Kindle Vs. Bookstore

       "One thousand three hundred thirty two," I declare triumphantly to my household members. "It took forever but I finished counting my precious book collection." I then noticed my hubby had his own triumphant look about him. "Did you count the boxes under the bed?" Danny giggled knowing the answer. "No!" I sulked and turned back to add those forgotten souls to the head count.

        It was not the counting of the books that took me so desperately long to complete. Instead it was with each favorite title I counted that I found myself opening it to a favorite passage as though I was visiting an old and dear friend. Also while I counted my collection, there was a pang of guilt. I had been neglecting my old friends. Dust bunnies were noshing on my gardening books. My childhood copy of Charlotte's Web had an authentic cob web draped across the corner. The books had been abandoned and neglected due to a new flame in my life, the Kindle.

        My traditional paper and ink books were still nice. They did have the upper hand in their beautiful full color illustrations. Most of the books in my library are first editions and quite a few are signed by famous authors. I currently have 22 highly prized centurion books which have fine bindings of leather and golden guilt edges. I still have my first novel that I read in the first grade.

       Even with all these fine attributes, the old world books were having a hard time measuring up to my new high-tech e-reader. I was not trying to get rid of my collection of books or replace them. The main reason for the Kindle purchase according to my husband "We have no more walls for bookcases!" My Kindle boasts a bookcase large enough for 1600 books. It can play mp3s, browse the internet (for free) and post my favorite book passages to Twitter and Facebook. If I am reading an ancient novel from a couple centuries ago and come across an archaic word, I can highlight it in my Kindle and it will go directly to Dictionary.com for the meaning.All done without turning on a computer or opening a paper dictionary.

       On July 19 2011, the PCBdaily.com posted that all Borders bookstores were set to close down for good. People were spending less money in bookstores so it follows that people are going to lose their jobs. As I was reading the article on my Kindle, it hit me. I'm the one who made Borders go bankrupt. Well, maybe not that far; however, I had unintentionally played a part. I sat there staring at my Kindle while thinking about Borders claim that E-readers and a bad economy among other things had brought the giant bookstore to its knees. But, I wondered how much that I had personally contributed to the bankruptcy of Borders. Then I realized that I was the perfect candidate to check Borders hypothesis. From 2007 to 2008, I purchased 161 traditional books from Borders.com and our local Borders bookstore. In 2009 the number of books bought from our local Borders bookstore had dropped to 14 because I had downloaded 139 books on my new Kindle instead. In 2010, I purchased only 9 books from Borders and 133 books for my Kindle. So far in 2011, I have bought 7 books(all from the Borders liquidation sale) and 48 books for my Kindle. No my reading has not declined this year, I am just taking alot of classes this year! Looking back at the past five years, my book buying habits have changed significantly. With the economy being as bad as it is and today's hectic schedules, it is just cheaper and more convenient to download an entire book in less than 60 seconds than it is to burn expensive gas and precious time to drive to the bookstore.