Once upon a time, I tinkered with the notion of purchasing a Kindle, or more seriously, a NOOKcolor, however, never acted on the notion.
But one day while passing my local Borders store I saw a giant banner that said: STORE CLOSING. With a heavy heart I decided to pay it a fond farewell. And wouldn’t you know that the stars were in perfect alignment that evening because their Kobo Wireless eReaders were discounted 60% and they only had one left.
Dancing elves and a flashing arrow appeared out of nowhere telling me to buy it.
So, I bought it.
When I got home I felt a pang of buyer’s remorse, even though I got it on the cheap, because I was certain it would go the way of my Ab Lounge: a dusty heap of metal eyeing me with contempt.
That night, I purchased a $.99 ebook*…just to test it out…and when I finished the book a few hours later, I said, “Hmm, that wasn’t so bad” and decided to read something else.
Important Revelation: I’m a bibliophile in the classic sense. I love the feel of pages caressing my fingers, the texture of the paper, the weight of the book in my hand, the smell of the binding glue. But not necessarily in the practical sense, I realize…as my library approaches a conservative guesstimate of 250+ books.
Five books later I realized that I loved my eReader far more than toning my abs and…it’s time to get rid of my paperbacks. Remember that important revelation? Well, about 80% of those books are paperbacks and time doesn’t love them as much as the hardcovers. Plus, hardcover books generally look nicer.
Slowly, since I’m not yet wiping my nose with hundred dollar bills, I’m re-purchasing my paperbacks as ebooks and the ones I really, really love as hardcovers. The ones I haven’t read yet I’ll just check out from the library. (That’s another wonderful eReader perk: instant access to free books without leaving my home. My county library hasn’t seen as much action from me in the last year as in the last month.)
My hope is to one day give away all of those paperback books**, and regain ~500 sq. ft. of living space. Although I’m still a bibliophile in the classic sense, I’m also a proud bibliophile in the contemporary sense. Who knew?
*Yes, I know that’s a Kindle book which isn’t supported by the Kobo, but I converted it to EPUB.
**I’m referring mostly to leisure reads and not necessarily technical/reference books, of which I also have many.
A girl in the world who loves stripey knee socks and her cat. She also loves to read, write, draw, and a bunch of other things in between.
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Haha, I love this post because it mirrored my own experience with e- readers. Someday I want to trace the evolution that readers go through from “I’ll just use it for free classics” to “I’ll buy my new books on it to save space” to “oh, if I re-bought my entire library, I would get back a lot of floor space.”
you should write it, ana. that way i won’t feel so alone in my experiences and i’ll feel less like a crazy person.
I’ve just started tackling some of our “extra” bookshelves that are taking up space in the foyer, and had the same realization – it is so much easier to part with quite a few of my paperbacks because I know I can get them in ebook format!
exactly, belle. however, i must admit my heart sags a little bit when i find out one of my paperbacks isn’t available as an ebook or, if it is, a poorly formatted one. authors & publishers should get on that.
oh, another side effect of having the ereader is a greater inclination to read and purchase literature from independent authors. hmm.