Dear Kindle

I owe you an apology. When you were first released to the world, you and your other e-reader friends, I scoffed. I mocked. I turned my little nose up and I swore that I would never buy one.

I love to read and I love books. I love the smell of bookstores and libraries and the lines a paperback acquires after you crack the spines. I love turning down corners to come back and re-read great passages or quotes later. I love art work on book covers and using it to judge the content within. I love building an immense to-read list and slowly filling my bookshelves at home with my favorite volumes. When I was a little girl, I would sneak books into bed with me. It's been a lifelong love affair, one could say.

But then I started coming around to you, Kindle, slowly but surely. I have full bookshelves already. Books can be an expensive habit. Paperless books seem kind of, you know, green. Still, Kenny kept asking if I wanted a Kindle and I kept saying no. But my friends kept talking about theirs. My dad got one. My mom put the reader app on her iPad. And then my sister, the biggest bookaholic that I have ever known, did the same. I finally broke down and asked for a Kindle for Christmas.

I felt like I was cheating on books. It's just so ... Easy. The books are cheaper, some are free. You can't beat the immediate download from Amazon. My whole family shares an account, so we are building up an interesting library - which so far consists of a lot of spy thrillers (Dad), mysteries (Mom), and a bunch of random stuff (me). But that's the whole point, you know? Borrow a book. Find a new author or genre you never knew you'd like. I've always read a lot, but I feel like I'm reading even more now, thanks to the Kindle. And yes, that means real books too. I was completely sold. A huge hypocrite, but a big e-reader fan, nonetheless.

And then you stepped up the game, Kindle. When my friend Sarah posted about borrowing e-books on Facebook and I could not respond fast enough. I had no idea this feature existed and now I am SO EXCITED. I mean if you're going to borrow books from someone, it should be an English teacher and it should happen at the beginning of summer. So now I am halfway through Water for Elephants and my Mind. Is. Blown.

I take back everything I said, Kindle. I kind of love you. Sorry, Books.