h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

5th Nov

Does anyone use a Kindle anymore? A recent report suggests that electronic reader sales is down, year on year by something like 15%. Can it be anything to do with the oft proffered suggestion that readers prefer the ‘feel’ of a real book and they like turning pages. Personally I don’t have that hang-up.

When I first got mine I thought that it was the answer to the eternal storage problem. Once a book is read it has to be kept. Personally I just can’t give a book away let alone throw it away. But it still takes up space. There is now about 200 books on my Kindle which have been read and are all sitting in the same space as one paperback novel. There are also another 25 or so unread books that I’ve obtained when they’ve been recommended to me or I’ve just taken a fancy to. They all sit in the same space on the internal ‘unread bookshelf’ awaiting my attention.

Before I got the Kindle I knew that there were an awful lot of books that I would have liked to read and many that I ‘should’ have read. For the most part I’ve used it to catch up with many of the ‘classics’ that I haven’t touched and some others that I’ve only read the expurgated version. Some of those have been heavy going. I’m also a sucker for Stephen King and have a large part of his output. (Not the Dark Tower books though).


The fact of the matter is that I probably would never have bought or read those books without having the Kindle. Having to stash them all somewhere would have taken up a sizeable library bookcase, the space for which I just cannot spare. As it is there is about the same number of actual books stacked in boxes and old suitcases up in the loft space. Although they are in plastic bags the conditions up there are probably not doing them any favours.

Anyhoo.. it works for me.

Hi Deek, I've just caught up with your NaJoPoMo pieces. I too have a Kindle and have read quite a few books on it. I have heard it said that one doesn't remember Kindle books in the same way as 'real' books and I think there may be some truth in this. Certainly, I can read a book on my Kindle and not remember the name of the author. With a paper book, you see it every time you pick the book up but that's not true of Kindle books.

Glad it works for you

I don't have a Kindle, but I do have a Kindle App, which is good for reading classic books that are out of print or not in the library. I am trying to work through my pile of physical books, though, as it means I can see the difference when I make some space by giving away a book I enjoyed but didn't need to keep. (There are a lot of books that I do need to keep, though so I have a few bookcases as well as my Kindle App bookshelf )