Confessions of a Kindle Convert
Physical books made me a writer, but ebooks made me a daring reader
When I mingle with an audience after I do a reading, I inevitably encounter at least one person who tells me, sheepishly, that they read my book on Kindle. They say it heavily, by way of a confession or an apology. This mystifies me. I am thrilled that anyone reads what I’ve published, and I’m absolutely agnostic about the format they choose. In fact, I do most of my reading on a Kindle.
Before I go further, I should say that I love physical books, and I absolutely love physical bookstores. Love them dearly. I owe my career to the support I’ve received from independent bookstores, which advocate for authors and lead readers to new and sometimes less-than-obvious choices of books. And still, I mostly read on my Kindle.
I never expected this to be the case, because the feel of a physical book was so delicious to me. But about ten years ago, when I was heading on a trip, I decided to try a Kindle just for the novelty of it. I loaded one book on it, and about a quarter of the way into the book (and the trip), I realized I didn’t like the book. There were no bookstores nearby. I was so new to the Kindle that it took me a while to realize I could order another book right off the machine itself. When it arrived, in an eye-blink, I was…
