Now that I drew you in, don’t kill me. I love real books. The smell, turning the pages. All of it. But seriously, the only way I can read a book in a reasonable amount of time is in the form of an E-book. I dabble a little on Goodreads and saw they were doing a reading challenge at the beginning of the year. I wanted to set a big goal and see if I could make it. I settled on 52 books and by the end of the year I had read more than that. I did have to set aside Candy Crush and a few of my fave TV shows have gone by the wayside, so 2018 was a perfect storm for me to hit that goal. If you’re anything like me though, you’re very busy and don’t feel like you have time to read. That may be true, but here are my 3 main reasons why E-books are the way to go.
1. You will always have your book with you. If you’re like 77% of the American population you have a smart phone. If that’s the case and you take your phone everywhere then you will always have a book available. The Kindle app is free for Apple and android users so you can download it on either type of phone. I also have the app downloaded on my iPad so I’m doubly protected. This makes waiting in line for anything a little more bearable when you can just click a button and your book pops up. My kids have practices and games galore, so I have plenty of extra time where I can’t be “busy” at home so I can take that extra time to read a few pages.
2. Books are *mostly* free and easily accessible. Do you have a library card? If so, you can enjoy thousands (if not millions) of e-books for free. An added bonus is you will NEVER have late fees. Can I get a hallelujah?! That is a major bonus for me because I can’t ever seem to get books or movies returned on time. On top of access online from a computer there are 2 apps that the Wichita and Derby libraries have that you can find and borrow e-books that will deliver straight to your device. It is so convenient. In addition to the free books you can get from the library, there are books where the copyright has expired and are available for free download. These more focus on older classics and every year the list grows! Finally, there are several websites that offer free or inexpensive e-books. Most of the time you receive an email every day with a list of books at discounted prices. You usually can go online to specify the types of books you want to see and they will send you in those genres. Sometimes the books aren’t good but other times you might find a diamond in the rough.
3. You will never lose your place. I love the fact that if something happens and I have to quickly stop reading I just touch the top of my device and an electronic bookmark saves my place. It literally is one of the best inventions ever! I can’t keep a bookmark to save my life and I hate to be the girl that dog ears a page, so I’m always trying to save to memory the chapter I’m on and hope I can remember the next time I want to start reading again. With an e-book you never have to worry about it again!
An added bonus is that you can link your Kindle app to your Goodreads account and it will keep track of the books you’ve read. You can set books as read, reading or to-read and you can come back at any time to review your list. One less sticky note to carry around. If you haven’t tried it but love to read, I suggest you download the Kindle app and one from your nearest library. This will get you started on the fastest track to starting your own reading challenge!
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