Free Books Cheap Books Good Books?

I wish I had an e-book reader that didn’t have internet. I bought my first one because the idea was so amazing. Buy a bunch of books, store them in a small device and read whenever you want! It had a light so I could use it in bed especially when my husband was asleep. But I had to use the cover to hide the light from his eyes since I didn’t want to wake him up. Another thing-I began to buy books just because of the price. $.99 was like a beacon calling me, tempting me to push the BUY button, even when I knew in the back of my mind I didn’t really want to read the book. It wasn’t my type. I preferred other kinds. The covers were gaudy or flashy or just plain stupid. These weren’t the type of books I would choose if I wasn’t under the influence of something. But what is that something? I used to read better, research more. I would find an interview with an author who discussed their favorite book. If I wasn’t familiar with that one, I looked for it. I worked to locate the book. I found it, and the act of finding that one book made it seem more worthwhile. I have to disconnect my bank account from Amazon!

How do I say this but with the truth? Free and cheap books seem like a type of drug, pornography in a way, but only because of the gratification of pushing that buy button.

I read an article recently about how the introduction of the e-book reader led to self-publishing (which is not bad in itself), which led to millions and millions of authors selling their books on the internet. The result is soulless competition to SELL!
I think I’ll clean out my Kindle and delete books that I know I will never read. I don’t have the same problem with physical books. I only buy what I’m certain to read. Also, I need to investigate how to switch off the internet on my Kindle and only turn it on if I really need it. Then I can read books I really want to read.

#books #reading #ebooks #MondayBlogs