I bought my Kindle many more years ago than I care to remember, back when they were relatively new and shiny and an internet connection was not as standard.
In my excitement, I filled it full of classics I ought to read, and modern freebies which sounded interesting. I didn’t read very many. I discovered that I preferred a Proper Book. Especially for the classics. I was more easily distracted from my reading on my Kindle.
My Kindle lay unread, forgotten and neglected, gathering dust.
A few years ago, though, I discovered that I could read on my Kindle, as long as I was reading something I’d read before. I went through the 120 titles on there and decluttered. All those worthy classics, gone. The freebies that weren’t, after all, so interesting or exciting to read, gone. By the time I was done, I had fewer than 30 books remaining of my Kindle library, reduced to a handful I’d managed to read and enjoyed.
And then I began the task of restocking it with my favourite print books, for travel, and those books which I’d found at the library and rated highly enough that I wanted my own copy and the eBook was cheap.
But, in the last few months, during this imposed quarantine, I’ve discovered that I can read new books on my Kindle.
I am still more easily distracted from my reading, but such a way of reading is perfectly suited to bed-time reading. It might not be the long afternoon in the sunshine that is my ideal reading time, but how many of those do I get anyway? Recent, exceptional, circumstances not included.
Besides, it stops me from reading the night away, which I’m inclined to do with a print book.
It’s been particularly helpful for my Crime Classics challenge, now that I’ve read all the unread ones on my bookshelf. It’s easier, too, to find new ones. In the library they’re scattered across the shelves and it’s so easy to just browse past to something else. But a Kindle search for British Library Crime Classics brings me so many options, and now my TBR list has greatly increased.
It also means I’ll be buying newly published books for which I’d otherwise await the paperback. Hardbacks are often so unwieldy, and they usually need further spaced shelves in order to fit.
I’ve even pre-ordered a book, which I haven’t done since I was a child.
Life Ever Crafting 
I’m really glad you’re learning to like and utilize your Kindle. It was difficult for me at first as well because I love the feeling of a proper book in my hands. Unfortunately many years ago I hurt my back very badly, and discovered that holding a proper book required too much muscle strength that I didn’t have. That’s when I learned to really appreciate my Kindle and the ability to just set it on a table in front of me and read.
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I think my biggest problem with my Kindle is that I can’t just randomly open a book at any point – I have to turn it on, pick a book, etc – whereas with my physical books I don’t have to think so much.
But it has its uses, and I’m glad I’ve found a way over the stumbling block of “I can’t read ebooks.”
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I love that my physical shelves aren’t bending anymore. That I can pre-order (no more missing out stuff!). That if I like an author or a series I can just buy instead of travelling around.
I do miss browsing at the local bookstore but as that’s a chain & very limited as to what it buys in physical format, I’m ok. I just wish Bezos wasn’t such a prick to his warehouse staff.
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It felt so odd to pre-order a book that I’d otherwise have to wait for the paperback! My shelves do still groan, though. I get a lot from charity shops. I agree about Bezos.
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