This blog is for thoughts during my sabbatical, but I am starting a bit early. For Christmas, my husband surprised me with a Kindle (electronic book reader). It is a wonderful surprise, and I love it already. I put myself in the category of "book people" who love the feel of a book - opening the cover, holding the book, turning the pages. I was intrigued by the Kindle, but I thought I really couldn't give up the book. Over the past few months I had heard a few different people talk about Kindles, and I thought it would be neat to try one, but having an expensive electronic device would not solve the basic problem of not having enough time to read! Plus, I am not a gadget person. Now that I have it, I love the Kindle - maybe it's the newness, I am not sure. I have a cover to hold the Kindle, and this helps to make it feel like a book. Also, the interface is very userfriendly, so it doesn't take much "thinking" to use it. I also like the thought of being able to get a book when I want it, as opposed to using the library and waiting, or having the book for too long and paying a fine. I have never been one to buy a lot of books, mostly because of the cost, but lately also because of the space that books take. As my family (who has helped me move several times) knows, I do have lots of books - from gifts, garage sales, inherited. Downloading a book on a Kindle now means I can "hold" the book without "housing". Maybe this is a part of the emphasis nowadays on minimalism. Who knows! Do I want to read everything on the Kindle? No. I still sit down with the newspaper at breakfast. I read paper copies professional books and journals that sit in my pile of things to read. I see the Kindle as a way to transition - a transition that will (I hope) take a long time.
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