Why This Girl Will Never Buy a Kindle (Or Digital Book)

Imagine this: you love acim and the whole experience of “books.” Going to the book store, picking out a crisp, clean book off the shelf (or ordering from a discounted price on-line), cracking the cover open, the smell of the page, a special bookmark, the whole happy experience. Then, the Kindle arrives. None of the above happens. Nothing. Sure there are many positives about the Kindle or an iPad (reading a book on-line), which I can see, but imagine a life (or a home), without books? Digital books only? Dull and flat. Either way, the Kindle is NOT for me, or countless friends and associates I speak with. I am not alone here.

Why the backlash? It’s not exactly a backlash vs. a “not even an option” for me. The catch is simple yet complex: I live for and love books and being an artist and fashion person, I buy tons of art and fashion type books, big books with big colorful illustrations! Therefore how could this be captured in a *gasp* Kindle or digital book that you cannot touch, smell, feeling that cracking when you first open it? Whether it be a novel or a big colorful art book, nothing about a digital book can capture all the joy a real book brings. The internet and all the on-line everything is good for many things, BUT NOT ALL. You can take away the cd for me, I get it I supposed, gone goes the collecting of that too. But this girl will never buy a Kindle!

First, I’m not worried about the space saving aspect of books on my book shelf or coffee table. I welcome it and put them even on the bathroom vanity and nightstand. They are part of my home décor, and show who I am and what I like. I’m not a digital machine therefore I don’t wish to be reflected like that in any way shape or form. (You took my cds; you’re not taking my books!) Books are a classic and make you look and feel chic and classic. Once they are read and upon a shelf, you almost feel a sense of accomplishment. I do. That’s gone with a *gulp* digital-anything.

Then there’s the true book experience; meeting the author. I absolutely love going to book signings in New York City or wherever I happen to be. I thrive on the many authors I have met and would never part with my collection. They don’t read a short excerpt from a Kindle, they read to you from a book! Is an author going to sign the back of your Kindle? No. It’s an honor to have met them, show my friends and proudly display these on my bookshelves. Being a magazine-addict; the collecting, or light collecting (not a pack rat here!) and the proud display and feeling of accomplishment of reading them all is beyond wonderful. Having them signed by the author; priceless.

What happens if your library when the Kindle crashes? Books don’t “crash.” Or, if it breaks. Books don’t break either. I guess it doesn’t matter if you have already read the book. And, how do you pass it on to a friend to also enjoy? How do you see and enjoy the big colorful illustrations? How do you see Andy Warhol’s prints or deKoonings images on a Kindle? How on earth can you capture Alexander McQueen’s fashion icon book with the cover holograph of the skull on a machine? The novels…I love the page turning (not sliding), and bending a rabbit ears on my old Twilight novels. Granted it’s the digital era and for the most part it’s fabulous, but digital books to I guess, save space. No way Jose!

In conclusion, (for now); the bookshelves, the accomplishment, the signings, the smell and feel, not to mention the big colorful artistic and fashionable illustrations in the books and so much more — this is just the beginning of my rant “for” books. Not “against” digital books, per say. I try to find the positives in life, usually. I find a ton in real books, fewer in Kindles or digital books. Books are classic and iconic and have so much to offer. Again saving space and packing 2,000 books on a tiny machine is not thrilling for me. Nothing beats cracking open a real book and proudly displaying it on my coffee table, signed.