Until recently, I never seriously considered using an e-reader of any sort. When editing my writing, I'd print off chapter after chapter to edit the work with a pen instead of trying to read it on the screen. Then I switched to an iMac. Miraculously, I could read my work without straining my eyes. I soon stopped printing off my chapters.
Fast forward a bit, and I opened this blog for review requests. Unsurprisingly, many self-published and small press authors who request reviews send digital files, which I dutifully read on my iMac. After a while, I thought maybe I should try a Kindle. I had read Show, Don't Tell by Sandra Gerth on my son's Kindle Fire and found the experience pleasant enough. Still, I prevaricated for a year, perhaps more, before I received a Kindle as a gift.
Talk about the best gift ever!
There are scads of reasons I absolutely love reading on my Kindle.
First off, it's so darn easy on the eyes. I can read it with zero eye strain, and I can increase the font size if I want.
I like to read while I'm exercising on the glider machine at YMCA. Reading books on the machine is often awkward because the ledge to rest your book on can't easily accommodate a good length novel. This problem disappears with the Kindle, which fits easily.
I can read in bed without turning on a light!
The Kindle is lighter and easier to carry around than most books.
And those eARCs people send me, I can read those on my Kindle now instead of my computer.
Of course, there is Kindle Unlimited, which I am still in the free trial period. I don't know if I will continue the subscription because I doubt I'll read enough Kindle Unlimited books to justify the cost. Having said that, I lucked out with my trial subscription because the entire Murderbot series—a must-read for sci-fi fans, BTW— is on Unlimited, and I read all of them. I'm now all caught up for Martha Wells's next release in the series.
I also tried out Terms of Enlistment, which I found meh. The author has several excellent plot twists that epitomize showing instead of telling, which impressed me. However, I couldn't get past the fact the main character referred to his peers, the poor and downtrodden of Earth, as welfare rats.
The first book I read on the Kindle is the excellent YA From Brick and Darkness. Right now, I'm reading Crossfire by Fonda Lee, the second installment in her engrossing EXO duology. Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever go back to reading the dead tree editions of books, at least with regularity.
I'm also interested in checking out e-books from the local library using the Libby App. I'm a massive fan of this app (although the interface isn't the most intuitive) because it allows me to check out audiobooks from the library.
Anyway, I wonder why I didn't start reading on a Kindle sooner.