I want a Kindle and a really big book shelf. Why both, do you ask? It is because I love to read (even if it means re-reading some of my favorite books more times than I read new books). There are reasons that I want both though.
Let’s start with the Kindle. The Kindle is an e-reader that was launched by Amazon in 2007. It has evolved over the years (quite like Pokémon) and gotten better. As of now there are two basic versions of Kindle on sale. There is the basic Kindle, which uses E Ink for display of text. It is Wi-Fi enabled and has 2 GB onboard storage. One can use the Wi-Fi capabilities to read books off Amazon’s cloud storage as well. In itself it is a nifty device and one can use its buttons to change pages, books, and navigate.

The advanced form of the Kindle is the Paperwhite (which comes in two variants: Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G). It has ‘Paperwhite’ built in display which simulates the print on a white paper, and moves on to a touch screen for navigation. It is much better to change pages with the flick of your finger than clicking on a button. It too, has a 2 GB on board storage and access to cloud via Wi-Fi/3G.

One of the key advantages of the Kindles is that you get to carry your library with you. You can easily store about 100 books on them, and access more via the cloud. A number of classics are available to download for free. You can read bits of any of your books as and when you need, or read a book after the other on one of those long trips without having to lug the weight of many books. The Kindles have a wonderful battery life as well, with the Kindle having up to 1 month and the Kindle Paperwhite having up to 8 weeks of battery life.

As far as the bookshelf goes, it is part storage for my books and part sentimental value. I have quite a few books which occupy half of my cupboard (since I don’t have a book shelf). Some of them are packed in two layers of polythene and kept on the storage area just below the ceiling. I would like all those books to be released from their confines and spend time in the open. Where I can pick them up at my whims, even the text books which I harbor from my college days. It would be like giving them a proper place (apart from the place they hold inside me). Some of the books are those with which I have a physical memory, of them growing old with the increasing number of times I spent reading them.

So there you go, I want a Kindle and a really big book shelf for the practical and sentimental aspects of my love of reading.

Written for Day 2 of the Write tribe Festival of words