Feeling stressed and in need of relaxation, I chose to read my own book, Once Upon a Christmas. It had been a long time since I had read it, so it would be like reading something brand new, and I knew it would be a fun, heartwarming read.
I retrieved my Kindle, only to find it had a dead battery, evidence that likely my grandson had been playing with it. I plugged it in and waited over night.
Next evening at 4pm, I retrieved the fully charged Kindle, with anticipation to sit with my afternoon tea and read.
I opened the Kindle to discover it wanted a password. Hadn’t I disabled the password?
Oh, well, I typed in what I thought was the password.
Oops, that wasn’t it. Really?
I tried again, thinking I had made an error.
No, not the password.
Oh, yes, didn’t I just do 1, 2, 3, 4? The Kindle required a code because I had at one time had the grandchildren Freetime accounts on it. Hadn’t I stopped that?
Well, that password didn’t work, either.
I tried again.
No.
Aggravated, I tried it again.
No.
I resisted throwing the Kindle on the floor.
I went through the procedure to change the password, which required my going to my computer for the Amazon account password. My tea was getting cold, dark closing in outside the windows, time ticking by.
New password accomplished, I got into the Kindle to discover that indeed grandson had been playing some sort of war game on it. How had he gotten in through the password? I delete the game and find where I can disable the password. Whew!
Now. I go to the library, find Once Upon a Christmas. It is, however, on the cloud and needs downloading.
It won’t download. “Please try again.”
This message about six times, along with a message to contact customer service.
Told myself I could not smash the device on my desk. Sigh. And sigh again.
Do I even care?
It is my book. Paid for. I want to read it. What if other readers have had this trouble? Alarm propels me.
At the same time that I am explaining my difficulty with the customer service agent, the book decides to download.
Finally. I apologize to the agent, feeling like a fool.
I take the Kindle to my chair. The tea is tepid. I have to stop reading and go out to close the chicken house and check on my mother and get supper.
Very often the modern space and energy saving devices do neither. Had it been a proper paper book, I would have pulled it off the shelf and sat down, tea still warm, and happily begun reading, without all the annoyance.
I do hope to get the book into paper by next Christmas.
And yes, I find the story well worth all I went through. It is lifting my spirits and calming me at the same time.
Blessings,
CurtissAnn
Curtiss Ann Matlock 
16 responses to “What I’m Reading, and why I prefer paper books over digital”
As someone who struggles with anything remotely techie, I could envision myself in the same situation. This is why we long for the “good old days.” I’m glad you’re enjoying reading your own book. I do that to and often say to myself while doing so, “This is so cute!” Happy Holidays, my friend 🙂
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I have often heard the advice to writers: “Envision your reader and what they want while you write.” Phooey on that. I can’t do it. The first person I write for is myself, and it is important to please me, because I’m sure a lot of people have my good taste, too. 🙂 I’m finding my book delightful– so cute, as you say! And at least 50 people feel the same, evidenced with reviews on Amazon! I do long for the good old days. My settings are going retro. Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah, darling girl.
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I’m right there with you! My husband has hundreds of books on his Kindle, but I still need the comfort of holding that book in my hands!
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I don’t have a kindle. I can’t remember reading this. Was it only on kindle?
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Yes, Joyce, now only Kindle. It was first published by Harlequin Historicals maybe 25 years ago. For this edition, I revised and enlarged the story. I plan to get into print next year.
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Fantastic! I look forward to reading it…
Merry Christmas.
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Your tale is just like so many others struggling to do the simplist thing and having to wade thru hrs of tech and huh? I truly hope others overcome to read your good books
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Remember the wonderful days when all you had to do was choose a book and open the cover? Life moves on.
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I much prefer a real book to reading on my iPad/ kindle app. Use for emergency only or when traveling if suitcase would be overweight with all my reading material. I have a collection of Re-reads including several of yours:Annie in the Morning, Last of the Good Guys and If Wishes Were Horses . My 9 year old granddaughter covets my iPad for games and I have had similar problems getting hooked up! I am reading Christmas titles now and think I missed yours. Amazon here I come!!
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I have on occasion bought both the eBook and paper book. 🙂
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Gosh, I thought I was the only one who had those kind of Difficulties!
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I knew I couldn’t be the only one. I enjoy being able to get books I would not otherwise be able to get, and more affordable, but the price goes up in other areas. Still, once I did get the book, I’m enjoying it!
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Girl I’m with you!! I can pull out my books any where and read. Keep the paperbacks coming and it would help if cheap in cost! I keep them for my friends and family tof read also. They give me their to keep and share.
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There’s a new program coming out next year that should make formatting for paper book easy for me. I’m anticipating getting more of my books available for print then, and in easy to read text, too.
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Sorry for your troubles with your Kindle. If it makes you feel any better, you had me giggling while reading!
Hope today is less stressful for you!
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I’m so glad you chuckled. It was pretty funny written out. 😄
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