Blog
What I Do With My Kindle
Written by Tati
I have always avoided kindles, because like so many hipsters, I just love books too much to gain satisfaction reading of a little bit of plastic with a non-glare screen. I love the smell of books, and the covers, and the rustly pages, and I like to tell people so, in a manner that implies I am the only person who appreciates a good whiff of book dust. I have always avoided kindles, that is, until about a month ago, when I bought a kindle after a friend spent all of ten minutes telling me about how great they are. They really are, although I know there are a superior class of intellectuals who hear ‘I own a kindle’ and understand it to mean ‘I sneak around in forests burning down trees and shooting happy books as they frolic in their natural, utopian environment’. I have already made back the money I spent on it in downloading zillions of classics for free. I’m reading way more, but buying the same number of books (thank you local £2 bookshop), if not even more because I’m realizing how totally feasible it is that I will actually read them! I can carry it around in my handbag, even my tiny handbag that barely fits my wallet. I can sunbathe and read comfortably, which is novel (ho ho), because it’s so light and I can hold it and turn pages with just one hand. All in all, I am very excited, and look forward to continuing to be excited into reading more, so next time someone mentions an author I can pretend to be knowledgeable on the subject because I read one of their shorter books. Here are some books I have read since buying my kindle:
The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
I read this mainly because I saw the trailer for the film and thought it looked just like Moulin Rouge set in the twenties, and I wanted to be disparaging about it from a more informed viewpoint. Also it’s one of those book everyone just has to read, especially if you’re American, which I am not. Sort of like Catcher in the Rye. I downloaded the complete works of F Scott Fitzgerald for £1.29 from the Amazon kindle store, which is a bargain in anyone’s language. Especially now that I have all of his short stories on me at all times, which is handy because the paperback I’ve got of those is a really awkward size to carry around.
The American – Henry James
I saw a hipster on the bus holding a copy of this under his copy of The Great Gatsby before I’d read either, so when I got the kindle, naturally I downloaded both immediately. I really enjoyed about three quarters of this when nothing was really happening and I was just reading about the protagonist having a rather pleasant holiday in Paris. Then, when stuff started happening, it was all either really grim or mildly dissatisfying. Booo.
Cranford – Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
It’s taking me ages to get through Cranford because nothing happens and it all seems to be largely about the price of ribbons, women playing cards and unfashionable hats, none of which I have a particular interest, although I do like the writing style. Fortunately with MY NEW KINDLE, it’s dead easy to switch between books!
My Man Pendleton – someone lonely
Average chick lit I read when I was ill. I am constantly outraged by the inability of chick lit protagonists to realize when they blatantly fancy people even though they’re getting all sweaty and blushy and butterfly-sy. Also, I read chick lit for descriptions of expensive places, clothes and food, not for the scintillating small talk between people who want to touch each other inappropriately and are pretending they don’t.
I’m now reading The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford, which is totally excellent. I’ve borrowed Rosie’s copy (her real live paperback) but I might get one for myself. And considering pre-kindle, the only two (fiction) books I can remember finishing this side of 2012 are Vanity Fair (totally banging) and Riders (not as shocking as legend has it), I’d say that it’s doing me good.