ARG DUNCAN: Reading with Kindle: Stories still as sweet - ABQ Journal

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I love a good story, and I love books.

Getting a new book with its sleek, as-of-yet unmarred cover and the potential of something great inside is a pleasure for me. And that’s before I even open the book and get to the story, Which, of course, is the best part of a good book.

A few months ago, a friend from church, Rebecca, invited me to join a book club.

Argen Duncan.

That was actually the second invitation. The first time, I was INITIALLY interested but then Intimidated by the prospect of needing to keep up with everyone else’s reading.

With the second invitation, Rebecca told me the club talks about more than the current book, so it was OK if I had not read it. I’d never been in a book club before, but the prospect of making a few new friends and reading now outweighed the intimidation.

Juggling the meetings with a reporter’s odd schedule is tricky, but I’ve made it to a few, with the first being in November. I joined the group for a presentation and book signing by author Marie Lu, who I’d never heard of before.

Lu’s Story of Becoming a writer was well worth listening to. Her first published novel, “Legend,” was the fifth one she’d written, and she writes by the seat of her pants (her phrasing) instead of planning ahead.

After I found out the third and final novel in the “Legend” series was the book of the month for January, I started reading the series in a mad dash to get through it by January. Rebecca generously and trustingly loaned me her signed copies of the first two books. (Yes, I did return them, unharmed).

The third book came to me as a Christmas gift, and I tore through it in a single weekend, a feat I do not remember Completing since middle school, when i had a habit of reading thwart all day long during summer breaks . (The series is made up of three well-written page-turners with a satisfying ending, in case you’re wondering.)

Then, on top of the book club as a first, I ended up with a new Kindle for my birthday.

I’m not technologically inclined. Sure, I can proficiently manage Microsoft Word and Gmail, but I have little skill or interest beyond that.

So, I’ve taken the Kindle out of the box and turned it on. Now what do I do with it?

Thankfully, it has programmed-in, automatic Kindle-use-for-dummies-type instructions. And I’ll have technologically inclined friends. Why not embrace another literary first?

It will not be quite the same reading on a little mobile computer as cracking open a new, sleek-covered book, but this Kindle does seem like a pretty cool gadget. The fact That Kindle books are cheaper than Their hard-copy counter party Should not hurt, either.

A story by any other form still reads as sweet …