Friday, January 7, 2011

'Fess Up Friday, January 7, 2011


Captain's Log, Stardate 2011.01.07 I wrote a really cute blog about books and Kindles, but in the middle of making a minor change, Blogger deleted it for me.  So now you get the abbreviated version.

Last year I wrote about my love for the library and how I'd never give it up for an e-reader (Why I'll Never Quit the Library for eBooks).  Back in October my father offered to buy one for my birthday and I was all, "No, DaddyO, just give me some loot."  Needless to say, he treated me like Charlie Brown and I got nothing.  Lesson learned: Never look a gift horse in the mouth or you'll end up with a mouth full of hay.  Wait, what?  It made sense when I said it in my head.

Fast forward to December and I walk into work to two presents on my desk.  I had no clue as to what they might be, but my boss gives really good gifts, so I was hoping for the best.  Don't ask me how I thought she might squeeze Idris Elba into those boxes, but a girl can wish, can't she?  He's all tall and chocolaty and has an English accent and...Ok, I got caught up for a minute.

So I open the first box and see that it has some kind of Kindle holder on the outside, but I figure she's just re-used a box and put something else inside.  But then I opened the second box and, yes ladies and gentlemen, it was a Kindle. Normally I'm cooler than the other side of the pillow. On the outside I was all meh.  But on the inside? I was all:


One of the biggest perks of the Kindle is that I'm able to receive e-galleys and ARCs from publishers, eliminating trips to the post office in hopes that a book I've requested has come in.  The question is, am I ready to quit paper books yet? Heck no, and here's why:

  1. Normally I read three to four books a week.  With the Kindle I'm only reading two to three. There's something about the opaque screen that doesn't sit right with me. 
  2. Amazon is in the money making business so they try to limit my reading options to pdfs and books I can buy on their site.  My co-worker has a Nook and is able to download books directly from the library.  Of course there's a workaround for Kindle users, but I shouldn't have to jump through hoops just to read a book.
  3. I'm easily distracted while using a Kindle.  I don't think my brain has yet learned that it's not just another toy like my iPhone.
  4. I love wandering the aisles of the library and bookstores.  What aisles am I wandering on Amazon?
  5. I would still miss the cast of characters at the library: Nonchalant Librarian, Intense Librarian, Crotchety Lady Librarian, Sympathetic & Apologetic Librarian and Sterling, my favorite librarian.
So this is my confession.  I've crossed over into the dark side of the Kindlesphere.  Just like the Borg, I knew they'd pull me in somehow.  "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile."  And now that I've made two Star Trek references and confirmed my nerdiness, what's your confession?

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