Stitching Hearts Together

There have been a lot of e-book bundles floating around lately, it got me to thinking (dangerous, I know)… I’ve always been a book fiend or a bookworm, or a bookaholic, or a closet librarian- I LOVE books! I love reading! I love the feel of the paper and the satisfaction of closing a great book, having just made new friends with the characters or learned some valuable new information. It’s a feeling I think I will never tire of, however I have also come to appreciate e-books and here are my 10 main reasons why…

1. The instant readability- You can download your book, open it and start reading! Miraculous! I remember so many times- thinking over a book purchase online and when I finally decided to take the plunge and buy it, I would start to stalk the UPS website- has it shipped yet, it’s been 20 minutes!? Has it left the state? Has it made it to my state? I knew every stop along the route and would watch (relatively) patiently for the UPS truck to drive by (he stops at our house on the way back down the street). With an e-book, no waiting I can wave kindly to the UPS man without running him down to get to my box. P.S. This feature also comes in handy as a homeschooling mom. For example if you forgot to track down a book your child needs for a reading assignment- you might be able to get it on Amazon or from your local library- instantly!

2. Save $ on storage fees, they are space saving! If I had every book I’ve ever wanted the house would be full of books. Not that I’m fooling anyone, the house is already full of books- seriously does anyone have an extra bookshelf they aren’t using. I think I can wedge another one in the bathroom… But if I had all my e-books in print, I’d have to rent a storage unit and stock it with more bookshelves! I have well over 100 e-books (probably WELL over) and they only take a tiny bit of space in my computer or on my Kindle. No storage unit needed!

3. I can print and reprint them as needed. I suffer from MCS (Messy Cookbook Syndrome). It’s a very real problem and I have lost many good cookbooks to it. Pages that are unreadable with spaghetti sauce dripped on them. Or covers wrinkled beyond recognition when they were set on a sopping wet counter… (I actually take good care of my cookbooks, but you can definitely tell the most used recipes- they usually have a few splatter and splotches on them). My family used to have a brownie recipe that was the BEST- you could find the page instantly. The book would fall open to it and it had an interesting shade of reddish brown from many, many cups of cocoa powder being sifted above or beside it. So, all that to say, I am thankful to have e-book cookbooks where I can print a page with a recipe, make a mess of it and then go reprint it when it’s unreadable!

4. I can fit a LOT of books in my “bookbag”. For those of you that have carried a diaper bag for a few years, you realize it’s kind of handy to have an extra bag for miscellaneous stuff that finds it way into your hands. For years it was a diaper bag, now it’s my “knitting bag” (yes, it has an actual knitting project in it) or “computer bag”. When I was reading paper books I always had to choose between the 5 I wanted to take because there wasn’t enough room in the bag! What if I wanted to change reading styles or have something I didn’t have to think about- mindless reading. Nope, stuck with the Chemistry textbook I brilliantly thought I’d reread before school starts. With my e-books on my Kindle I can take 100 books (or maybe more) with me at all times- need some heavy deep reading- got it, light fluffy reading- got it and a dozen in between. So great having room in my bag for more yarn!

5. My bookmarks don’t fall out (or get removed)! While I love to read, I don’t love to reread the same pages over and over because I keep losing my place. I have set a book down, open to my precise spot and the “page turning elves” come running through and mix it all up! With  my e-book, it remembers for me right where I was reading and keeps my place for me- even if I hop between Kindle and computer, it’ll remind me and go to where I was! Page turning elves be warned…

6. On a similar note, I’ve been noticing a major decrease in sticky notes and highlighters usage… With an e-book you can click an icon and have a bookmark. Highlight a passage, click an icon and it’s highlighted for you! Saving so many sticky notes from overuse!

7. I can get a lot more book for my buck! With the e-books for Kindle and pdf I have found they are consistently less expensive. Paper and printing costs are expensive, sending a digital copy of a book- not so much! The time and effort of the author are the primary considerations. In addition, many old classic books have been released for Kindle for free! I have dozens of Louisa May Alcott’s books, adventure stories, Sherlock Holmes and more- all for free!

8. The children of the house don’t leave my e-books laying around on the floor or outside… Apparently I have good books around because the little people are always wanting to borrow them (and I love and encourage their reading). However, I don’t like it when I find my ancient copy of Baby Island laying on the floor or left out on the swing. My e-books are safer. Neither the computer nor the Kindle are going to be left laying on the group or left outside so my e-books are safer…

9. I save so much money in chiropractic care! When I would carry around my paperback and hardback books, my bag would weigh a ton! I would start walking like Quasimodo and end up like a pretzel until I went to the chiropractor, and got straightened up. Then the process would start again and I’d be tilting to one side. E-book are so lightweight, sit at your desk on your computer to read them or grab the Kindle and walk tall!

10. E-books don’t have to be dusted!! I can only imagine the hours I would spend if I regularly all my books… I don’t. The shelf front (the part that shows) gets a wipe down weekly and the tops of the books every other week (ish). The books only get cleaned off when I am rearranging the bookshelf or reading them… A delightful thing about e-books, when you dust off your computer, you’ve dusted over a 100 books! Nice way to multitask!

So, now you’ve  heard my story, what’s yours? What do you love or loathe about e-books?