Why You Should Stop Buying Books
Most paper books are unnecessary. Here's why.
Yes, this is an ad for Kindle Paperwhite. No, I'm not getting paid for it. I'm just really passionate about them.
Paper books have been around for a long time. A very long time. About 1400 years if we're guesstimating. E-readers have been around for 24 years, as of writing this article. These new-fangled electronic devices that hold over 10,000 books each are the way that I consume most books at this point in my life. Here's why.
- Paper books use a lot of trees. It's estimated that textbooks alone account for 30 million trees per year, and that's just textbooks. Imagine how large that number could get if we included regular books.
- Paper books take up a lot of space. Owning even a few hundred books is liable to take up a considerable amount of your living space that could be used for other items or activities. With a Kindle, you can hold around 22,000 books in your hand at once.
- Kindle versions of books are often much cheaper. I bought a book last week that cost me $4.99 for the Kindle version, but if I would have bought the paperback version, it would've set me back $15.
- You have infinite options when it comes to buying your next book. If you use the library or a local book store normally, you may have encountered a situation where you couldn't find a book that you really wanted to read. Not the case with the Kindle store.
You may say, "Trent, I just can't give up printed books, I like to take notes in the margins and highlight everything," and to that, I say fair point. This is why I too still have a select few printed books on hand that I can mark up as I please, but most of which are pertinent to scripture (e.g. Bibles, commentaries, other faith-based books). If it's a book that I'm not going to need to mark up, it's easier for me to just buy it on my Kindle and read it there. I won't discount the necessity of some books still being in print, though.
My Kindle comes with me pretty much everywhere, and it probably will for a long time. I think anyone who reads remotely often should pick one up, and even people who would like to read more often.
Here's a link to the Kindle that I use:
At this point, I do not receive any kickbacks for purchases made through this link. I will update this section of the post if I do in the future.
Do you use a Kindle? Use the contact page to let me know which Kindle you're rocking!