The Amazon Kindle: Rekindling My Passion for Reading

"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all." - Oscar Wilde

I am in love --- Super, super in love with my Kindle. This magnificent invention of Amazon.com has been my constant companion since I bought it last year. Everybody knows how much a book-lover I am but once I started reading using Kindle, it went up to the highest possible level of obsession. 

Don't get me wrong, I still love reading the old-fashion way...I love the feel of paper---glossy, newsprint, recycled, environmentally-acceptable---you name it...I love the smell of newly printed books. It's an aphrodisiac...I still buy books and magazines from bookstores especially my coffee table books. In fact, I just bought tons of books from Book Sale earlier today.

I find the Kindle very convenient and useful as well. I can listen to audio books or music while reading. I can surf the internet, I can upload reviews and quotes directly to Facebook or Twitter using my Kindle. I can even buy books directly from the Kindle store.

While waiting in line or just lounging on the beach, I've spent countless of hours playing my childhood board games like Monopoly and Battleship with my ever faithful Kindle. It doesn't make me antisocial since these games can be shared by more than one person. I've also read out loud to my friends and family. It's a very versatile device.

It has renewed my love affair with reading. There was a time that I stopped reading because of cost....Reading was getting too expensive...books were becoming a luxury over the years because of rising prices...My room was becoming a library because of all the stacks of books and magazines. I realized I needed a makeover and it came wrapped in an Amazon.com box.

I'm very lucky that there is a community of book lovers who share their treasure trove of reading materials. Being in the Digital Age has its advantages. I'm able to download and read hard-to-find or out-of-print novels. 

I've reread timeless classics, romantic novels, entertaining stories, as well as mysterious plots that kept me up all night during my younger days. And with my recent purchase at the Kindle store, I've also discovered new authors like Michael Farquhar who can be the American counterpart of my favorite Historian, Ambeth Ocampo. He writes about historical figures with the same easy style as Professor Ocampo does.

Amazing how an electronic gadget could renew and invigorate my love of reading.