Last Wednesday I turned 19, and my parents brought me a kindle. They know I love reading, and often struggle to decide how many books or which books I should take with me, whether that be holiday, hospital appointments or traveling to and from university. Having a kindle means I can take an unlimited amount of books anywhere I want to without adding lots of weight to my bag, but it's hard to ignore the kindle vs. physical book debate.


When I first heard of kindles and other such e-readers, I wasn't really too sure how I felt about them. It wasn't really until my mum had one that I could see their benefits compared to physical books. And whilst I love my kindle and am reaping the benefits of it, I still love a physical book to hold and display.

Kindles and e-readers are, in my opinion, a much easier way to read books whilst commuting, traveling or waiting for appointments. When I'm traveling between my family home and university home, it's a 5 hour journey which allows for lots of reading time. Being able to several books on one device is much easier than carrying multiple books that are heavy and take up space in my bag. I also have to go to hospital quite a fair amount for very long appointments that have waiting in between, and so a similar thing of being able to have multiple books is also so helpful.

I love that on my kindle, the paperwhite, I can not only change the font and text size which is so handy as I have very poor eyesight, but I can also change the brightness of the screen depending on the lighting of wherever I am. Relating to my eyesight, this a wonderful bonus - it's been years since I've been able to read outside because my eyes are so sensitive to the light that reflects of the page, but this is something I can control now.

However, there is nothing that can replace the feel or smell of a book. Whether old or new, books have a wonderful smell that's so comforting to me. There is something incredibly satisfying about getting half way through a book and weighting in yours hands changing as you get closer to the end. I also love the sound of pages in a book turning. Obviously, physical printed books can be displayed nicely and organised - I'm not too fussy when it comes to my bookshelf organisation, but I like series to be together in order, and as I was huge Jacqueline Wilson fan when I was younger I keep all of those books together (I have quite the collection!).

For me, my kindle and my printed books will always be even stevens, which I go for completely depends on the situation. What are your thoughts on the kindle/book debate?


Em x


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