MY EXPERIENCES WITH A KINDLE

I am a voracious reader, a book lover who has a hardcover, trade paperback or mass market paperback books on the dinner table, on the sofa, in the living room, overflowing bookshelves throughout the house. An e-book reader would be perfect for me. My preferred genres are science fiction, especially military sci-fi and historical fiction. Non-fiction preferences include memoirs, personal narratives, self-help, business, spirituality, and astrology.

First time I saw a Kindle

I first saw a Kindle in 2011 when I was working in Vietnam. My colleague was reading his novels on his Kindle and I thought that is a pretty nifty device. The Kindle e-reader has the size and look and feel of a real book. This was when I made the decision to get a Kindle for myself. This led to some exploring and research on the Amazon website as well as other articles about the Kindle.

Buying my Kindle

I found out how to buy the e-reader, and on how to buy the e-books by navigating the Amazon website. This was not difficult as I have ordered books and other stuff from Amazon before. The model I ordered in March 2012 was the Kindle Touch, Wi-Fi, 6″ E Ink Display. Only this model came with international shipment. The Kindle Touch saw the first implementation of the touch screen, dropping the navigation keys and the keyboard. It also introduced Amazon’s X-Ray feature, which I have never used. The technical page stated that it can store up to 3,000 books or up to 4 GB in internal storage and has a battery life of up to two months. I tend not to keep larger sized books on the Kindle and store them on the tablet. After 8 years of using it, I now must charge the Kindle every 3 weeks with the wi-fi switched off most times. I will only switch on the wi-fi only to download newly acquired books. I use my gift card account to pay for all my Kindle e-books and other purchases. This account also helps me monitor and control my monthly purchases. I set up a gift card account easily by buying myself gift cards.

Why I wanted to get a Kindle in the first place

But I had one good reason at the time as to why I wanted a Kindle. This is apart from the obvious reason of having access to an almost unlimited number of titles on Amazon. I am quite an avid reader and have been building a collection of a few thousand books at home. This has been accumulated over years of buying and reading. A Kindle will help me save space at my home. Consequently, I started spring cleaning at home leading me to remove books which I was not likely to read anymore. I gave away some of them to relatives who had common interest in some types or genres. And as for the rest, I donated them to the public libraries. Over the past 6 years, I have had two to three rounds of book housekeeping. I kept those I held and still hold dear to me. Those books are the ones which have been reread many times. One Kindle reader can hold hundreds of books. I have bought and paid for more than 700 books, and another few hundred more which were bought at zero cost and were available for free. And remember that just one Kindle is lighter than even some books alone. I can buy the books I want to read from the Kindle e-bookstore whenever I want, almost instantly. You just purchase (and pay of course) on the Amazon website and immediately download the book to your device. Most of the titles I am looking for are there on Amazon. I used to go to several bookstores often to check out the books. This was the only way to see if the books on my reading list were available.

Other things I found out after using my Kindle

My favourite science fiction authors at the time were Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Joe Haldeman. With Amazon and the Kindle, I discovered a few more authors along the way. I have added John Scalzi, Liu Ci Xin, and Clifford D. Simak among others to my favourites since then. I have continuing adding and reading e-books written by my favourite authors. There were quite a number where I do not have the physical hard copies. I either did not manage to buy them or I read them on loan from the public library. I also found out that many books were free. These include classics which were in the public domain and published by volunteers or new authors which were sold at zero price. My e-book collection expanded very rapidly. The Kindle e-reader does not strain the eyes due to the e-ink screens. I could read for hours without straining the eyes. You also do not have to worry about the condition of your collection of books. I have seen the pages of my hard copy books turning yellow and, in some cases, brown. Instead of bringing one or more thick or bulky books, I just bring along my Kindle. My Kindle has been my constant companion on flights, buses, cafes, shopping malls or anywhere. I can read my books just about everywhere or anywhere when I have any free time available.

The Near Future

I would love to get the Kindle Oasis soon, the most advanced and luxurious e-reader of its kind. My Kindle Touch is 8 years old and still by my side. I am currently in one of those countries Amazon does not ship Kindles to. As a result, that might be a bit of problem, which I hope Amazon will resolve someday. I can get one locally, but it will cost a bomb, probably will be at least 2.5 times more. If not, I will settle for a Kindle or Kindle Paperwhite. The Kindle Paperwhite is also rather good. It succeeded the Kindle Touch, or rather evolved from it in 2012. In the meantime, I am still reading e-books. I have managed to widen my reading. That does not mean I have given up totally on physical books. I still have my old books. I do buy and read books not available on Kindle.