Kindles worry me

[GreatNorthRoad]

It's the way books are "mine" and not for sharing.

Actually I don't have a Kindle, but DH does. As a teenager, when stuck for something to read, I would browse along my parents' (or siblings') bookshelves and pick something. Or at my Grandparents' house I wold do the same. It probably would be something different to I would have picked if I'd had a wider choice to choose something just for me iswim.

Same thing on holiday. Often rental properties will have a few of the owners' books. They might not be what I would usually read, but I've discovered some good books this way.

DH is gathering a biggish library on his Kindle, but I, DC, or any of our friends/guests are never going to read them.

DS1 is an avid reader, but he reads the same things over and over. The books he buys and that he asks people to buy for him are very similar and as the Kindle thing becomes more widespread there won't even be other books lying around for him to have a look at iyswim.

A concern or do I have too much time on my hands?1

[valiumredhead]

Ds always looks on my kindle for something to read.

[OddBoots]

I'm concerned too but for slightly different reasons - the book isn't actually yours, all that is yours is the licence to access it provided you meet certain conditions.

Having said that, I read an article last week that explained that the glue used in in the 50 Shades books make them un-recyclable and there is no market for them second hand so the waste of resources/landfill cost by that set of books is huge - I personally think that type of glue should be banned from use in books but kindles and the like could play a big part in stopping that happening again.

[MurderOfGoths]

Me and DH just use the same Amazon account, so we can access each others ebooks.

[GreatNorthRoad]

Ok,so it can work in immediate family, but vallium what happens if you've both got a book on the go, you have to agree shifts?

Murder, you and DH can share, but not a neighbour?

You're not likely to see a book at a friend's house and think that looks interesting, or pick up a book on holiday that you wouldn't usually consider, but read it anyway because there was nothing else.

[valiumredhead]

Yeah, same as a book, take it in turns to read. I quite often go and retrieve the kindle from the side of ds's bed at night

[NotQuiteCockney]

Two people can read the same book at the same time, in the same account, on different kindles. You have to be careful not to synch up your place.

Yes, it removes a lot of the 'opportunistic' finding of books. But - you can just try samples, for free, until you find something that agrees with you. I just keep lists of authors I want to try, and then get lots of samples.

I do worry about what happens when I die though ...

[Cheddars]

I have a kindle but if I want to read something like Black Beauty or Pride and Prejudice I always buy the hard copy for exactly your reason op.

I want my dc to explore new books and have access to literature without having to 'borrow' my kindle. Bookshelves are still very important in my view, and a list of titles on a screen just can't compete.

[NotQuiteCockney]

My children both have their own kindles. If I want to buy them new books, I just send them a lot of samples, and they pick what they want me to buy. There are upsides and downsides to any method.

[GreatNorthRoad]

Yes, but valium, if you were each reading a different book from your collection you could both read at the same time. Not so with one Kindle?

[ilovepowerhoop]

you can download the kindle app to your phone, computer or tablet and read a different book on that. DD is reading one of the books from my kindle account on her tablet and I am reading a different one on my kindle. DH is reading another different one on my old kindle.

[aliciaflorrick]

I have a kindle and the DCs share a kindle. I also share my kindle with DS1. So, at the moment DS2 is reading a David Walliams book on the DCs Kindle but DS1 has to read a book for school on my Kindle. I've put it on my Kindle for him because he's dyslexic so making the text bigger for him makes it easier to read, plus he's got access to the dictionary which he uses all the time.

I still buy them "proper" books like the Wimpy Kid books, we go to the library for books too.

We all still love to go to book shops though and have a look at what books could interest us and then download them. I love that feeling of being in a bookshop and being surrounded by loads of books.

But with my Kindle I will never be in the position where I'm on holiday and stuck for something to read, because I can always download another book. I'm in a book group as well which introduces me to different genres and writers that way.

You can share your Kindle collection between devices, so I have my kindle library on two kindles and an Ipad and different books from the collection are read at different times on each device, so it is possible to share.

[GreatNorthRoad]

That's my point though Alicia, if you're never stuck for something to read, you read the same kind of things all the time. Even if you make a deliberate effort to read widely, you will stick to the kinds of things you know you like.

[valiumredhead]

It's not a problem in this house, we never read at the same time.

We have books, we have a kindle, we all read that'd the main thing. In face I read tons more now I have the kindle.

[valiumredhead]

Typos-sorry!

That's
Fact

[EastwickWitch]

My kindle broke on the 2nd day of a 2 week holiday on a remote island.
I will always buy a few paperbacks just in case next time.
Please be warned, it almost ruined my holiday

[LEMisdisappointed]

Books and kindles in this house - I have a kindle touch and DD has a kindle fire, we use the same account so can access both.

[choccyp1g]

I agree with OP. I love to pass books on to friends and they pass on to me, and also buy lots from charity shops and return them to sell again.*

The kindle means you have to "buy" the book again for each person (or each household if you chare accounts)

*I do feel a bit guilty that the authors get no royalties for this, but justify it to myself that I occasionally buy new books by authors I wouldn't have discovered except for finding them in charity shops.

[LifeHuh]

Yes,it bothers me as well - i think of all the books I've loved and read through being desparate and reading whatever came to hand on my parents shelves, because a friend lent them to me,or by finding a book in a charity shop.Or the libary - I read loads of things I never would expect to like through browsing in the library.

The other problem with the Kindle(this may just be me!) is how easy it is just to read lots of samples - so you always have something to read but it is like sweets - nothing nutritious or long lasting...

I feel the same way about music.I can remember my mother talking about how a particular album brought back a stage of my teenage life,because she heard it so often at that time,and got to like it! I don't hear DD's music,or DH's except occasionally in the car,and they don't hear what I like - we listen on iPods,no shared experience.

[LifeHuh]

Oh - and a question - all you Kindle sharers - do you not have anything on your Kindles you don't want your DC's or DP to find??

Maybe that is just me as well,and I realise there is a long and honorable tradition of keen reading children reading all sorts of stuff because it just happened to be in the house/library!

(And I don't have anything awful on my Kindle - there are things I don't want to share with DS (13) though,and I don't always want the family to know every last thing I think about or read...)

[MurderOfGoths]

"if you're never stuck for something to read, you read the same kind of things all the time. Even if you make a deliberate effort to read widely, you will stick to the kinds of things you know you like"

Actually my kindle has encouraged me to read things I normally wouldn't, especially with all the free samples. Whereas if I buy hard copies of books I tend to play it safer.

[haggisaggis]

I have read a lot of different stuff I wouldn't usually read since I got the kindle. I tend to go to the free bestsellers list and pick a few things. If I find an author I like, I might buy some more.

[MerlinFromCamelot]

Another question, I intend to buy my DC's a kindle each for Xmas. Thinking about linking both kindles to the same account but keeping mine separate. Any tips/ advice very much appreciated.

Many thanks

[ilovepowerhoop]

you would need more than one amazon account then.

[GrrArgh]

We have Kindles and books. It's completely possible to buy good real books for future browsing (completely agree it's valuable) and also use a Kindle for other reading.

[NotQuiteCockney]

You can have your kindle and your kids' kindles on the same account, but not allow them to randomly grab books from the account - you can put parental controls on a kindle to stop them:

• buying books
• using the browser
• getting books from the purchased items

Each one of these can be set separately. So if you like, you can just send books to their kindles from the amazon website, rather than them grabbing whatever books they like.

I think separate accounts is a bad idea, because as they get bigger, your book choices are more likely to overlap.