My Kindle Fire

When I was in elementary school and the teacher handed out textbooks on the first day of class I immediately looked to see who the previous user was. And if the previous user was someone I perceived as “yucky” I would remain convinced for the entirety of the school year that I might catch “cooties” from the pages of the book. And even when Valerie Daly gave me a cootie shot, I reserved concern.

In college, unless it was absolutely necessary, I never bought used textbooks. I always bought new ones. By then my “cootie” neurosis transformed into germophobia. I never trusted where that textbook had been. Especially amongst college students. Especially amongst male college students. Especially amongst right-handed male college students who do things with that hand that I do not wish to contemplate.  Which is why I also have an aversion to library books—they smell weird and may have been touched by tainted fingers (not to mention my little issue with library delinquency).

When I organized my book group I made sure that all parties agreed to purchase the selected reading. This worked well for my phobia but not with space issues on my bookshelves. Because of book group I now own books up the ying-yang.  The shelves are starting to resemble the library in the film Beauty and the Beast. And although books are not animate beings I feel badly throwing them out. The characters have become my “friends” and I do not wish to reject them. So even though I love to touch sterile pages and hold a real book in my hand when I read I made the decision to purchase an electronic reader.

And for Christmas I received a Kindle Fire. I decided that if I was going to use an e-reader it may as well have other capabilities. So now I have a tablet that I can use for email, play Words with Friends, check Facebook, listen to music and videos, flip through People magazine with, as well as use the Office app for blog writing. I am so busy during the day using my Kindle for all sorts of things that I have barely used it for the purpose for which it was intended—reading. It has taken me 5 days to read 7% of my new book because I am too distracted by all the apps. So while I now have a germfree spacefree vessel of literature-- no reading is taking place.

So much for technology. Instead of improving my book count it is enabling my attention deficit.  

I wonder if they make a “cootie shot” app? There is an app for everything else.