My Love Affair with a Kindle -or- Bibliosmia and the Beach

Bibliosmia definition: The smell of a good book. I’m not for certain if it has to be a good book … if you ask me, all books smell amazing. The fragrance of knowledge and adventure. Just walk into Barnes & Noble or BAM and inhale. I rest my case. All right, there is the aroma of coffee to be considered, because nothing compares to the tantalizingly intermingled scents of coffee AND books. It’s like a drug, a really fantastical drug, a high that inspires and revs my engines. I hope they don’t outlaw it.

For this reason, I resisted even considering a Kindle or a Nook. It saddened me, the notion of giving up the feel of a book, the perfume of pages being turned while curled up on the couch. Then there’s the seductive image of book stacks on the coffee table begging to be opened, or a cozy bookshelf in your home decorated with all your favorite reads.

Then I acquired an i-Pad and downloaded the Kindle app. The convenience appealed to me. Not only could I purchase & download a book from the comfort of home, but it was always there waiting for me, along with as many titles as I chose to accumulate. All within the size of my i-Pad. Wherever I took my i-Pad … work, appointments, camping or vacation, a library of books accompanied me. But it still wasn’t a replacement for a real book. No. I was merely dallying with the notion.

And then one day I took my i-Pad to the beach. I had it safely encapsulated inside one of those bulky Otterbox waterproof cases that you need big muscles and an iron pry bar to get off. The salt, sand & water weren’t going to mess with my i-Pad, by God! Sadly, I couldn’t see the darn screen in the light of the day. No matter what angle I held it at, no matter how deeply I shrunk underneath the umbrella, the screen was unreadable. I should’ve known. It was just like my phone, nearly impossible to see while in the bright light of day. Dang-it. So I tucked my i-Pad back into the beach bag and went to play in the water instead. Okay, I still had fun, but at the same time decided a real book the only option for the beach. Or anyplace outdoors for that matter.

Then I ran across this mysterious object called a Kindle Paperwhite. I did some research and learned that the Paperwhite is readable in any light. Glare isn’t going to stop it. And, it advertised now being available waterproof. Was I really considering purchasing a Kindle, after all my stubborn refusal back in the day to even consider it? Blasphemous! I supposed the occasional e-book on an i-Pad was forgivable, I could always go back to the other side. But once I purchased a Kindle, it was pretty much like admitting defeat.

I purchased the Kindle. (Sliding on sunglasses and whispering) And, seriously, I’ve fallen in love with it! Don’t tell my significant other, but yes, it’s a pretty hot affair at this point. I can drop it into my purse and off I go. Anywhere. Grandma’s house. Even the BEACH! The size is more like a book than my i-Pad was. The screen has this non-glare texture, and Paperwhite technology is much more comfortable for my poor eyes. And it’s so easy to download whatever I want. No hopping back and forth between the Amazon purchase page and the Kindle app, navigating, selecting, downloading. It all happens with the touch of a finger.

To sum it all up, I still have a bad case of bibliosmia and will never give up ‘real’ books. Just ain’t gonna happen. Kinda like I’ll never give up the beach and the great outdoors. But this obsession with my Kindle is a one-of-a-kind love affair that isn’t going to sputter out anytime soon.

Until next time … keep on reading, lovelies! xo