I recently took the plunge and decided to buy myself an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. To preface, I work in Manhattan and spend roughly two hours every day commuting to and from work. After watching To All The Boys I Loved Before and shamelessly falling in love with Peter Kavinsky, I decided to read the books that inspired the movie. Shortly after watching the film, I joined the Book of the Month Club on a whim. I have been a fan ever since. I like to test out subscription boxes from time to time and figured it would be a fun way to stay reading.
Well, it worked.
Over the past four months, I’ve read 13 books. Maybe this doesn’t seem like a lot, but it felt like going from zero to one hundred overnight. But I loved it. I found myself adding books to my Goodreads shelf and becoming mesmerized by the little corner of Instagram called “Bookstagram.”
I bought a few books online once I realized I would finish my Book of the Month selection before my subscription renewed. It wasn’t long before I realized how expensive this new hobby would become and how limited shelf space I had. I downloaded the Kindle app on my phone, in the hopes that it would be a good alternative. To start, I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone because it was available for free via Amazon Prime Reading. I’d never read Harry Potter before and figured at 24, it was time. Somehow I missed out on that time in 2nd grade where everyone was reading it because it was the cool thing to do. While I loved the book I hated reading it on my phone.
I like to read at night before bed. However, if you’re an iPhone user, you know that the night mode is awful. The screen is still too bright, no matter how low you turn your settings. Anytime I got a notification, my ADD went into overdrive and it took half hour to return to reading. Between work, Netflix, my computer, and my phone, I clock in a lot of screentime. One of the reasons I liked reading a physical book was that it forced me away from my phone.
It’s easy to get sucked into the social media vortex of Instagram and idealistic realities that don’t really exist. From a business perspective it’s important to have a digital presence, but personally it doesn’t really matter. It’s superficial.
Thus, I like having a physical book. There’s something wonderfully relaxing about being able to curl up and flip through the pages of a good book. I didn’t have time to go to the library, so I resorted to the convenience of Amazon before I realized it could quickly become an expense. I knew that if I let myself take a break, I’d lose momentum.
The idea of buying an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite was appealing because although it was technically another screen, it was much easier on my eyes. It feels like you’re reading paper because the touchscreen is matte. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you have access to Prime Reading; a variety of Kindle books available for free. You could join Prime Unlimited for a $14.99 monthly fee on top of your Prime subscription and have access to an even larger selection of books for free. This was enticing because it solved my ‘hobby might become too expensive’ problem.
After a little more research, I discovered the Libby App, powered by Overdrive where you can connect your library card to the app and essentially have access to your local library ebook selection, which solved another one of my quandaries.
If you love reading physical books, but want a more portable, digital option, the Kindle Paperwhite is a great alternative. Give it a try, and let me know what you think! If you have one, be sure to include some of your favorite book titles down below!
Previously Published on Words Between Coasts
Featured Photo by James Tarbotton on Unsplash
