Kindle and kindle books vs actual books.

[MannequinsArePeopleToo]

Thought I'd have a look on Amazon at the Kindle range was about to press 'buy' when I decided to read some of the reviews. The ones which shocked me and has made me think twice is that the price of some ebooks is now equal to actual paperbacks. Actually ALL the books on my Amazon wish list are the same price on Kindle as they are in paper form. I'm disappointed. It wasn't always like that, I had one of the earlier Kindles and it was good because books were cheaper and there instantly (win-win).
My local/county library isn't great stock-wise and there's always a wait.

So basically, all I'd get for my money is a reader that allows me the experience of 'paper' like reading with night reading and other fancy gizmo stuff like font size etc?
Are they worth it? I want them to be but I fear they aren't. Are they?

There is another thread "what tech is good for reading" which may give you a broader sense of what is out there and the experience. Sorry I don't know how to link

I don't have a dedicated Kindle, I have a Samsung notebook from which I can access Libby from my local library which is free and then I buy the odd £0.99 Kindle for the Kindle App on the notebook.

I find a good selection Libby and you can request books just the same as library books but sometimes license's get in the way and they won't buy the e-version

I use Libby as our local library is a pain to get to and then park.

I don't know if you can access Libby on your Kindle - hopefully someone else can answer that for you. There is another library app - I think it's called Boxdrop?

I rarely use my Kindle these days.

@Purplebunnie yes just found it thank you!

Can you say what's changed your use?

I have used kindles for years and love them as they are lighter than a book to hold in bed and I can download a book in seconds.
I pay monthly for Kindle Unlimited as an avid reader it it is well worth the fee. I also occasionally buy other kindle books but not often .

I've also noticed the gradual price rise on Kindle books but I do use my Kindle a lot for travel, as it's such a space saver. I also like the adjustable font, because it means I can read without my glasses. I dislike the fact that I'm tied to Amazon for ebooks. My daughter has a Kobo, they try to prove match Amazon on deals and she can download her library books and read them on there.

I love my kindle and use it daily. I also read lots of physical books - it doesn’t have to be one or the other.

Whether a kindle is worth it for you depends when and how you’re likely to use it. I use my kindle for the following:

• commuting (saves carrying a heavy book and if I finish something I can move straight on to the next)
• holidays (I read a book a day on holiday and definitely don’t want to carry that many physical books!)
• in bed when DH wants to go to sleep - the kindle is backlit so I can turn the light out and still read and it doesn’t disturb him
• any time when you’ve only got one hand free - I wish I’d had one when DD was born as it would have been ideal for feeding times when I couldn’t manage holding her and turning pages of a paperback!

Kindles also save space - I read a lot and if I had physical copies of everything I would not have room for me in the house. I do still buy physical copies of the books I really love, but for many things I’m prepared to wait until they’re cheap on kindle. There are daily and monthly deals and books usually drop in price once they’ve been out a while.

I have a Kindle Paperwhite and I still enjoy paper books too - but the Kindle is more convenient on the move/in low light.

The majority of the cost of a book shouldn't be in the paper and ink. The author, publisher, editor, typesetter, cover designer, PR firm (if a 'big' launch) etc etc all need to earn money from the book. So Kindle versions will not necessarily be cheaper.

However, Amazon (other digital booksellers are available) can use discounting, dynamic pricing, daily and monthly deals, Kindle Unltd, Prime Reading etc etc far more quickly than a paper book store, which essentially has to put '3 for 2' or 'BOGOHP' stickers on its physical products if it wants to do similar discounts.

If you maintain a wishlist and keep an eye on daily and monthly deals, you can get a lot more books at a lot less cost than the equivalent price from a bookshop.

Of the last 20 Kindle books I bought, 1 was 'full price' at £7.50 (as I read a review and wanted to read it right then - but still less than the paperback version at £14.99 currently), 1 was £1.99, 1 was £1.49 and the rest were 99p.

I always check out the kindle 'daily deals' for books from 99p.

I honestly have not bought a physical book for several years but have over 400 on my kindle app and the best thing is I can access them easily ..opened at the last page I was on and no storage required for them all at home. I always seemed to give books to the charity shops to clear clutter and then wish I had kept them. Kindles or the app are also perfect for non fiction / study books too as text can be highlighted, notes added etc,

I love my kindle! Lightweight, can read in the dark and not disturb others, massive storage and easy to download new books.

I rarely buy full price, look at the daily deals and keep a wish list. After 6 months or so they normally go to 99p for a day. Monthly deals change on the 1st. Prime members have access to a lending library which has quite a lot on. You can pay monthly for kindle unlimited and often there are deals for 3 months on there. So it might not be super convenient, in that I do check it all daily, but it takes a minute at most.

Libby and Borrowbox don’t work with kindle though. For those sources the Kobo seems most popular.

I still read paper books if it’s cheaper for a new release that I really want. I use my library in person and have audiobooks through Libby and Spotify. I read a lot! Mix and match works for me!

If you have a PC or tablet just download the kindle app it's free.
I don't own a kindle just a tablet with the kindle app.

I have a list on my notes app of books I want and I follow some social media accounts that share the daily 99p deals and then a big list of the monthly 99p deals on the 1st of every month and I buy the ones I want when they make an appearance.

I pretty much only read 99p Kindle books or get them from the library. Rarely buy a book these days.

@ChessieFL

I read a book a day on holiday.

😮

Be aware that kindle doesn't reproduce photos or graphics well.

I rarely use my actual kindle, only on holiday really but do use the kindle app on my phone a lot (at lunchtime at work or on the train, I wouldn't want to carry a kindle as well). I tend to buy books in the 99p sale, or other discounts, the only time I can't is if I am really into a series and want to move straight onto the next one, but I am tending to use audible more and more now too and use that for series I want to plough through. I still buy some real books because I want to support my local book shop and I get a lot from charity shops, there is definitely a place for both formats, my DCs often buy me actual books for Christmas too.

I am finding I prefer reading on my kindle lately. I have an old paperwhite (I think it's the same as the current basic one) and I bought a nice cover that opens and closes it like a book (fintie is the brand). I only turn the WiFi on when I need to download a book and I had the adverts removed. That way it's just for reading and I'm more immersed and not thinking of looking at anything else online.

I sometimes buy a full price book if I really want it but mostly look for stuff on offer. If I average the cost over a month it's really not that much compared to other non essentials (I actually would classify books as essentials anyway).

Well you will have to pry my Kindle from my dead hands, in fact no, please send it to the afterlife with me. There are plenty of cheaper books, but even if they aren't the benefits of reading in the dark, portability and convenience are winners for me. I read dozens of books every year.

In general I prefer Kindle to paper because I hate books as 'stuff' - stuff that fills shelves and boxes at home and sits sadly in charity shops etc.

BUT it really does depend on the book. So many books have formatting errors. Or even text errors introduced (I assume) by software that 'reads' print into digital format.

If you are reading a book with obscure phrases in it, you sometimes don't know whether an odd-sounding phrase is one that has fallen out of use or a piece of software-generated nonsense.

I was reading one of the Hannibal Lector stories the other day and it had the term "facial cheeses". Haven't got round to googling yet to determine whether this is meaningful or a glitch.

Kindle is bargainous for the classics, but these are the books that are most likely to present this sort of issue.

Wish bloody publishers would be more willing to pay copy-editors to scrutinise the dropping of print books into digital format.

I use Kindle all the time. I live in a small flat so I don’t have room to keep lots of books (I had to dispose of 25 boxes of books when I moved in here), I value the ability to immediately buy and start reading a book on Kindle, and because I have a full-time job and not much free time, I sometimes find it difficult to remember to go down the library or bookshop, order books, return to collect them, ortake them back to the library again, etc. My library does also have an e-lending service, which is very useful!

For context I have a BA in English literature, and an MA which included bookbinding and historical bibliography as compulsory modules, so I am fond of books and I know a lot about them as both physical and cultural objects.

Ah thank you. So - I don't want the Kindle with colour and graphic facility.
I do want to read in bed at night without having a light on.
I recycle my paper books to the charity shops but they stack up and use space I need for other things really. I do, however, hang on to some books when they've had a particular impact on me.
I can't read from my phone (too small) and my laptop/tablet are shiny screens and have glare (as does my phone) so I'm thinking it has to be either stick with paper books or take the plunge with an ereader.
I had a look at the unlimited service and I don't think I'd need it. It's not that I don't want to pay - more that I was so shocked to see how much Kindle books have increased in price. But as pp's have pointed out, there will be deals and tbh if I'm very keen to read a particular book I'll buy it anyway.

So I'll have a look at which Kindle - ideally one with very good battery life.

I read kindle books and paperbacks.

Main reason I use kindle:

Space.

I don't have space to keep all the books I read. So what I try to do is buy and read all books on kindle and if there's any I read that I particularly love and will read again, then I treat myself to the paperback version for my bookshelf!

I do tend to prefer reading in paperback but I just don't have the space for them.

And I read a lot in the garden after dark and that's not easy with a paperback.

Just to add my kindle is the paperwhite.

Good storage. Good battery. No colour.

Would agree that the Paperwhite is the one you want.

That’s great if it works for you, but while I have the app for emergencies / backup, the visual/physical experience of reading on an e-reader is really quite different.

A Kindle or a Kobo has a screen that’s front lit rather than backlit, and is non-reflective and unaffected by bright sunlight. There are also no distractions from things like notifications or the presence of other apps and so on, and the size, weight, controls and battery life of the device are designed specifically for comfortable reading.

So while the Kindle app for a phone or tablet is always an option for people who want it, it definitely doesn’t offer the same reading experience as an actual Kindle. Reading on a Kindle is much closer than a tablet to reading a paper book. So it depends what people are actually looking for from an e-reader.