Is it nobler to read only books made from paper?
Or are the nuts and bolts of outrageous gadgetry the way to go!

That is the question that has plagued me for years. Should I finally break down and buy a Kindle? Oh, but to give up my precious books!

Reading is my passion! I love to go to the book store and wander up and down the aisles looking for my latest find – waiting for just the right book to catch my eye. I take the book into my hands and gaze at its cover to find clues about the story inside. Fiction, non-fiction it doesn’t matter. The covers always have clues. I open the cover and read the summary; pausing for a moment – thinking. Then as I’m finishing up my perusal, I notice the smell of the book – it’s newness. I carry the book with me while I search for others, and then I sit down with all my new finds and decided which to buy.

Change is always so difficult – but when I bring my new purchases home I realize that my house isn’t big enough for my habit, the Taj Mahal wouldn’t house all my books. My book shelves are heaving from the heaviness of the load, my office can’t hold another book, my bedroom has books in all crevices, even the bathroom is loaded up. I have to give them to our community library and to other charities. I have an entire trunk filled with books to read. I will read them, but sometimes I just have to have the latest book from a favorite author, and I read that first.

So, what’s a girl to do? My friends have broken down and bought a Kindle, or an iPad, or a Nook. They love them. They carry them everywhere. My heart is heavy, but so is my house straining with the load. Ok, I look at the Kindle on Amazon. I click around and find out the essentials and while I’m agonizing about this decision, the Kindle goes on sale. Well, that was the clincher. What girl doesn’t like a sale!

The Kindle, or any reading device, is certainly the way to go when you travel. I don’t have to load down my carry-on with heavy books. I also enjoy downloading our book club’s selections on the Kindle. I can take the Kindle and read it in the car at night waiting for my turn at pick up.

Well, I guess that’s the answer – compromise. I will never give up my books, never. I’ll just buy less of them.