I know you are all on the edge of your seats wondering how I’m coping with a Kindle?

No. I thought not. I’m going to tell you anyway.

Anyway I have been using it now for nearly a week which I suppose is enough time for trial purposes. I don’t like it and I like it.

I don’t like it because I have to handle it carefully as a slipped finger can result in my shooting backwards or forward through the pages. That touch screen is really fucking sensitive. Also it’s a bit dodgy if I want to keep referring back to a particular page such as a map, an index or a list of characters. I know that function is something I would very rarely need but I find it frustrating sometimes to be stuck on the last page that I’m reading. With a book, I can stick a finger or bookmark in the map/index/characters page while I carry on reading the main stuff. Maybe there’s a way around this but I haven’t found it yet.

It also lacks the comfortable feel of a book. New books have a lovely smell and there is something about turning pages which haven’t been turned before. Even the sound of flicking through pages is a happy sound.

One thing I love about books is the bookcase. A shelf full of books is a pleasing sight, and it’s nice to be able to glance along the titles and admire the colours and even how thick each book is. I haven’t yet found away to stack electronic files on a bookcase to give the same effect. Browsing the Kindle just gives bland grey cover images which aren’t very inspiring.

But I like it for many reasons.

First and foremost, if I fall asleep while reading I don’t lose my place. It just quietly goes to sleep too, waiting for me to wake up again. A bit like the dog?

Probably the biggest advantage is knowing that I can never ever run out of reading matter. In the past, I would ration myself partly to avoid too many trips to the library and also because I knew I had read most of the stuff in the library anyway. Now I can order a book and read it straight away. I am no longer tied to the library’s erratic opening times or their limited supply [I know I can order books but that takes ages]. Equally, if I order books online I have to wait for them to arrive which can take a while [and can be quite expensive]. I am now in a position where I could read for sixteen hours a day for the rest of my life without ever running out of material.

I’m still messing around with it. I think I have discovered most of its abilities. I even got it to read books to me via my laptop but that’s an experience I would rather forget. I have discovered how to order books or download free ones. I have also discovered how to create my own reading material.

I might even have a go at converting, uploading and reading the old book what I writ.

I can remind myself just how bad it was.