Kindle Enhances The Love Of Reading
Love of reading and reading comprehension go hand in hand, and audio books and Kindle promote increased reading activity and advance reading comprehension, something many people struggle with on a day to day basis.
For students, audiobooks stimulate the imagination, help build vocabulary skills and enhance pronunciation.
Also, whereas a thick-paged book might be intimidating to a student, most are familiar with computers, iPods and stereo systems and are adept at using them. So why not give them an option that merges traditional reading enjoyment and comprehension with the high-tech universe they’re immersed in?
The Kindle is also a great option for the ageing population with the read to you function and the capacity to enlarge the font. It is also lightweight and no matter how large the contents of the book is, it will not become too heavy to hold, as many books do when readers age. The Kindle is the most popular of all the ebook readers and I can understand why. It originates from a book store-the biggest online bookstore targeting the reading experience and catering for the serious reader. It doesn’t have all the other functions of the touchscreen tablets because it is purpose built to provide the best reading experience.
One of the most favorable features is the fact that the screen is not back lit and you need a light to read by in the dark. Back lit screens stimulate the senses more and make sleep more difficult straight after reading. I can vouch for that after being on my computer during the evening before I go to bed. Sometimes I almost seem to have a white screen in the background of my thoughts as I try to sleep and it is most annoying. My reading has also increased since I have owned my Kindle.
Recently I have been suggesting to an older publisher/author friend that she have her books converted to ebooks and she has become rather excited with the idea and is also going to republish her website which she had let lapse. She won the New Zealand International Montana Book Award in the Biography section for her book on Sir Walter Chapman Taylor. It is a truly magnificent publication about him and his architecture, which was based on the crafts movement and the crafted furniture of that era. The research had taken Judy Siers decades and the book is full of wonderful illustrations to complement her pleasant and informative writing style. It does not read like a text book-more of an unfolding story about a topic she truly loves and has enjoyed researching. She has also written other research books about historic buildings and people associated with them in New Zealand. My point is that ebooks are now offering new opportunities to older publishers to have their works spread internationally without the huge marketing expense of traditional publishing.
Some older writers are not so embracing of ebooks and are truly afraid. Recently I attended a public talk by a Canadian author who wrote ‘The Shipping News”and many others, but that is the one I had read. She voiced her grave concern about what will happen to authors and their printed books. The feeling in the room was quite solemn, as so something was dying in our midst. I wanted to speak out and say, but what about Amazon publications and their Kindle. They have published many of the old classics which are out of print to make them available to the public who enjoy classic literature. You need to embrace the ebook and publish all of your works as ebooks as well. I imagine she will come around in time and realize the new opportunity Amazon and Kindle are creating for great writers to reach a wider audience than they have ever reached.
