If you know me, and you should by now, that is if you're reading these things, you'll know that I am quite independent. I don't wait on a man, or anyone for that matter, to buy me anything. If I want it, I go get it. If I can't get it, I'm not above planning and scheming my way into a situation where it happens that I do in fact get whatever it is that I want. I'm not ever going to steal anything; don't think that way about me. I am simply not going to stop thinking about what it is that I want, and therefore, I will not set the dream aside. I will muster out a way! It will happen.
The sensory desire of my mind recently has been the Kindle e-reader. I'm that way. I admit it. I read. I know, I could and should be devoting my mind to useless fun such as whatever drivel can be found on the telly. Perhaps I should be spending (wasted) hours upon hours stalking a certain someone who needs to be stalked so he can claim he's stalked, thereby giving him reason to complain about something. (I jest, and I do hope he understands that I do in fact only tease.) I spend my waking hours working, writing, or reading for the most part. Oh, and there is that 30-minute workout that my daughter and I engage in 3x a week at the YMCA...which of course, always cuts into my reading time, but it is worth it.
Suffice it to say, I didn't wait on anyone to buy me a Kindle for my birthday. I simply went online and bought one. Because I'm cheaper than most, and especially when it comes to buying things for myself, I decided to go the inexpensive route, which in the long run turned out to be a good basic idea, but it didn't fully satisfy the situation. I'll explain. Where Amazon sells their All-New Kindle (6" screen) for $99, there was an older version, but not too much older, as it too had a smaller screen. It was only $35 on eBay and they didn't even charge me for shipping! I love that. It was cheaper because it was older, and the owner bought him or herself a new one. (If I had to guess from the books the owner left on the unit, I'd say masculine for sure.) I kept one book, no wait, two.
The Kindle I bought was not only older but there is also a tiny, very very tiny pinhole-sized hole in the screen and though it really can't be seen except when you see it, it doesn't affect the quality or the performance of the unit in any way. I have literally loved every minute I have spent staring at that screen reading! The problem was, and this is certainly a 1st World Issue, I didn't want to carry it back and forth from work. I have at least two solid hours each day to read while the traders do their thing, and I use my older Kindle. I decided to buy myself an All-New version for my birthday; which is in a week!! Happy Birthday to me, right? OK, so now I have two Kindles, and yes, when you register them both every book you buy for one appears on the other! When you read one, and stop reading, the page is recorded and it appears on the 2nd the moment you turn the unit on; this is great!
The thought occurred to me, after I spent a few minutes deleting all of the books the previous owner had downloaded onto the first unit, that if anyone was to find or steal one of my Kindles they too would be deleting - - and deleting - - and yes, deleting. I have about 70 books downloaded so far, and to be honest, most of them were written so long ago that the royalties no longer go to the author or to their estate(s). Most of my books are written by the likes of Sir Walter Scott, a prolific writer indeed, as well as Robert Louis Stevenson, Daniel DeFoe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and of course, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, and J.K. Rowling. She still gets her royalty checks, I'm sure of it.
One of my co-workers, a young man in his late 20s, asked to see my library today on my office Kindle. I giggled as I handed it to him. He's going to buy his mom one for Christmas, and he wanted to see for himself if the unit was in fact worth it. WAIT? WHAT? Worth it? You spend $99 for the unit, and no matter what book you download it's likely to be at least 60% discounted. Most of my books are literally next to being free. I think I paid 45 cents for the "General History of Pyrates" by Daniel Defoe. I spent only 19 cents for "Ivanhoe" by Sir Walter Scott, then I found a collection of his works for $1.99 which has literally 12,000+ pages which, by the by, do include "Ivanhoe", but that's OK. I can overlook a mistaken purchase in the scheme of it all. I'll try to survive.
My co-worker couldn't believe I was so dorky. He went on about it for hours really, and I laughed. He understands me if I call him a "Mudblood" or a "Muggle" but he has no idea what I'm saying to him when I tell him to "Haud yer wheesht". He should read more often. He gives me heck all the time about my Scottishness and my love for my ancestral homeland. There he is over there during his two free hours playing Grand Theft Auto, so I let him know it was created in Edinburgh at the Rock Star Games just outside of Arthur's Seat and the Holyrood Palace. He should read more. He suggested a few titles for me, and sure, why not? Maybe I'll find time to read them after I finish my other books - - NOT. I'm never going to finish my other books! There are just too many OTHER BOOKS!!
Top to bottom, this machine is the best. I love it. It's flat, easy to hold, and easy to read, and you can adjust the font as well as the font size. I just can't say enough about it. You can do the whole free or unlimited reading thing with them too, but I have no intention of buying or borrowing new books; which that is designed for. I will gladly pay my pennies for books that have haunted the world's shelves for literally centuries! I will spend my time being "Kidnapped" or on "Treasure Island", hanging out with Ebenezer Scrooge, Blackbeard, or Moll Flanders. I will seek any corner in which to curl up with Sir Walter Scott so he can speak Scots to me through the dialogue of his Waverley novels. I did buy the Scots edition of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" which my co-worker opened and tried to read. He couldn't. That particular title is not on Kindle, sadly, but I have the physical book in my backpack that I take to work just in case the unthinkable happens and my office Kindle loses charge. God forbid.
I'm going to have to stop ordering books for now. I've been so tempted and so drawn to the Kindle Store to just check out the prices of the classics and those books written over two hundred and fifty years ago. I know my Kindle can hold up to 2000 books, but c'mon, who can read that many? OK, challenge accepted! I'll do it. Pick me.
Photo of Sir Walter Scott - Photo Credit: Landmarkevents.com
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