readers.  (This feature is both cool and unsettling.  I'm not so much into someone somewhere collecting this sort of information about me; however, it is interesting to see what everyone else thinks...)

I was worried about not feeling accomplished.  With an actual book, you can see your progress.  How can you do that with an ebook?  Well, of course they've figured that out!  In the bottom left-hand corner, it shows your progress in terms of percentage.  Not bad.

And there's just no contest when it comes to ease and convenience.  It fits so easily in my bag and there are no worries about folded pages, etc.  It was an absolute dream last Thursday when I was stuck at jury duty for a good 7 hours.

So in the past few days, I read exactly 3 books on the Kindle.  A trilogy of books, to be specific - the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  In truth, I COULD NOT put them down.  (FYI, did you know I have another blog?  Yep, I'm a wannabe reader too.)  I loved this series so much, that I found myself disappointed that I didn't have physical copies of them.  Like I felt a need to have them in my hands, rather than just on the screen.  And it occurred to me that this is the biggest problem with an ebook - what happens when you connect with a book in such a way where you need it?  Here's the solution I came up with:
A major selling point of an eReader is the fact that it cuts down on clutter, streamlines your library, and ultimately saves you money (because ebooks are cheaper).  And it's true, I read a lot of books that I'd be fine never seeing again.  But every once in a while, I fall in love, like I fell in love with the Hunger Games.  And it just doesn't seem like enough to have it trapped on a screen.
So when I come across a book that sparks something in me, I AM ALLOWED TO BUY IT.  Which means that sometime this week, I will be in possession of Suzanne Collins' amazing trilogy.  I will be able to look at it in my bookcase and actually see it sitting there.
And when I read a book that's just okay (or worse...because we all know that happens sometimes), I will leave it with the Kindle and never think about it again.  In other words, this Kindle will serve as a tool is weeding out the books that don't deserve a place in my house.

The thought of my bookcases soon being full of only books that move me...well, there really aren't any words for how amazing that will be.