From The Coffeelicious:
I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. But one area I have been putting effort into improving is finishing things I start, especially Medium articles. I’m also not trying to rush into the new year. I’m not avoiding it per se, I’m just really content taking things one day at a time over here. Hence why I’m publishing a piece reflecting on last year, 11 days into this year.
. . . .
But without a doubt, the most life changing transition I made in my life in 2016 was converting to Kindleism. That’s right, I downloaded the Kindle app.*
For those of you thinking, “Welcome to the 21st century Victoria,” I would like to say, “Thank you, I’ve heard so much about this place. It’s great to finally be here!”
And for those of you thinking, “Traitor! How could you?!” Allow me to explain.
Not long ago, I too, used to be one of those over-my-dead-body people when it came to reading books off of a screen. I looked with disdain on people with their Kindles, Nooks, and Paperwhites. “So smug. They’re not real readers,” I thought. “They’re just wannabes!”
But then it hit me — if I wanted to follow through on my ambition to read more books, I needed to change something. Converting to Kindle meant that I was finally taking my desire to read, one I had had for pretty much my entire life, more seriously. It was time I put my goals in front of my pride. Because the truth was, I liked thinking I was better than Kindlers. It was a way to keep myself separate, which is something I do when I’m scared or not sure about something (or someone).
I was also clinging to this idea that books are only books if you can hold them. That books are only real books if they’re in physical form — sheets of paper bound together with a hard spine. And if I can’t display all the ones I’ve read on my bookshelf, in hopes that someone will ask if I’ve read all of those, to which I would reply with feigned modesty that I had, what was the point? If there’s no evidence or trophy, was the book even read? Better yet, if I received no recognition for it, did I even want to read in the first place? I’m partly joking when I ask these things but like, mostly not.
Finally, there was a part of me that felt like reading should be arduous (reading on my phone is just so easy!) I felt like I should struggle in my pursuit of wisdom, knowledge, and brilliant storytelling. This is what too many of us are taught growing up, that for something to have meaning or value, it has to always be difficult. One has to have struggled in achieving it for said achievement to count.
Link to the rest at The Coffeelicious via Medium
So does that make me a Kindlist?
Another Prodigal has come home! Slay the fatted calf!
I got some print books for Christmas. I took one to bed, got the pillows just right for reading, then dutifully turned off the lamp. Damned print book wasn’t backlit.
And they’re totally useless after dark if the power goes out. Not only can you still read, but the Kindle makes a pretty decent flashlight.
Yup, love being able to read during a long power outage. We get several per year. Also use it as a flashlight. I make sure it’s charged before storms.
I keep being amazed at how much of the opposition to ebooks is more about people’s egos and self-image than anything to do with books and reading.
Everything these days is about status and virtue signaling. Facebook has trained its prisoners well.
The author has discovered that virtue signaling becomes much more efficient when you can simply post your items from the List of Approved Books that All Right-Thinking People Have Read on Medium or Tumblr.
In the old days you had to leave them lying on the coffee table so you could impress visitors.
What? You mean leaving my paperback copy of Chuck Tingler’s Space Raptor Butt trilogy on my coffee table isn’t how it’s done anymore?
Well, considering all those people that have seen what you leave on the coffee table and don’t want to visit you any more … 😉
(We won’t mention what you leave in the ‘reading room’ for when they go to powder their noses (is that still done? I’m so out of the loop now-a-days …)
You mean my coloring book, scented markers, the Christmas cards that were never sent, the tax prep package from my CPA, the print-outs of my business spreadsheets, Kroger coupons, my bifocals, cell phone, Witches’ Day Planner, highlighters, Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, LL Bean catalogs, wine catalogs, author’s copy of Sword and Sorceress 31, and a ton of dirty tissues because either I haven’t cleaned up all the hair and dander since my dog’s death a year ago or I’ve managed to catch my son’s flu?
And I don’t leave reading material in the powder room because if you’re in there that long, you really should see a doctor.
THANK you for reminding me! I am totally out of wine in *both* bathrooms! How embarrassing…
Any visitors to my house should not expect virtue signalling of any kind. I’m the sort of person who shelves Machiavelli next to Jane Austen. (What? I think they’d get along like a house on fire.)
(read while trying to determine which virtues are signaled by eight inches of books and printouts on my desk! Lol.)
Sabrina, I want to know what you use as wine dispensers in the bathrooms. I’ve found plenty of wine glass holders…
There’s a Witches’ Day Planner?
I love Llewellyn’s day planner! It’s roughly 8X5, spiral-bound weekly calendar with plenty of room for production/marketing notes. Plus, it has some pretty good vegetarian recipes, too.
https://www.amazon.com/Llewellyns-Witches-Datebook-Alaric-Albertsson/dp/0738737674/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484519917&sr=8-1&keywords=witches+datebook+2017
It hadn’t occurred to me that could be part of the vigorous opposition. Everything makes a bit more sense now.
Just wait until they get an e-ink kindle and find out how nice it is. Reading is reading, if you can make it easier on the eyes or hands even better.
And another one does
And another one does
And another one bites the dust!
Allen,
My Kindle is the original model and is eink. I love it. Yes, you can go on-line, but only to Amazon to buy more books. There is no backlighting and the text appears as real print, kind of like vellum. Maybe you can find one on eBay.
As is mine. 😉
It gets a lot of side-loading since as you said, Amazon store only. One plus is I can use the Amazon kindle tool to turn any .htm file into something for it to read.
You might want to check out the Paperwhite/Voyage/Oasis models. That (much) higher resolution screen and the effect of lighting are *really* nice. And easy on the eyes.
Heck, my Kindleism is so deep I long for a teleprompter app on my next gen Kindle.
Dan