photo by Anaiya McKnight

   Of course we have all read a physical book; a tangible thing in your hands that you can complete. We’ve all read a good amount of books, but what if you could have all of your books on one handheld device that is compact and travel friendly? Well we do have that! It’s the Amazon Kindle. What’s a better fit for the reader…the Kindle or a physical copy of a book?

The Kindle

The pros of the Kindle: 

1. Kindle Unlimited gives you access to hundreds of books for $11.99 a month.
2. You can read in the dark. (The best reason in my opinion).
3. Books are usually cheaper than they would be if you were to buy a physical copy.
4. You can change the size of the text. (Perfect for readers with glasses and eye problems).
5. You can easily keep track of how far along you are in a book and how much more you have left to read!

The cons of the Kindle:

1. There’s no tangible feeling like a new book smell or flipping back and forth between extras such as maps and pronunciations. 
2. The money you spend on books goes to Amazon and not the authors directly. (This is a huge con to keep in mind).
3. You do have to charge it. (The battery life is quite long though, so that might not interfere too much).
4. All of the books you buy have to be listed on Amazon. If you want to buy from a smaller author you might not be able to do so on kindle.
5. Even if you have Kindle Unlimited you are not guaranteed to have access to every book. You still have to pay for quite a bit of the books on the kindle. 

Physical Books

The pros of a physical book:

1. You can get physical books from many places like book stores, local libraries, school libraries, sidewalk/neighborhood book libraries, thrift stores, garage sales, and so much more!
2. You get to use all of the bookmarks that you’ve been collecting since elementary school.
3. You’re not staring at a screen for hours, so your eyes and mind can calm down.
4. Dramatically flipping pages when there is a plot twist is peak reading experience. (Also dramatically slamming shut a book has this same effect).
5. You can annotate on the paper of a physical book. (Yes, Kindle does have an annotating feature, but it’s mainly just highlighting).

The cons of a physical book:

1. Books can get quite expensive if you are buying them new.
2. If you are a messy person, then books can easily get ruined.
3. You have to have the perfect lighting to read. If you don’t have it, you have to find the perfect position to hold the book and light to make it easier to read.
4. You have to hold the pages to get it to sit flat down on a table. (The most annoying thing).
5. Physical books take up a ton of space in your house or your room if you read a lot.