Luxor4u

Some years ago under pressure from friends and family I bought a Kindle.
I knew when I bought it I wouldn't like it, I love the feel of a book, I love turning the pages I love the smell of the paper.
I usually get my books from the Ace shop but oh dear they have closed.
I was on my last book had re read a couple but was going to be forced to look for that damn Kindle, where I have put it I just don't know.
Then I got a notification that the shop is opening again as from tomorrow. Saved by the bell, Tuesday expect to see me darken your doors again ladies.
Do you read? What do you read could you live without books?

I used to read a lot....mainly historical fact and “faction”.....fiction but in an accurate historical context. And I’ve a huge library of egyptology books

I now tend to buy the kindle editions, where available.

Lately, I’ve been getting the audio add-ons. Fantastic for getting off to sleep in these lockdown days of little physical exercise.

Latest reads? Biographies of Cleopatra, the Julio-Claudian emperors, King John.

Currently listening to Michael Palin narrate his novel “Erebus. The Story of a Ship”. It is the story of the ship which circumnavigated the globe in Victorian times and ended up lost in its last fateful voyage with Capt. Sir John Franklin, in search of the North West passage to the Pacific.

Carrie, I fully understand your comments about the Kindle. I too resisted having one for a very, very long time, convinced I would not get on with one.
Then, at a time when I was planning a holiday which would aford me lots of relaxation and reading time but very little luggage space, I spotted an offer with a goid reduction on Kindles. I finally gave in.
Having the Kindle did make my handbag lighter and less bulky, even with my camera and other essentials, which was a bonus. Unfortunately, I soon found the Kindle more cumbersome than a book to hold, and not that easy to read either.
It didn't take me long to realise that all my preconceived ideas about me and Kindles were accurate. I much prefer a real,printed, book to hold and read.

I have found it very difficult to read to my normal capacity over this last year or so. I thought the lockdowns would give me more reading time but all I seem to have is an even poorer sleeping habit and less of an ability to fill those sleepless hours with reading.
At the moment I am having to sort through all my books. I have piles ready to be passed on to friends; give to charity shops; not yet read; read but want to keep; cannot even consider parting with although I probably will not read again. I just need to get some dustributed now.

Carrie, I fully understand your comments about the Kindle. I too resisted having one for a very, very long time, convinced I would not get on with one.
Then, at a time when I was planning a holiday which would aford me lots of relaxation and reading time but very little luggage space, I spotted an offer with a goid reduction on Kindles. I finally gave in.
Having the Kindle did make my handbag lighter and less bulky, even with my camera and other essentials, which was a bonus. Unfortunately, I soon found the Kindle more cumbersome than a book to hold, and not that easy to read either.
It didn't take me long to realise that all my preconceived ideas about me and Kindles were accurate. I much prefer a real,printed, book to hold and read.

I have found it very difficult to read to my normal capacity over this last year or so. I thought the lockdowns would give me more reading time but all I seem to have is an even poorer sleeping habit and less of an ability to fill those sleepless hours with reading.
At the moment I am having to sort through all my books. I have piles ready to be passed on to friends; give to charity shops; not yet read; read but want to keep; cannot even consider parting with although I probably will not read again. I just need to get some dustributed now.

I resisted for a long time but now I'm hooked. Part of the reason was i just wasn't able to get the quantity of books I needed without access to a library here in Luxor . I will sometimes read 2 or 3 books a week and after people, books and music are the 2 most important things in my life. Another advantage with my kindle reader is I can have a whole library of books to carry around in my handbag or On my bedside table . I feel a bit of a fool sometimes though when I'm reading a real book, as instead of physically turning over a page I find myself continually pressing on the page at the bottom and wondering why nothing's happening!

I couldn’t live in Datca, Turkey, without my Kindle!!!! I’ve been a voracious reader since the age of 4 when I learnt to read, regularly got through 10 library books a week when I lived in the UK, and had to get rid of over 3000 books when I retired and moved to Turkey.

I bought a Kindle initially because it was difficult to take enough books on my 3 month winter holidays. Like Hepzibah and Carrie I was convinced that I wouldn’t enjoy using it, as I too loved the smell and feel of a book. WRONG!!!! From the first I was completely sold!!! Reading in bed was easier, small, thin and easily stuffed in my handbag or pocket, the idea that I could have hundreds of books on one little tablet was entrancing, and of course being able to buy new books with an almost instant download was fabulous!!

I won’t bore you with the details, but I joined an online book sharing group, sadly gone now, and my current library (on an external hard drive) is 9,000+ books. I’m onto Kindle number 3, a Paperwhite with a bright screen that is excellent to read in the dark - very useful for power cuts! - and considering the purchase of number 4.

I still love books, still have quite a few, but they’re mainly reference type books - I have lots about Egypt! Books with maps and photographs are not good on the Kindle as the screen size is too small, and they can’t be expanded. However as these sort of books become more readily available in eform, I now find myself buying them and downloading them to the e-reader apps on my iPad - bigger format and easily expanded for detail. I much prefer the Kindle though, because it’s lighter and there’s no screen reflection in the sun.

I’ve tried many times to convince Carrie to try again with her Kindle - I can easily send her books by email to download (not at the moment unfortunately as my laptop is on the blink!) and of course when buying them from Amazon they arrive within minutes. Sadly, to no avail! One day, maybe

Of course a book is easier to hold and read. Mine don’t smell so I can’t comment on that aspect

But when you consider the convenience, instant access to the world of books, the ability to add audio...and the other functions of a kindle, I think they’re a worthwhile asset.

In somewhere like Luxor, with limited access to books, I would have thought they’d be indispensable.

I have just read Gone with the Wind again, life in the genteel south before the civil war and when the "darkies" knew their place.
Sometimes wonder if the good old USA has changed that much.

If and when I return you should pop round I have 2 libraries in Luxor with an eclectic and large selection of
reading material.
Oh! and if you are in Clerkenwell my collection here is pretty vast.....