Tuesday, April 19, 2011

My Kindle Review

My 1st Reading Experience On My Kindle 


I'm going to talk about what I initially thought about eBooks, what I like, what I don't like and my preference. These are my personal opinions, feel free to agree or disagree with me as you want

My eBook Opinion
Initially I was dead set about NEVER getting an eBook, unless that was all that was offered for book formats. I was convinced I would never have one, but I figured when I had kids they would probably have them because that is the next generation, electronics attached to the body.

Why was I so against getting one you might ask? Well both my boss and my brother-in-law were constantly bugging me about how much they loved them, how convenient they are and every book reader has to have one! You can store so many books on there with out the size that comes with books, yada yada yada.... so on and so forth.  My argument was "I love my physical books, you can't get an eBook signed and I don't want to buy a eBook ie a file and than buy the physical book it is a waste of money". 

With someone shoving things in your face and telling you what you need to do I was getting annoyed. Do you ever become a stubborn ass and have no desire to move an inch?! Well that was me! Everyone was telling me you need to get this I didn't like it and I completely refused to listen to their arguments about it. 

So what made me decide to get an eBook? Well I looked into NetGalley.com and I requested a few books, not quite understanding what it was. When I got the approval to read some books that I really wanted to read and found out they were only giving out eBook formats I kinda realized that if I wanted to do more reviews I just might have to cave. I had no desire to buy a new eBook for $100+ so I was going to start looking and asking around for a used one to buy. Well I only got to asking one friend and she offered her old one, stating it was a little bigger than her new one, but of course I really didn't care because I was getting it for free. So I loaded it up with a few galleys and read my first book The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter (click the title to view my review).

What I Like
~ You don't have to hold the book open and it can just sit on your lap while you read. No sore thumbs
~Don't have to worry about breaking the spine, corners folding or things getting messed up. No awkward tilting the book 
~ Can store around 1000 books (I think), lots of book choices if you change your mind on what to read. Takes up very little space
~ Smaller than a hardback 800 page weapon of a book. Can easily stick it in your purse
~ Getting free ARC galleys or .99 cent books for review

What I Don't Like
~ I can't flip through the book with ease.
Read the summary again
Look at the map of the created world
Scan the end of the book to make sure this character is dead, those two are together...
~ The satisfaction of reading a huge book and proving what I just got through
~ Can't get them signed, I love my signed books!
~ Can't add it to my amazing bookshelves (I want the Beast's library and to accomplish that I need the physical books)
~ The eBook pages are so short I am constantly pressing the button
~ No page numbers, just percents, kinda annoying 
~ eBooks can be the same price as the physical books!!! For a fucking file!!
~ They don't have "used" eBooks
~ No beautiful colorful covers to admire and stroke :)

My Preference
As you can obviously tell my preference is still the physical book format, but the convenience of an eBook I totally understand. If you are the completely opposite of me and don't want to take up your space with books, don't want to keep every single book that you liked, don't go to signings or just like electronics the eBooks are fantastic for those people. I will stick to how I am currently using my eBook, reading free or -$1.00 books to read and review and buying my beloved physical books. Until the day comes when paper books are no longer available I will weep and then I will get book files

What are your views on eBooks?

<3Books
 

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I had two Kindles which both broke a couple of weeks after getting them, so I chose not to get another Kindle. I now own an iPod touch and I have the Kindle app. I chosen to buy Kindle books when they're cheap, then buy the physical copy if I like them. Have you checked this out by the way? Look at the prices!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=s9_al_ft_srch?rh=n%3A687183031&page=1&rw_html_to_wsrp=1&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0P9E0M9BYK06Q2T7QTSQ&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=239473287&pf_rd_i=159676147

Kristina said...

That is another thing I forgot to mention. It is an expensive electronic and now a days electronics are meant to last, they break down easily so people have to keep replacing them

@ComaCalm thanks I need to browse around the kindle store stuff more :)

vvb32 reads said...

despite having a kindle, i still love print too ;-D

Jennifer A said...

I love both! I can't decide which one I like more. I think it depends on the book.

I agree with all of your points. I love the ease of use with an e-reader. I love the feel and look of a real book.

I think they are both good. :)

Jennifer of Little Shelf

Fiktshun said...

I love print books, but can't live without my eReaders. Nothing compares to a beautiful set of books on a shelf or a collection of signed books.

But some things about the eReaders:

The Kindle (newer one) does now have page numbers for most. And the newer one does flip pages much faster.

You can scan the book easily, by running searches or going to "last page." It just takes some time to get used to. I also just started bookmarking and making notes for my reviews which really helps.

Plus, if an author asks you to remember a passage from his/her book for a contest you just run a search and find the info in half a second versus flipping through a 400 page book.

I think in this day and age you sort of need to have both. And books you know you'll want signed or add to the collection you just get in print.