Forms of Reading

I got my Kindle as a Christmas gift in 2010. I had hinted I wanted one, because I was curious about eReading,wondering if it would help solve my problem of never having enough room for all of my books (it has, somewhat).

I got off to a slow start with the Kindle. At first, I wasn’t sure what to put on it. I wasn’t sure if I liked eReading. But I quickly came to love it. I actually now prefer reading on my Kindle over reading on paper. I love the ability to highlight- and come back and find those highlights easily later. I love the lightness of the device, and how it makes it possible to read any book one handed. I love how it fits easily in my purse, allowing me to choose on the fly whether I want to read that serious management book I’m working through or some lighter short stories.

Unfortunately, my Kindle lost its mind recently. That really is the best description of what happened. Everytime I turned it on, it would go through a prolonged boot up sequence. Eventually, all of my books would appear, but if I opened the one I was reading at the time, it would put me back to the beginning of the book, forgetting where I had been. I managed to keep reading like this for awhile, but then it started going through its boot up sequence everytime I tried to advance a page… and that proved unbearable.

I’ve switched to reading on my Kindle Fire. I bought a first generation Fire back when they first came out, because again, I was curious. I liked the relatively low price- it made it easier to hand the device to my children. It is generally reserved for occasions when I need them to sit still for longer than they'd like- travel, long waits at a restaurant, when one is waiting for the other to finish an activity, and things like that. They love it. They like reading on it. I loaded it with quite a few great picture books not long after I got it, and have slowly added more. They also like playing games on it, and watching videos. I find that my kids will choose books over games or videos sometimes, depending on their mood. Between that and the Fire's status as a treat, I don't worry too much about their use of it. The books have to be well-formatted to compete with the apps, though- I have a couple that aren't formatted to use the screen fully, and those almost never get read. (The kids will even occasionally read a book on my black and white Kindle, but because I have an old model that uses old-fashioned buttons instead of a touch screen, they find it confusing.)

I used the Fire, too, even before my “real” Kindle gave out. I installed a Twitter app and set it up to access my email, and I take it on vacations instead of a laptop. But the most frequent use for the Fire is as a means of entertaining myself while I wait for my younger daughter to go to sleep. She is four, and still likes someone to keep her company while she falls asleep. When it is my husband’s turn to keep her company, he usually ends up taking a nap. I read. I catch up on the articles linked in tweets I’ve favorited, and I read short stories.

I will undoubtedly replace my black and white Kindle soon. When I do, I’ll probably get a backlit paperwhite edition. Say what you want about the fact that a paper book would never go on the fritz like my Kindle has- no paper book can come keep me company while my four year old tries to calm her busy little mind and fall asleep. In the meantime, though, I have a chance to make a dent in the stack of books sitting in my office, waiting to be read. My Fire is great in the dark, but can’t be read outside, and it is definitely outdoor reading season here!