Christa recently wrote about how she as Kindle curious, and asked me, in an email, what I thought about the Kindle, eBooks and the like. I promptly composed this 800-word treatise, and then sent her an abridged version. Since I’ve never gone “on the record” with my feelings on this divisive subject, I thought it was time.

I get asked a lot about Kindles and eBooks and I kind of give the same patent answer, “I’m not there yet.”

I don’t know when I’ll be there and I can’t even quite articulate why I’m not ready. I gave up CDs pretty quickly when the iPod came out and now get actively annoyed when I have to buy a CD/record for some reason or other (like the ones The Current gives out to people who donate, just send me a download, you know?). I love not having that plastic clutter around. Most of my CDs now live in a giant Amazon box that’s sitting on my kitchen floor. It’s like a time capsule — a perfect plastic embodiment of music from about 1992 – 2004.

Plus, I’ve always been a singles person. I used to buy 45s by the boatload when I was a teenager. I’ve always been, much to the annoyance of everyone I know, a shuffler — be it radio station, CD, or iPod. I get bored with a song half-way through and I’m on to something new. iPods totally catered to that urge of mine.

I’m not sure why, but for some reason I think if I gave up CDs so easily I should be able to do the same with books. But I can’t. Maybe it’s because I’ve never had the need or urge to have every book I’ve ever read at my fingertips.

I think the biggest reason I haven’t made the switch is that I really don’t want to invite another screen into my life. Between my iPhone and my laptop and the TV I spend a majority of my day in the unnatural glow of some electronic device. . . sometimes, I’m ashamed to admit, all three at the same time. So when I turn to a book, it’s like shutting all that down. I turn my back on the eWorld and settle into some other place. It’s nice to turn your back on all of it for a little while. 

Plus, I know myself and if I decided to go eBook, I wouldn’t settle for a Kindle. I’d shell out $500 for an iPad and then I’d always be in front of a computer always, always, always, and that would suck. I have a pretty strict rule against computers/TVs/alarm clocks in the bedroom. This has more to do with the fact that I’ve suffered from insomnia my entire life than being some sort of electronic puritan. Since getting that crap out of my bedroom I sleep much better. I keep my iPhone on the floor next to my bed (for when I need an alarm) but I hardly ever use it. Bed time = book time for me.

Finally, I really like books. I like the heft of them and the feel of them. Unlike music which you consume through your ears with the actual media that holds what you’re consuming in some player (and even when you go see a band the music is separate from you), books are the thing you consume. Books you hold next to you. Reading a book is an intimate, sensual act. It’s probably why we all ogle people reading books in public, like were peeping in on something we shouldn’t be seeing.

Then there’s the fact that I’m a collector. I love my books. I love looking at them and when I see the spines of certain titles I sigh and think, “Oh, I remember reading that book” or “I love that book.”

When I look at my collection I remember how I got that hard cover of A Prayer for Owen Meany at the Barnes & Noble in the Oakwood Mall for like $5. Or when I scooped up a copy of Aimee Bender’s The Girl in the Flammable Skirt at Half-Price books in Apple Valley, and promptly spilled Diet Coke all over it the moment I got home. And even in the age of Amazon (which I feel I am supposed to loathe, but don’t) I still look at those books and remember how they came into my life. Oh look, there’s Arthur Phillips’ The Song is You which I would have never gotten if Christa hadn’t liked it so much.

I can’t imagine ever looking at my Kindle or Nook or iPad and having it stir up memories of certain stories for me. I never look at Enid, my laptop, sigh dreamily, and think “wow the reminds me of a really good post I read.”

I figure someday, soon I’m sure, I’ll be like that person who collects and listens to vinyl. . . saying how the experience of reading an actual book is better because of the cover art and whatever other reasons they give for vinyl’s superiority.

There’s lots of avid readers who are in love with their Kindle/Nook/iPad, I just figure they have a different relationship with books than I have. You know?