I’m doing something that I never dreamed I would do…I’m…charging…my 
books…and…no…I haven’t pulled out the plastic at the bookstore…although I have been known to do that…I’ve plugged in my Kindle…just to ensure I have plenty of battery life for later this afternoon…
Reading has definitely changed in the electronic age…I’ve had to…turn off…my book on an airplane…ran out of battery just at the good part…and ended up sitting close enough to an outlet so that I could read while plugged in…
And…while these situations wouldn’t occur with a paper book…and…they are annoying…there are so many things that I love about the Kindle…for one thing…unlike my jumbled bookshelves…it holds unlimited books…being a prolific reader…this comes in handy…and makes dusting a bit easier…
I also love the spontaneity of downloading…gone are the days…when I would watch Oprah…then drive 25 miles to the nearest bookstore to hopefully buy the book she’d convinced me would solve all my problems and make coffee in the morning…now…if she were still on the air…I could download the book and be reading it…as she spoke…how cool is that…
Then…there is the cost…most e-books are less expensive than their print counterparts…which only make sense…there are less costs involved in producing them…and many of the independent authors…as well as some of the more well-known ones…participate in free days from time to time…what can I say…I love free books…
Okay…e-books rock…I’m pretty hooked…but…there will always be a place in my heart for my paper books…especially what I call my reference books…one that I want to pull out and refer to from time to time…I find it easier to do that with a traditional book than…scrolling…so…my bookcase is still bulging a bit…well…a lot…and…that’s just fine…I wouldn’t want a house without a bookcase…
Bertha…says I could ditch the books…keep the shelves…and fill them with shoes…
I remind her that…she…is a book…and things suddenly get very quiet…hmmm…maybe we should have had this conversation a long time ago…
Jane
You found a way to shut Bertha up, well done.
I’m pretty into technology, being married to a software engineer I dont have a great deal of choice, but I haven’t yet succumbed to a Kindle. My Dad was a printer, in the early days his company printed books for a couple of the publishing houses in London, and our home was always full to bursting with books, I am therefore extremely attached to paper and the printed word (my proofreading skills were honed when I worked for Dad in the 60s, reading typesets), I would feel like a traitor if I read anything else! Having said that, both of my most recent proofreadings have been published as e-books ahead of “proper” books, so I guess I may be well on my way into Century 21!
Joy…how lovely to have had a childhood surrounded by books…I have such a nice image of that! I only gave way last year…and truly enjoy the kindle…but…there was nothing quite like holding…Bertha…in my hands for the first time…kind of like the difference in holding your baby and seeing a picture of her. I hope to always have both versions of Bertha around.
Love this!
Thanks, Peggy!