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Original poster

Kindle guilt

63 replies

sunshineandkindle · 08/01/2026 20:34

Now this could be my anxiety but I am feeling very guilty for not buying my books from bookshops anymore and instead using my kindle. I find holding a book painful (i have fibromyalgia) and have 100s of paperbacks some of which i will unlikely read now since using a kindle makes it painless as I have it hands free.
I realise writing this I do sound a little nuts. I just prided myself on buying books from my local independent bookshop and feel very guilty. Is anyone else in a similar situation?

OP posts:
SoSoLong · 08/01/2026 21:03

I love printed books, but I no longer buy them. I've got thousands of them and I've got no more space. But I don't get the love for independent bookshops and I never cared where my books came from.

ABeerInTheSunshineMakesMeHappy · 08/01/2026 21:01

I don’t eat chicken though .

Jc2001 · 08/01/2026 21:00

Big kindle reader here. No guilt. Things change and the world moves on.

ABeerInTheSunshineMakesMeHappy · 08/01/2026 21:00

I had always thought EReaders were better as it saves trees - but now I read that electronic storage is also a problem. Seems like you can’t win.

AliceAbsolum · 08/01/2026 20:58

Yes kindle, no to non free range chicken. It's fine op. Not your responsibility.

BeQuirkyMintScroller · 08/01/2026 20:57

It never ends OP!

I buy second hand books from world of books but feel guilty about not using my library 😂

You'd just find something else to feel guilty about

Cosyblankets · 08/01/2026 20:57

Kindle all the way for me.

No guilt at all

Wildflowerwonder · 08/01/2026 20:56

Wildflowerwonder · 08/01/2026 20:55

Last time I went into the teen fiction section of Blackwells to get my daughter a book with the hope of getting her back into reading it was literally wall to wall trans. Nothing else. Fuck em.

I do only ever buy free range chicken though. I’m not a total animal!

LOVE a good Indy book shop though and will always support it.

Wildflowerwonder · 08/01/2026 20:55

Last time I went into the teen fiction section of Blackwells to get my daughter a book with the hope of getting her back into reading it was literally wall to wall trans. Nothing else. Fuck em.

I do only ever buy free range chicken though. I’m not a total animal!

Ponderingwindow · 08/01/2026 20:54

I have the same feeling from time to time. I massively prefer my kindle. I find the sensory experience of many books unpleasant. If the paper is not exactly right, touching it annoys me and distracts from my reading pleasure. I was a very early kindle convert. Yet, I still feel a bit wrong for not buying physical books anymore.

CassandraWebb · 08/01/2026 20:37

I voted you are being unreasonable because I think you are being unreasonable to feel guilty if that makes sense?!

CassandraWebb · 08/01/2026 20:37

I am the same as you I rely on an eReader to read books because I have a condition that affects my strength and my vision.
I love real books though and I want to support bookshops. One thing that I do is buy people gifts of books for birthdays and Christmas etc. sometimes I even just surprise a family member or friend with a book I think they will enjoy.

BlueJuniper94 · 08/01/2026 20:35

I feel guilty about buying and eating chicken. I try not to think about it.