One of the Kindle pluses for me is the ability to highlight a word and go immediately to the dictionary. I've learned a huge amount about the English language that way - including some words where I thought I had the gist, but was on the wrong track.
Its a choice - I actually prefer to read than to listen - and I prefer a book with pages than a Kindle but its a lot easier and cheaper to get books electronically also for me Audio books are great when doing other boring tasks like driving and gardening etc - it just happens thats when I do most of my "reading" - though currently as my long motorway trips aren't happening at the moment and I am at home a lot more so have time for print books.
With Amazon Prime you can get a 3 month free trial of Audible. 3 free books (1 a month) to keep forever. I was the exact same way as you, but I love it now
Good website for kindle readers, tells you when books become free or price drops. https://uk.ereaderiq.com/
And for me. I think my vocabulary is pretty good but there are times during my current reading when I have to look up an old fashioned word because I’m reading the whole Anne of Green Gables series. These stories were written in the early part of the 20th century. I’m into these on the strength of the superb Netflix series “Anne with an E”. Lots of the language is a bit too flowery and needs a bit of Kindle fast forwarding but it’s a good story. I tend to use my iPhone more than the Kindle simply because the Kindle screen isn’t backlit but the two devices are constantly synchronised and I would never go back to collecting books on a shelf again. Those days are behind me.
I honestly don't know where I'd store all my e-books if they were paperbacks. I'd have to buy a bigger house. I also like the sheer range of available e-books. Loads of old titles that have long been out of print, plus plenty of old classics for free. I've read stuff by Mark Twain, for example, that I would never have tried if I'd had to pay for them.
If you like those then kindle has all LM Montgomery titles, some I didn't know about until I got one.
You should head over to Project Gutenberg, they have all books that are out of copyright (so generally books that are 50 years old or older unless the copyright has been extended). They are available in a variety of formats too and of course you can email them to your Kindle after downloading them. This thread has me conflicted. I love it because I love books but it’s just like being at work, especially with the titles listed on this page.
Thanks for that link Gordon Owen, just had a quick look, excellent site and never knew it existed, already downloaded 2 very good looking books, one mystery/murder and one sci-fi, both free My day is now planned!
It will be a while before I get to the end of this collection. Nearing the end of book three of ten covering Anne Shirley’s whole life I think. Incredible value for 99p. I may try some of Miss Montgomery’s other work later but the choice on Kindle is overwhelming! I’ve certainly read a lot of stuff that I may not have ever considered In physical book form.
I ve got all the Anne books on kindle and as paperbacks. I love the last one Rilla of Ingleside because it's set in WW1 and I find the patriotism fascinating. I liked the Emily of New Moon series too, a lot of teenage agonies don't change no matter when they occur!
Looking forward to the Rilla of Ingleside book but that is some weeks away. I'm always fascinated by WW1 stories and know little about the Canadian involvement in that. As I said, I'm just coming to the end of book three where she has completed her time at college and got her BA. Some would argue that the Anne stories are "for girls" but I don't agree with that. It's just great literature as far as I am concerned, and my reading has always covered a wide spectrum of life.
I really enjoyed Roughing It. It's an account of his travels across the American west in the 1870s, when Twain was a young man. A forerunner to Bill Bryson, if you will. It really made the times come alive for me, the sense of adventure and wide open spaces were quite vivid. He takes part in some gold mining too, and even gets as far as Hawaii.