I have been unfaithful.
To my Kindle.
You have heard me wax eloquent -- at least, at length --about my electronic reader since I bought it. How I find reading on it far more convenient than a hardbound book. How I can get my old hometown newspaper delivered each morning no matter where I am in the world. How I can carry a full library with me on a trip and never have to worry about heft.
It was not always thus. I brought down a stack of books when I moved to Mexico two years ago.
When I arrived, I started tearing through them. Realizing I could not find a bookstore anywhere near this beach, I started rationing them.
Then came the Kindle. And the remnant sat on my reading table gathering dust while I lavished all of my attention and praise on my new-found love from Amazon.
For some reason earlier this month, I looked at the stack. Probably in the same way that mothers in nursing homes leaf through the birthday cards they once received from their children.
I picked up the largest of the lot -- laughing to myself that I once had to deal with the logistics of books that size.
Then I made the mistake of opening it up. Reading one page after the other. Getting a tactile joy out of feeling the texture of high quality paper on my fingertips.
The next thing I knew, I was three chapters deep in H.W. Brands’s Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I was a little bit surprised at myself when I bought the biography. Roosevelt is not a natural topic for a fellow with a libertarian bent.
But I had enjoyed Brands’s interesting and even-handed approach in Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times. Anyone who can handle the prickly topic of Jackson without causing eyes to roll, while opening those eyes to a new perspective, is a biographer worth reading.
The book is nearly a 1000 pages long. I am about half way though it. And half way is not enough to pass judgment. But it is interesting enough that I want to finish it before I leave for San Miguel.
If I can’t finish it before I leave, I will take FDR with me. From what I hear, he would fit right in to that colonial town in the highlands.
12 comments:
I have the same reaction when I hold a vinyl record between my hands or tucking a land line receiver under my cheek. I think that's called nostalgia.
150 years ago someone said, "In the future only little girls will ride pony's"
Loving my Kindle here - Just finished 1000 page plus Kindle book by Bill Clinton ;-)
Someone was correct. But we do enjoy the pleasures of our youth.
That may be just the book for a Kindle. The FDR biograpohy certainly would be easier to tote around. I took it with me on my Manzanillo mail run today.
I love books, but I don't think I would like one on Andrew Jackson. If you know anything about the "Trail of Tears" you will understand why.
I know quite a bit about the Trail of Tears. That was one rason I was not inclined to read the book. I am glad I did. I came away with a bit more respect for Jackson. But just a bit. I still seem him basically as a demagogue who stole Jeffersonian democracy and forever altered it.
hi steve,
i think i told you steve bought a kindle but i have over 100 books to take with me to japan.
we arrived at seatac this afternoon after 21 1/2 hours in transit due to a 6 1/2 hour layover in incheon. at least we got to use the vip lounge and they had great food.
strange, although it was very hot and humid, i adapted to it pretty quickly. it looks like our summer temps are similar to yours. i just checked both cities and it's 89 in nagoya with 74% humidity and 88 in melaque with 71% humidity. granted it is just 10:30 in the morning there. when we left yesterday we were told it was supposed to go up to 100 deg.
i am so happy to be moving there and that we got the house we wanted. you are definitely welcome to visit.
also, i'm happy to tell you that i am still prediabetic so no medictations after all. i think that previous test was a wake up call and i am now determined to lose 20 lbs. and keep them off, that is the hardest part.
take care and have a great weekend!
teresa
There is nothing like a Kindle to lessen the book load. And try to enjoy that weather.
"Tactile joy" is exactly the reason I haven't given up paper based books. I love the heft of a book in my hands and the rhythm of turning pages.
Me, too. Buut I really like the convenience of the Kindle. Hauling FDR around to the beach is no picnic.
Can't say that I'm surprised! :) I don't blame you really. I've also been unfaithful to my beloved Kindle. And the worst part is that I don't feel even the slightest bit guilty. For me it's cookbooks. The Kindle versions just don't do it for me.
I tend to be an index card person when it comes to cooking.
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