Wednesday, December 24, 2014

E-Books Are Becoming a Bigger and Bigger Part of My Reading - Reluctantly and Finally

I'm not the biggest of e-book fans out there, but every year it turns out that e-books account for about 10% of my total reading.  This year, for some reason, that figure will be closer to 15%.  

And that percentage may be even higher next year, because I just got an early Christmas present of a brand new Kindle Fire HD7 - and I'm floored by how much better the reading experience is on the HD7 than on the Kindle Paperwhite or on my old Sony Reader.  There's just no comparison.

I'm also surprised at how much more pleasant an experience shopping the Kindle store is on the HD7 than on the Paperwhite.  And who knew how big a difference color would make in the overall electronic reader experience?  Not me, that's for sure, or I would have had a Fire long before now.

My wife, I'm positive, chose the gift because she knows that I am totally out of bookshelf space and she is tired of asking me to move stacks of books out of sight.  So this is one of those win-win Christmas presents guaranteed to make the giver even happier than the receiver.  Now I need to do some e-book shopping, see what my library system has available in e-books, and maybe even work in a little actual reading before the family Christmas Eve festivities begin.

Merry Christmas, guys!

4 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas to you Sam. I don't comment often, but I always read your posts. Enjoy your new reader and try to get a good night's sleep (per previous post). :c)

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    1. I have to admit, Maxine, that the timing of this post is a little ironic considering the one that precedes it. And this screen with all its color is really bright, so I probably should not be using it right before bed at all. But my sleep is so hit and miss already that I probably won't be able to tell much of a difference. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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  2. I hope you enjoy your new e-reader! I still primarily read on an e-ink reader (my Simple Touch) because of the longer battery life, but I have to admit that I prefer the features and customizability when I'm reading on my tablet. Being able to highlight things in color, more easily organize my notes, and change the background and text color is really nice. If my tablet had the multi-week battery life my e-ink reader does, it'd win hands down.

    LibraryThing tells me I'm up to 30% for my total e-book reading for the year, although, if you leave out the manga, it's more like 56%. A few years ago, I'd have laughed if anyone told me my e-book reading percentage would get to be that high.

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    1. I hear you, Library Girl. My increasing adaptation to e-books pretty much caught me by surprise. By nature, I am a traditionalist and a purist, so this is very unlike me, really. I still love printed books and will always prefer them to e-books because I love physical books: the smell, the texture of the paper, the whole reading experience, etc. But I've been collecting books since the seventies, and I am literally out of room. I can't even cram another bookcase into the house...so e-books have become more of a necessity than a choice. Thankfully, this new reader makes it a more pleasant reading experience than I ever thought it would be.

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