What's On My (Kindle) Nightstand

Let's get one thing straight - I love reading physical books. I like the feel and smell of the paper, and the heft of a good, solid novel. I love the sight of a room full of bookshelves. I love bookmarks that give me a reason to smile when I'm too tired to hold my eyes open any longer. Books and I are old friends, with some of the ones on my shelves going back to Kindergarten and earlier. Taking my copy of Little House in the Big Woods out of the box doesn't just make me happy because it's a good story, but because of the memories that come with it. As a teenager, I first read The Scarlet Pimpernel because of it's size - it fit perfectly in the deep pocket of my favorite winter coat, and was easy to pull out as my mom ran errands.

Now, all of that loving on paper books in order to say this: there is a time and a place for e-readers, be that Kindle, Nook, or iBooks. In my case, the free Kindle reader app on my Android smartphone took the place of the paper book in my pocket. Sure, there are still times when you'll find me in the school pick-up line holding a real book, but in general my phone (and thus, the Kindle app) is lighter, I almost always have it with me, and I have access to a number of books that I don't have on my physical bookshelves.

For example, this week my "nightstand" book happens to be Can Man Live Without God, written by one of my favorite apologists, Ravi Zacharias. While the paperback version is currently listed for $10.98 on Amazon, to read it on Kindle I paid just $2.99, a fact for which I was truly grateful when I was browsing around and meant to hit "add to cart" (so that I could save it for later) and ended up clicking the "buy now-one click" option instead! However, I don't believe it was a coincidence or a mistake, because I am very much enjoying and learning from this book at the moment, and fully utilizing that "highlight" option on the app. Thought provoking and brought down to a level that most of us can understand (another reason to be thankful for the Kindle - I use the in-app dictionary quite often!), Dr. Zacharias does a tremendous job of making a case for the Reason that is behind our faith, and clarifying the stance of atheism or, more accurately, anti-theism.

If you're following my reading progress on Goodreads, you'll have noticed that I added Betty Bunny Didn't Do It to my "Read" shelf this week. I was really hoping not to add any children's books (I would read far more than 50 books in a year if I counted what we read every night!), but this was a book that took me by surprise and so I added it and left my review. If you have kids and are trying to teach them about always telling the truth, then this could be a good addition to your physical bookshelf. CAVEAT: The Hubs also liked the book, but does not like the ending. He has a point there (which I should really include in my Goodreads review), in that it seems to make the case that it's okay to lie if it's going to hurt someone's feelings rather than either remain silent (if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all), or learn how to tell the truth in a gentle way. You have been warned. 

What about you? Ebook or Paper?