In November of 2007, the world was changed for the better. The Kindle was released and presented to the public as a “digitized book.” This is not to be confused with a tablet, but rather a book that you can have on the go. I, unfortunately, was three years old at this time and was unaware of the history that was being made, but I am now grateful for the Kindle and how it has progressed my love of reading. However, I was not always a “Kindle girlie.” I preached on and on about the superiority of physical books. My mindset was that books are trying to get readers away from technology, and why buy a technical device just to read? As you can infer now, I went completely against my original thoughts and ended up buying a Kindle Paperwhite this year.Â
Being on BookTok played a part in influencing me to get a Kindle. BookTok is a side of the TikTok app that discusses books. I have conducted my stances on why readers or people who want to get into reading should invest in a Kindle; here are five reasons why the Kindle became my go-to reading device.
Lightweight/Portable
During my Sophomore year of college, I realized that I might have a slight problem: I had too many books. They were taking over my dorm room page by page. I began to rotate my books out every time I went back home, but the more books I accumulated, the heavier they would seem in my suitcase. When it came to carrying books in my bookbag on campus, I knew that I had to make a change. Now, with my Kindle, reading is so much easier for me on the go. I can read everywhere without the hassle of carrying multiple books around because it’s a singular, lightweight device—I don’t even feel the extra weight in my bookbag anymore, and I love having more space in tighter areas.Â
Using My Library Card
Like some of the population, I grew up with access to my public library, leading me to sign up for a library card. Over the years of my reading journey, I would pick my maximum book supply for the month, read them all, and then gather them back up to the library to return them. Doing that continuously became tiring, but when I got my Kindle, I found a better way to do this routine. With access to a library card from your city, you can use an app called Libby. Libby is an app that allows you to check out ebooks, audiobooks and magazines from your local library. Libby became my main source to find books when I first got my Kindle. I not only love Libby because of its cost-effectiveness, but because I enjoy finding that all of the “trendy” books are already accessible at my library. When you find a book that you like on Libby, all you have to do is click “share it with Kindle” and it appears right in your Kindle library. Having access to all the books in my library just by attaching my Kindle to the Libby app was definitely a reason I made the switch.
Settings
As previously mentioned, before the purchase of my Kindle, I was mainly a physical book reader. What I like most about reading physical books (as weird as this may sound) is the look and feel of the pages. While the Kindle does not have the “page turning” feeling down yet, their settings on how “warm” or “cool” you want the page colors to be definitely emulate the physical book feel. Depending on where I am, what book I’m reading or how the weather is outside, I can always adjust my Kindle to the setting that is most beneficial to me. For example, at night I turn the coolness all the way down so that way the brightness of the Kindle doesn’t affect my eyes right before I go to bed. Other features in settings that I enjoy are languages and dictionaries, sleep timer, home and library.
Stuff Your Kindle Days (SYKD)
Who doesn’t love free books? I know that when I was buying books left and right, the costs were adding up. Earlier in the days when I first got my Kindle, I heard about “Stuff Your Kindle Days,” which are days when authors of books in genres such as romance, thriller and science fiction mark their books down to free. SYKDs are so beneficial for people who love to read but don’t want to “break the bank.” An advantage of having a Kindle is being able to participate in events like this that grow your library. I have participated in multiple days and have enjoyed every event and all of the books it has brought me.
Decor
As cliche as it may sound, I looked forward to customizing my Kindle. Decorating my Kindle was a need and not a want for me. My vision was to make a Kindle version of myself–and I believe I was very successful. BookTok again influenced me a lot on what stickers and pop sockets I should get. Not only is the decor fabulous but it is essential to the experience. If you use your Kindle every day, you might need a case, screen protector and a sleeve. Buying all of these necessities made me more inclined to pick up a book and read it from my Kindle. Because it wasn’t just some big intimidating book, it looked 10 times more inviting to open and read from.
Reading on my Kindle has changed my whole reading experience. I can take it anywhere, I have access to so many different books from online and my public library, settings are adjustable, and I can customize it any way I like. These are all reasons why the Kindle became my go-to reading device.