August 24, 2010

• reading rainbow

  My sister gave me a Kindle last year on October 6th, just in time for a trip that Superman and I took to Hawaii. My reading habit, which is usually limited by my willingness to go buy or borrow books, or to order books and wait for them to arrive, was greatly facilitated by the easy, instant ordering made available through Kindle, and I eventually was reading enough that I decided I would try to read at least 40 books a year (the year is probably meant to be the year 2010, as opposed to a year beginning on October 6, 2009, but it doesn’t make a difference, as I’ve read 24 Kindle books (which means, incidentally, that the environmental impact of my Kindle versus paper books has been evened out) plus another 23 paper or audio books (almost all from the library), for a total of 47 books in 2010 so far. Add in the Kindle books from last year, and I’ve consumed 59 books in various forms since getting the Kindle less than eleven months ago. (Can I hit 65 or 70 by its one-year birthday six weeks from now?? It’s quite possible, given the fact that we’re going back to Hawaii next week.) I’ve always been an avid reader, but I haven’t found time to do so much pleasure reading over such an extended period of time since I was in school.

  There are several interesting effects of having instant access to books, plus having a resolution to read as much as possible:

  1. I no longer get super-picky about what to read next. Usually, if I’m only reading a book every month or so, I feel a lot of pressure to pick the perfect book every time. Now that I’m reading a ton, it doesn’t matter if every book is Meaningful or Important or The Great American Novel, because as soon as one book is finished, I’m on to the next one. I’ve become almost as omnivorous as I was when I was a kid, when I would basically read anything you put in front of me, secure in the knowledge that I had the rest of my life to read what seemed like an infinite number of books. I am surprised by this, but pleased, because it means I’ve had a lot of variation in my literary diet, and have swung from children’s books to science fiction to philsophy to frivolous fluff to books about serial killers or the Holocaust, and I never feel like I ought to be reading something else, because that something else can always come next.
  2. I no longer insist on finishing a book if I don’t like it. If I really don’t like a book, I move on to another one, because there are lots more immediately available, and I would rather spend a week reading two books I like than spend a month trying to force myself through a book that I don’t like.
  3. Reading Kindle books has actually increased the number of physical books and books on CD that I consume, as well. I had assumed that getting a Kindle would increase the number of books I would read (correct), but I had also assumed that all of those books would be on Kindle, and that I would no longer read print books (initially correct, but eventually incorrect). The majority of the books I’ve read since getting a Kindle have been on Kindle, but some books aren’t on Kindle, and so I have to buy or borrow those. Additionally, having the idea of reading so prominent in my mind (plus the added convenience that the mobile library van comes to work) means that I have also started using the library a lot more. At any given point, I have a couple of books going on Kindle and a few books and books on CD checked out from the library. I read on Kindle at home and while traveling. I use the Kindle app on my Android phone when I’m in lines or waiting rooms. I read paper books while at home. I listen to books on CD while driving. This has been the most surprising thing for me, that having a Kindle seems to have increased my consumption of books in all forms, not just in e-book form.

  [Edit later in the evening: Just finished another book today (this one on Kindle), so I'm up to 60. I think 65 id definitely doable by October 6, and maybe even 70. Maybe my next goal will be 100 in a year.]

  • 9:23 pm
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