KINDLE, THE NURSING HOME SURVIVAL TOOL

If you are not a book reader, this post will bore the wheels off your cart and you  should feel free to move on without reading. I will not be hurt and hopefully you will come back next week.

 Those of you who are readers will know what I am asking with these questions.  What makes you pick a book out of the kazillion in print?  Are you author loyal? Are you genre locked in? Do you rely on reviews? Do you trust completely a friends or family member's recommendation? Does the NY Times best seller list pick for you? Does the cover reel you in? I am just curious.   I am pretty much guilty of all of the above except genre. These days, I am pretty eclectic in subject matter.  

A cover can draw me immediately to a book for a closer look.  I am quickly drawn to orange back grounds or cool green ones. If there is a mountain, single tree, small boat or lake  scene on the cover, all the better. A dog will catch my immediate attention  but does not guarantee I will select it. 

The expression "so many books, so little time," really resonates with me these days. I have packed my Kindle (I  thank you once again Jan for that marvelous gift) with almost 500 "to be read" books and almost 200 that have been read. I really need to be more diligent taking my vitamins, watching my diet and exercising if I plan to make a serious dent in my stash. I am adding books faster than I am reading. 

Daily I hit the top 100 list at Amazon. Actually top 200 as there are two lists. One is for free books, the other list is priced for digital sale. I usually only scan the top 20 paid, then settle in seriously with the  top 100 free. As I zoom down the list, first the cover attracts, then the title, then the reviews, then if I am really interested, I click on "Look Inside" and read the first chapter. 

Easily 99.9% of my books come from the free list and there have only been just a couple that were sent to the trash pile. Most all are quite enjoyable due to my careful weeding.

Here at Amazon.

Above is my latest purchase that I am currently reading. The color of cover was pretty good (could have been a bit more orangey), the dog is adorable, and the title told me right off that no tears were going to screw up my sinuses. Yes!! Win-win so far.  The reviews were outstanding, the synopsis intriguing, and the  teaser pages were quite luring, so I bought. Sorry, this is not a free one.

It is the memoir of a woman and her Beagle that are both diagnosed with cancer. In so many ways I could relate. This could be a maudlin book but Teresa J. Rhyne writes with quirky humor which sealed the deal. I am really enjoying her style of writing. 

After that book, the next on my list is the free book (at least it was when I got it),  "Running Free", a memoir by Kate Allatt. Notice the cover color? Perfect.  I normally don't read a lot of memoirs but these two did instantly appeal.  Kate, a relatively young wife and mother, has a massive stroke and is locked in her body, only able to blink. This is a true story of recovery that I am anxious to read.  

To justify this personal library I have amassed, besides pure enjoyment, I consider my Kindle to be my nursing home survival kit.  That is of course assuming  I still have most of my marbles when I check in. If I don't have my marbles then I hope my Kindle goes to someone at the home who is marble endowed and can enjoy this collection. 

Two nursing home pluses.  I can adjust the size of the font as my eyes weaken and if my eyes are shot, the device will read aloud to me. Not sure what I will do if the ears go also. Hopefully both senses won't leave me or if they do, my mind will have also gone and I won't care. Nursing home, I fear you not.

I know some of you who love to read are purists and only want the real thing to hold in your hands. I truly use to be like that. The look of books lining a shelf still gives me pleasure and a feeling of comfort.  The heft of a book and actual smell still appeals strongly.  

However--- the fact that my almost 500 to-be-read library rests neatly in a small 5X7 package on my night stand gives me even greater pleasure. That the clever, easy to hold, device always remembers my place and shuts itself off when I fall asleep while reading is a HUGE  plus. To me, this device ranks right up with the Internet as one of  the greatest inventions of my time.   

Have you gone over to the dark side (Kindleville) yet??