Why I’ll Never Return To Physical Books

I never enjoyed reading.

I used to go to the library, buy a book, get the dopamine rush of spending money and place the book on my desk, where it stand for weeks. It was constantly haunting me because I was just staring at it, touching and looking through pages, but never actually reading it.

Reading was a chore.

After a while, I finally decided to start reading, the book was proud and I was happy. However, the happiness lasted only for 10 minutes, it was never an enjoyable experience.

I was counting the pages, reading, but, not paying any attention to what I was reading, and at the end of a chapter, I was realising that I haven’t understood a damn.

What are your excuses?

I’m a full-time front-end-back-end senior professional for finding excuses. I have 21 years of experience in the niche. Hire me! I can find any excuse and I can critique anything. A skill that everyone possesses.

After some additional seasons of reading and not reading, my friend told me about Kindle. “It is the best investment you can make”. At the time I got my first paycheck, so, I was excited to spend some money, especially on something worth calling an “investment”.

I bought the Kindle.

I finished one book, two books, and in 3 months I have read 5 books! I have never done that before. I was reading a 300-page book in 3 months.

That’s when I realised, that by having a Kindle I had 0 excuses. My 21 years of expertise meant nothing now. Even worse, I became a bookworm.

Having a Kindle made the reading process easier. It was no longer a chore.

Here are the 3 advantages that made me forget about physical books —

1) It is so comfortable

Kindle is lighter than your phone.

It is so difficult to read a physical book. You have to hold the book with two hands. The holding experience is not satisfying at all. That brick is heavy. I came here to read, not to work out.

What happens when you are in the middle of a book?

A jiu-jitsu session. Trying to hold the book so it doesn’t close. Don’t even think about taking notes.

What happens when you by mistake close the book and you don’t know on what page you are?

That’s your problem. Take your time and find the page.

Having a Kindle is so easy, both physically and morally.

It is like a well-behaved child. It listens. It is so smart.

You can hold it in one hand, and with the other, use some sort of pencil to guide you (increases reading speed). It is so small and light that you can carry it everywhere. It remembers the page where you left.

2) J.A.R.V.I.S. — Reading assistant

The technology behind it is amazing.

What doesn’t it have? Who wouldn’t like to have a reading assistant? Here is the K.I.N.D.L.E and its amazing features —

• Notes & Highlighting. I have mentioned in the previous chapter how annoying it is to take any notes on a physical book. You don’t need an additional pen/pencil/highlighter to your setup, the Kindle has everything. You can highlight any sentence by holding a word and dragging it around. The notes tab is always accessible in the corner.

• Dictionary. I was wasting so much time on this. Even worse, I was constantly getting distracted from all the notifications when accessing my phone. On Kindle, by pressing and holding a word you instantly get its definition of it.

• Devices. You can read anywhere, anytime, with no excuses. Staying in public transport, waiting for an appointment? Open your phone and read! Also, one of my writing niches is books/reading. Whenever I have to write about a book or need some information from it, I open the Kindle app on my laptop and start working.

• Battery. You don’t have to worry about the battery. I read 90 minutes per day and the battery lasts for around 10 days. Give it 1 hour and the soldier is back on the field.

• Light. How are people reading before sleep with the lights on? You shouldn’t be exposed to any light 2 hours before sleeping, as it suppresses the release of melatonin. Basically, it messes up your sleep quality and you tend to fall asleep slower. At night, I use dark mode on Kindle. It’s the same blue light, however, it doesn’t affect the hormone that much. The newer version of Kindle has a warm light version.

3) Infinite books — 1 device

It can be used for future generations.

An 8GB Kindle can hold around 2,000 to 3,000 average-sized eBooks that are around 300 pages and 75,000 words long.

Physical books can act as decorations in your house. People can come inside and think, “Wow he reads, how smart, cool, like”. For real though, they look good and it is a nice tour stop when guests come nearby. Those who read literature can understand a thing or two about you from your library.

Other than that, books waste lots of space.

How many books are you reading at a time?

If I read only 1 book at a time, I will give up on reading in less than a week. I’ll return in a few months. It is super boring. I tend to read 2–3 books at a time. I always switch between them. It takes me less than 5 seconds to change to another book.

You finished the book, now what?

With physical books, you have to go to a physical place. The atmosphere in the library is inspiring and it gives a sense of community, however, my laziness doesn’t give a f*ck. I ain’t dragging my ass to a library in order to buy a book. I enter Amazon and with the “Buy now with 1-Click” button, I instantly get my book.

Oh and also, the Kindle format is cheaper.

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Like my friend has told me, “It is the best investment you can make”. This year alone I have read 14 books, a number that I never believed was possible to reach. Reading on Kindle was definitely one of the major reasons.

Invest in yourself!

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