Something I Never Leave Home Without

Why a Kindle is the best purchase I made this year.

As a consistent reader, I consume at least a couple books a month. Books were my first friends. I immigrated to the United States from China when I was starting first grade. At the time, reading served as my guide to excelling in ESL (English as a Second Language) class and was accessible on my family’s shoestring budget. Additionally growing up as an only child, books were entertaining companion.

I’ve been a purist when it comes to books, preferring the comfort of holding a physical book, admiring its cover art and turning over each fresh page. I feel a thrill when picking out a new purchase and savoring its uncreased spine. Even if print becomes wholly obsolete, I was certain I’m never letting go of my books (ok, maybe the bad ones). I insist that my dream home comes with a library room where I invite my guests to each bring a book as a house warming present. Books, like music and film, offers connection with those who inspire us.

When I spent a few weeks in California over the summer, I racked up a handful of books. I wasn’t certain I wanted to lug them home to New York. What’s a girl to do? Walking around San Francisco, I was delighted to see that Little Free Libraries, the largest book-sharing exchange, were still active amongst the community even during a pandemic. I love the creativity that others put into building their tiny book-sharing boxes, and the idea behind promoting a movement on reading matters. So I inevitably dropped off my books around my last day, and hope that others find some science fiction and business reads interesting.

If business school has taught me anything, it’s growth mindset. On my second extended time out west, I’m prepared this time. I finally gave into buying a Kindle Paperwhite last month and it has made all the difference.

While it’s obviously travel friendly and space efficient, I am the most impressed with Kindle’s special “e-ink”. It is lovely and mirrors the appearance of a printed page — truly a marvel of modern technology! The e-ink display does not produce light on its own but reflects available ambient light. This contrasts to reading on an iPad or tablet, which are powered by an LCD display that emits light directly into your eyes. Therefore, you are looking into the source of light that produces the image you’re seeing on the screen. A Kindle is exceptional for those who are health conscious about reducing voluntary screen time and protecting their eyes.

Also the ability to highlight is a breeze and lets me chronicle insights from each book. There is something satisfying about looking back on a list of takeaways. Our brains are designed for having ideas, not storing information. A Kindle is effectively a second brain that helps us to remember more and provides us a way to retrieve knowledge when we need it. Its “Popular Highlights” feature aggregates data on all highlights from users for a book and exposes what content sticks. My advice is to actually turn this off within in-line reading and view it from Notes. This is because I often come across a highlight feeling like it might be important only because it’s highlighted versus because it is important to me.

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