Kindle, I'm sorry...I need a book in my grubby little hands!

With the smorgasbord of electronic reading devices out there--not to mention the one that started it, the Kindle--it's been easy to forget about the physical book.  I received a Kindle myself two Christmases ago, and while I was initially very excited about it, I found it a little deflating that I had to buy most books that I was interested in reading at an alarmingly high price.  Yes, there are a good number of e-books available for free, but most of them are classic titles that I've already read (from high school AP English, thanks).

I will still sing the praises of the Kindle, because it's very convenient for traveling, for storing multiple books at once in a device so slim, I can slip it into my purse or violin case and take it out on the occasion a student cancels or I'm waiting in the doctor's office.

But I also see the point of some who say they just like the feel of a book in their hands.  The smell of the pages, the ability to mark passages, to flip through to different sections (instead of pressing the 'Next' button) is what sets these loyalists to books apart from "kindle krazies".

I'm about to take one small step in their direction:  I recently became a Borders Rewards member and the perk with them is that members get free shipping and handling on all book orders.  The next best discovery is that their used books section usually enables us to find the exact book we want at a dirt cheap price.  For example, this week alone, we've probably ordered 6-7 books easily, at all nearly a $1 or so each.  Most of these books were also not available for my Kindle, but if they had been, I'm sure I would have had to pay the usual $9.99 per book.

I took some tips from another blogger on some book suggestions and recently ordered and eagerly await the following:

1) Summer Capricorn by Terry Row
2) Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton
3) All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
4) The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by  Rosamund and Benjamin Zander
5) The Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee
6) Practice for Performance for Cello and Other Related String Instruments by Daniel Morganstern

In addition to these, Ryan also ordered a bunch for himself that came in recently.  Becoming a Borders Rewards Plus (I forgot to add the "plus" factor) member is definitely worth it for the variety of books one can find on their website, especially with shipping and handling factored in.

Once I receive these books and start reading, I'll have to do some reviews.  Until then, the Kindle will have to do:P