My Kindle and me

Well about a month ago I decided to do the dirty deed and buy a Kindle.  Yes, I know.  True book lovers still want to feel the paper, turn a real page and smell the book etc. I still enjoy those aspects of reading and I can't imagine not having the pleasure of looking through a new cookbook and drooling over some great food photography.   But things change and you have to move on.  I've also learned a sad lesson recently; it's hard to find homes for old books. 

 

This lesson came about from inheriting the task of cleaning out my parents’ home.  No word of a lie, there were well over 500 books in that house.  My parents are from that generation that never threw anything out.  (Oh the stories I could tell.)  I have found a home for many of their loved and sometimes forgotten possessions, but books turned out to be a challenge, something I never would have imagined. 

 

It was easy to take some to a second hand book store, a seniors residence, a library and give some to friends.  But those books were only the tip of the iceberg.  Then there were the leather bound Condensed Readers Digests, apparently these have become the scourge of the earth - nobody wants them.   What do you do with old encyclopaedias, travel books, medical books?  All these books are too old to be of any real use and yet not old enough to be collectibles.  So do I keep them and maybe they become collectibles, or do I get rid of them now while I can?

 

Then there were the paperbacks that were bent and torn, printed over 10 years ago and had original price tags of less than $5.00.  They went into the Gasp!  recycling bin.  It physically hurt to do that but if I can’t find a home for these things, and I can’t keep everything, then recycling is a better answer than the garbage bin. 

 

Books have always seemed like old friends to me.  Some are always sitting on the shelf waiting for you to discover or re-discover them.  Some pique your interest, some educate, others entertain, some are annoying and some you wish you had never discovered, but there are variations and varieties to suit your every mood. 

 

So now that I have my Kindle, my children will be spared the daunting book disposal task. (I have other things planned for them - but that's another story.) Pressing delete is a lot simpler than running all over town in search of homes for orphaned books. Who knows, maybe one day we will be able to absorb a novel via some sort of osmotic process, but I don’t think I want to live that long.  I’m happy with my Kindle.