What's the Opposite of an Early Adopter?...

Me and Shiv have so much in common.

Oooh it's hard to admit you're wrong, innit. I usually find I am right about everything so it's rarely an issue for me. (LOLZ). But here we are. I've come to realise I've had a big change of heart about something, and it's odd. I'm having to rethink everything from scratch. Both disconcerting and liberating all at once. A brave new world is there for the taking. I'm going in.

Reader, I'm talking about e-readers. Yes, that's the life and death issue that I've been grappling with. To Kindle or not to Kindle? That is the question. You see I've been against them for as long as they've been around, and now... well not so much.

Someone is staring at
you in Personal Growth.

We can't lose bookshops because
then one of the best lines from
this film won't work anymore.

We all know the arguments from back in the day; paper books feel better, curling up with a good book doesn't work when holding a screen, high street bookshops will suffer. I still feel all those sentiments, especially the last one. The loss of Borders is right up there with all my bereavements (sorry Grandma*) and so I never buy books from supermarkets or online bookshops. When a book is published that I want to read, I drive into town, and go to Waterstones, or an indie bookshop if they're stocking it. That's been my rule for ages. I also want the author to be paid their royalties so I don't buy new releases second hand. 

Except now I see things differently. Due to my exceptional hypocrisy - I don't buy books on the biggest online book store, but I sell my own books on there - I know a bit about royalties. Authors tend to get paid more for ebook sales than paper ones. They are much cheaper to buy but there are way less costs. So an ebook sale works out well for the writer. Then there's the bit about reading pleasure. Not sure when, but over the last decade or so, I've found myself reading significantly less than I used to. It might be because I decided I'll only buy books after a half hour drive into the nearest city. Or it might be because the time I used to spend reading fiction, is now taken up with Twitter. Probably that to be honest. I've never been so politically informed than I am right now, but I've never read so little fiction at any point in my life.

Fans of my monthly newsletter (subscribe in the subscribe box above!) will see I list three things I've read every month. These are rarely three books. Usually there's a long read article, or a tweet thread. Something bite-sized like that. Yet ten years ago, when I was teaching full time, I would see off a novel a week. Again, that was BT. (Before Twitter.) 

I know what books I mean,
even if the title and author
details are sketchy in my notes.

So here we are. It's Christmas time. My sister got my name in the family Not-Secret-Santa-Draw and asked me what I wanted. I decided to take the leap, and in the binary opposite of an early adopter, finally asked to be Kindled up.

I'm actually excited. I've made a list of books I would not have got around to buying if I didn't have a Kindle. That way no bricks and mortar bookshop will lose the sale. And I'm determined that I will keep up the effort. I have to read more than I currently do. If I don't read I can't write. That's just science. 2020 is going to be the year I get back to losing myself in books. I still plan to buy paper versions of things I am really excited to read, but alongside that I'll have the stuff I've taken a chance on. The stuff that will fill train journeys and sleepless nights. That's the plan anyway. Subscribe to the newsletter (get the weekly blog thrown in too) and you'll be able to check whether I stick to my word. 

Have a lovely week, folks.

*OBVS I am joking.