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

[mummytime]

In my family.
DH has a Kindle on his account. His books are mainly in langauges other than English - the rest of us tend not to borrow.

I have a Kindle, as do DS and DD1. DD1 and DD2 also have access to Kindle on their ipods, I also have it on my iphone. We all share one Amazon account. Their kindles have parental controls activated so they can't buy without my say so.
They only tend to get books when I push them onto their Kindles.
Ds and I have read the same book at the same time, we just had to be careful not to synch. On the other hand another book I read on both my iphone and Kindle, and I synched all the time.

We also have lots of books.

If I had a good local bookshop I would browse, but I don't have that luxury (Waterstones killed our good bookshops, and is nothing like it used to be). I do buy more books as ebooks are often so cheap.

[tywysogesgymraeg]

JonesH - I have the basic keyboard kindle, and it's fine. It's not possible to use it to surf the interweb or anything though. You access the kindle bookstore, and select books to download to it - quite easy.

[tywysogesgymraeg]

That is exacty my point about Kindles!! Yes, it's much easier to take as many books as you like on holiday, but only you can read them - unless you want to loan out your Kindle, and read nothing yourself.
In the good old days, we all took a few books each (DDs are old enough to share books with us), and swap around when we'd finished our "own" books.
DH bought me a Kindle for my birthday last year - even though I'd said quite strongly several times that I thought they were a stupid idea and couldn't see the point (he thought I'd change my mind when I saw it).

I think there is a way of sharing, but you can only share with someone else who has a Kindle. Most of my friends don't, and we share books round a whole group of us.

I also feel that everytime I do download a book to Kindle, that I have personally put a nail in the coffin of the local bookshop, and hate myself for days after.

[JonesH]

are they relatively easy to set up? I'm not sure why but they don't seem so straightforward! I want to purchase one for my mother although she's very pro a good old book, so not sure how she will respond to new technology. Also is it necessary to get the newer versions that are in HD or is the basic kindle good enough if it's just for reading purposes?

[marissab]

There's good and bad sides to it. I love my kindle but i worry that my kids won't have the pleasure of a good book shop. I worry that when i die, my kids may not be able to inherit my kindle books. And one of my best holidays was a week of miserable weather in scotland. In the cottage was a battered copy of chocolat, which i would never have bought myself. I sat watching the rain in a window seat and devoured that book :D

[grabaspoon]

My mum has a kindle app on her tablet signed into my account so she reads her kindle and can also access my books if she uses her tablet

[LifeHuh]

I read my Kindle in the bath,bymoonlight! Just not when I'm tired....

[bymoonlight]

I don't have a kindle.

I use the libary so I return the books each week and don't have books lying around the house.

Your argument could a be a reason for shutting every libary in the country. Its daft.

Most of my books come from recomendations, I use twitter, newspapers and many other sources to find new books. I am an avid fast reader, I read new books, old books, fact and fiction.

I don't need to have other peoples books lying around to do this. I compile a list and work my way through that list depending on whats in stock in the libary. Much the same as I would do with a kindle, except it wouldn't be free and I wouldn't have to wait for books.

I don't have the time to browse in the libary so I use a list and am in and out within minutes.

I don't need to browse books, I need to browse book reviews. I actually think this would be easier on the Kindle because of the samples.

I would buy a kindle if it wasn't for the fact that reading in the bath is one of lifes greatest pleasures.

[sashh]

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.

Or on a phone, or on a tablet

[CoteDAzur]

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

Get a Kindle for yourself and share everything in his Kindle, free of charge.

[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.

[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.

[ilovepowerhoop]

you would need more than one amazon account then.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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...)

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[valiumredhead]

Typos-sorry!

That's
Fact

[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.

[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.

[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.