A little over 4 years ago, The Tweedles (via The Hubs) surprised me with a first generation Amazon Kindle. From the moment I heard about them, I was In. Love. And with the exception of replacing the battery, I use the exact same Kindle today. That's over four years of purchasing and reading all of my books online. And in that time I even gave away almost my entire book library that's how in love I was.
But I think the bloom is coming off the rose of my love with the kindle book a little. I decided this morning, I really wanted to go to the book store and get a crock pot cook book. With some incredibly big scheduling changes happening in our house in the next week or so, I'm anticipating having even less time than normal for making dinner. The crock pot is going to be my saving grace, and I wanted to have a lot of ideas ready so we didn't get bored with what we're eating. While I could get a lot of those recipes online, I thought a book with pictures (yeah yeah, insert blonde joke here) might be my best bet.
The Hubs, The Tweedles and I all hit the local Barnes & Noble this morning and I remembered how much I LOVE bookstores! We spent an hour wandering the books. I picked up my cook book then wandered over to the sci-fi / fantasy section and browsed the shelves. I didn't buy any (I do have a Kindle after all!) but I did find 5 new authors who's books I HAD to look up on Amazon when I got home. Amazon for all it's wonders, just doesn't browse very well. You kinda have to know what you're looking for. But a book store! At a bookstore you can wander the shelves and check out covers. See how thick a book is and really get a feel for it.
Don't get me wrong. I think I do still love my Kindle. I love that I can carry around my entire library in one little book, read and re-read every book at any time. And it's all the better to have it available not only on my Kindle, but my computer and any other computer with internet. And do you know how many times I've tried to re-buy a book I already own? Back in the paperback days, I'd buy 2 or 3 copies of the same book over the years, not remembering I already own it. With my Kindle, it doesn't let me buy it again. It very sweetly tells me "Hey Dummy! You already own that book. Go check your library!". If only Amazon could make browsing online as much of an experience as browsing in a real book store.
As for the Tweedles, they each got to pick out a book, and while they were browsing I was re-introduced to The American Girl books which reminded me how much I wanted to get one and a matching doll for Bunny. I told her we'd ask Santa to bring it. And Bug found books with legos! Books.. with LEGOS! WOW! Bunny picked up a book from the Candy Fairy series and Bug got a Dinosaur pop-up book. Meanwhile, The Hubs got to peruse the History section and books on sailing.
All in all, a very successful book store adventure, and despite all the benefits of my kindle, one I think we'll repeat sometime soon.
Seriously.. Thoughts?
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