I’ve Joined the Dark Side

I never wanted an e-reader.

During my 10+ year career at Borders, we tried to move into the e-reader market, unsuccessfully for the most part. Amazon, of course, cornered the market, with Barnes & Noble another big player. In fact, the rise of e-readers sold elsewhere was a big contributor to me losing my job and Borders – to whom I always remained loyal – eventually closing for good last year.

I never wanted an e-reader.

To get one would have been contributing to Borders’ downfall, and besides, I really didn’t want one – I love physical books so much, and couldn’t imagine liking an e-reader. And besides, you can’t really read one when you’re taking a nice long bubble bath, can you?

I never wanted an e-reader.

But I got one.

Tim got me a Kindle Touch for Christmas. Adam knew he had gotten it, and one day at lunch, Adam said to me, “Mom, would you ever want a Kindle?” I replied, “I NEVER want an e-reader of any kind!.” Oops – I could tell by the look on Adam’s face that Tim had gotten me just that for Christmas.

The day we before we were planning to exchange Christmas presents, Tim confirmed that he had gotten me a Kindle and said that if I didn’t want it, he’d take it back and not even give it to me.

I thought about it and said, “What the heck. I’ll give it a whirl!”

And guess what? By the end of the day, I loved it! I’ve been reading more since I got the Kindle than I have in ages. And Adam loves it, too – he borrows it most nights at bedtime and falls asleep reading it. (I predict a Kindle of his own at some point in the future, depending on how his grades go.)

Thank goodness our library participates in an e-book service. It’s waaaay to easy to purchase a book while sitting on the couch and literally be able to read it instantly! Way too tempting.

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Saturday 9

(Stealing from The Gal again!)

Saturday 9: Home1. Do you live close to where you grew up? Why? Well, I live about half-way between the city where we lived until I was 13 and the city we moved to when I was 13. Why? Never had a strong urge or reason to move from the area, and I like being close enough to visit my family whenever but not close enough for drop-in visits. 😉

2. Have you ever been so angry that you almost lost control? Most certainly.I have three kids, after all.

3. Are you a fan of a musical act that slightly embarrasses you? I’ve been a huge fan of the Monkees since I re-discovered them during their 1985 revival. (I say “rediscovered” them because I clearly remember watching reruns of their show in the mid-70s.) I even went to see them in concert three times in the 80s.

4. Is there a movie that always makes you cry? West Side Story. My friends and I saw it on the big screen in college (we weren’t in college in the 60s – it was part of a classic movies series). I sobbed during the movie and the whole walk home. My friends thought I was hilarious, of course, but I still cry whenever I see the movie.

5. Who is the most famous person that you’ve met? Hmm, James Patterson, probably. Or maybe John Lithgow. Or astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space? I met a lot of famous people (though always very briefly) during my career at Borders.

6. Before you leave your home, what must you have? Beyond the obvious (keys, purse, cell phone) I always have to have a cherry Avon Flavor Savers lip gloss in my pocket.

7. What do you miss the most about being a kid? Sleeping in.These days, sleeping until 8 am feels luxurious.

8. Tell us about a passion of yours that your readers would not expect. Eh, everyone knows about my passion.

9. At what age do you think you’d be to think, “I’ve had a great run”? Whatever age I am right before I expire.

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WWW Wednesday

A nice, quick little thing I stole from The Gal.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading? Port Mortuary, by Patricia Cornwell. (I’ll steal this comment from Gal as well:  Patricia Cornwell and I have a love/hate relationship. I’m so fond of Kay Scarpetta that I keep returning to the series, even though I’m invariably disappointed by her later efforts.)

• What did you recently finish reading? The Secret Lives of Hoarders by Matt Paxton (“extreme cleaning specialist” from the TV show Hoarders). Actually very interesting and enlightening. And I’ve been on a bit of a cleaning tear since reading it, of course.

• What do you think you’ll read next? Mystery: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman. I first discovered the Alex Delaware books when I was working at Schuler Books 18 (gulp!) years ago. I’m catching up on the latest one (as well as the latest Patricia Cornwell/Kay Scarpetta books) now that I’ve got my Kindle. Looking forward to reading this one.

I liberated this from Kwizgiver via The Gal. But if you want to play along yourself, you should click here.

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