Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Reading - Kindle or Print Books?

Do you usually read Kindle or print books?   I am a lifelong book person.  I have worked in bookstores, I sell vintage children's books, and I was very sure I never wanted a Kindle.  Then, a few years ago, one of my friends got a Kindle.  He showed it to me, with the categories you can make for your books, how easy it is to instantly download books, and I started to rethink my reservations.  That year I got a Kindle for Christmas.  I have to say I love it!   Things I particularly love about reading via Kindle:

  • I read a lot of big books, like family sagas and historical fiction, and the Kindle is so light and easy.
  • It's easy to make your own categories and organize your books on the Kindle.  I love this feature!  I can look at all my mysteries, historical fiction, classics, etc. easily this way.
  • Downloading Kindle books from Amazon is so easy.  I get newsletters with Kindle deals (my blog post with websites here) and the Kindle Deal of the Day books are wonderful.  I've gotten many favorites, like Wicked, The Great Gatsby, The Thorn Birds for $1.99 or less that way.
  • The Kindle holds a LOT of books.  This is wonderful for those of us with overflowing bookshelves.
  • It's a natural for reading on a trip or in any situation where you want a variety of reading materials (without carrying around a stack of books).
  • I love having longtime favorites on one little device, ready to read at a moment's notice.  I am slowly but surely adding the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace and the Jalna family saga by Mazo de la Roche to my Kindle.   A re-reader's dream!
  • Your Amazon purchases are held in the cloud, so if you switch Kindles or want to read via iPad or tablet, you can download them there easily as well. 
  • Overdrive is a dream!  This is the free library program to check out books digitally in Kindle format (my blog post here).  I have found some newer, popular books on Overdrive that I really didn't want to purchase ... and with a shorter wait than one would have for the print editions at the library.

This isn't to say, of course, that I don't love print books as well.  I love vintage children's books, and will always enjoy having those in print editions.  I also am a great fan of nostalgic, highly visual books, like the Images of America series  ... and those just translate better in print.  

When I review books, I read about 50/50 print and Kindle editions.  It's all great because it's all reading.

What do YOU prefer - Kindle or print?  I would love to hear from you in the comments section, below.