The joys of a Kindle

So for Christmas I asked for money for a Kindle. The main reasons was one of cost, English books in Japan are just damned expensive. My choices are either spending the money to go into Tokyo where I could easily spend around $200 for, oh, 5 books or so. Or ordering from Amazon (Either.com or Japan) which might be slightly cheaper, but usually meant I would have to wait for a few weeks before my books show up (Amazon Japan carries a LOT in stock, but there's also a lot that has to be sent in from the US, which can take about 2 weeks or so). The other reason is space. When I came to Japan, I sent over about 20 books, the bulk of my collection is either boxed up in the US waiting for my return, or was given away to my university's used book shop.

That was six years ago and I'm currently somewhere around 150 to 200 titles. I'm just physically running out of room. The concept of carrying some 20,000 titles or so around with me in something the size of a PADD appealed to me, especially as it meant that I wouldn't have to argue with my wife about that any more.

So when I got the Kindle I spent an hour or so in the Kindle Classics section downloading about 20 books I've wanted to read. I've even bought a book just to see how it worked. But... there's still something missing. The feel of the paper, the smell of the book, the rustle of the pages. Maybe I just need to get used to it, or maybe I just am a confirmed bibliophile. Still though, a few trawls through the free stack at the Kindle store, the idea of the whole of Project Gutenberg available to me at any time, and being able to go on a trip with plenty to read and not have to leave half my clothes and I might become a believer.

But I think a party of me will still feel something is wrong, something missing, curling up under the kotatsu with a mug of coca, and the snow coming down on a cold Nagano day with my Kindle instead of an actual paper book.