Keeping Up with a Kindle Lover

You guys… I don’t even know how it happened. There he was, under the Christmas tree, wrapped in shimmering gold, later landing in my lap with my name on it. Hmm. Intrigued by his book-like size but confused by his feathery weight, I tore the paper in slow mo, carefully.

Before I knew it: There we were.

Totally madly in love.

My Kindle Paperwhite and I. The white one. The gorgeous one. THE one. My mom snagged it for me as the most perfect gift on a killer Black Friday Amazon sale last year, and today it’s my BFF. I will never in my lifetime abandon hard books completely. But I have fallen in deep infatuation with Kindle life and I’m finally ready to kome klean.

It’s bad, guys. Kindle app on my phone, Kindle in my hand, Kindle linked to Audible so my place is saved as I switch back and forth between the e-book and audiobook. I was already a book addict, but this newfound glory has taken my obsession to absolutely wuthering heights.

How on earth did this happen, though?! I am the girl who has sworn up and down and crisscross and sideways that I. would. NEVER! The feel of a hardback, turning those pages, underlining, highlighting, passing it on, and/or building my library! Keeping my place with a bookmark! Who in great F. Scott Fitzgerald am I now?!

Well, it started with a really pretty package, and continued with a couch-laden pregnancy where page-tapping was just barely easier-enough than page-turning to make a difference for me. And essentially from the moment I finished reading my very first book on it (Single State of Mind by Andi Dorfman, if you must know)—this reader was hooked. Not for all of my reading, mind you! But for a good half of the books I devour.

Listen, I could probably wax poetic about this kontraption for pages, so I’ll go ahead and sum it up for you as neatly as possible with these five simple reasons I’m loving it. In no particular order:

Saving Myself from a Hoarders Episode—I definitely don’t want to make light of the obvious emotional and psychological issues associated with true hoarder-ism. All I’m saying is that one day, I looked around and realized that every cupboard, shelf and drawer of my house was stacked, stuffed and/or overflowing with books! I’d go so far as to say it was all starting to look a little unhealthy. I read anywhere from 20-50 books per year right now, and this seriously adds up. And I tend to love quite the array of books, from the potentially trivial to the totally epic, but let’s just say I don’t need to keep every Bachelor memoir and YA romance novel on hand for the rest of my life! I started cleansing my home of old books, keeping only the true gems, and purchasing roughly 50% of my books via Kindle. My whole reading habit—and my whole house—feels crisper and cleaner.

The Physical Reading Experience—I have grown to actually LOVE how the Kindle feels in my hands. I love the look of the Paperwhite screen which, true to its name, is basically indistinguishable from an actual page. I also love the fonts. I love that you CAN highlight passages, and add a little digital bookmark. I like that it tells me how much approximate reading time I have left in each chapter, and in the book, as well as my percentage completed. Also, a really huge plus for me is that now, I can read in the dark while Doug goes to sleep because obvi that baby is backlit! This has been a game changer. My reading light bothers my early-to-bed bird husband, but I’m a night owl and you know how it goes, guys! We’re both much happier now.

Sheer Convenience and Functionality—The ease and portability of my Kindle is huge, especially in this crazy mom-of-young-kiddos phase and extra-especially with a baby. In the earliest days of nursing around the clock, there’s no way I could’ve managed a clunky hardback while breastfeeding, but my Kindle? No problem. In addition, the way it syncs to my iPhone app is a game changer. Sometimes I have 10 minutes in the carpool line with my littles asleep in the back, or 20 random minutes in a waiting room, and I might not have my Kindle with me, but I certainly have my phone. I joked to my already-Kindle-loving-mom-friend recently that, “Now that I have three kids, it was basically: learn to love my Kindle, or never read again!” Of course that’s not true, but much of the time, it definitely feels a lot easier.

And let’s not even mention my also-new Audible addiction. They sync seamlessly now, e-books (Kindle) and audiobooks (Audible)!!!! YES, for instance, I can sneak in an audio chapter during my drive time or while folding laundry, but later that night cozy up on my couch with the Kindle and, you bet, my place will be saved. It’s amazing. Oh! And I haven’t taken a long trip with my Kindle yet but fiiiiiiine, it’s probably gonna be pretty nice to not exceed the 50-pound suitcase weight limit for once in my whole existence. I’ll bring one real book, because I’m not a total monster, but I will probably download the rest.

Cost Savings—Yeah, way too many of you know me too well for me to pretend like cost savings drove this decision! But you know what? I am saving money and I am proud of this! My kids will be able to go to college now!!!!! There are killer Kindle deals like all the time, not to mention free monthly reads with an Amazon Prime membership. Plus, every e-book I’ve ever purchased has been cheaper than the hardback or paperback. I’m even considering the Kindle Unlimited membership which includes Unlimited Reading, Current Magazines and Unlimited Audiobooks. (Has anyone tried it? Is it worth it?)

My Overall Book Intake—I love to read. For a million reasons. Writers can’t write without reading, for one. But it fills my heart. It expands my mind, and keeps it sharp. It sweeps me away to new cities and stories and worlds. It lets me inside other people’s actual minds (the best). It also connects me to other book lovers. And, I’m convinced there is no way I could keep up quite such a robust reading habit in this phase of life without my new Kindle (and Audible) obsession. OK, maybe I could, because we seem to find a way to do the things we love most. But it would be harder, and clunkier, and pricier, to be sure. I’m into it, and I’m thankful for it!

All this said, though—there are certain books I will always buy hard-copy, namely any book I know I will mark up like crazy or must have in my permanent library. Anything by Lysa TerKeurst, for instance, or Ann Voskamp, or Leeanaa Tankersley, or Anne Lamott—spiritual writers whose words have impacted me greatly and which I return to, again and again. Also certain novels or memoirs I just have a hunch will be timeless reads for the crisp, bright white, pristine library that someday I swear I will have! Or if a personal friend writes a book, a hard copy to cherish and obvs have signed (hi, Jedidiah Jenkins and Rebecca Serle in 2018!!!). Also poetry. Always poetry. At the risk of sounding totally hypocritical and discrediting this whole entire post… something about poetry on a Kindle does feel a little bit wrong to me. Also, you know what? FINE! Sometimes I do buy books based solely on their pretty covers! I’m only human! Most recently, I treated myself to All We Ever Wanted, the newest by Emily Giffin. The gold sparkles sucked me right in.

In conclusion, my Kindle is exactly like the Kardashians to me. I started off like, “Blah, OMG! As if! Who would konsume this trash!” Then one day I woke up a total and utter fangirl, dressing up like the Dash trash for Halloween with the most carefully orchestrated group of Kardashians you’ve ever seen. In 2011, I was Kourtney and Doug was Scott, and we carried around a baby doll Mason (since we didn’t have kids of our own yet #WHOA). There was also no Kanye or Caitlyn yet, gasp; a lot changes in seven years!