The Kindle Reader I Bought This Week (and why!)

As you know if you’ve been online for half a second this week, it’s Prime Day through the end of today.

The Prime Day sale I care the MOST about is a sale on Kindle readers and it’s been the thing I’ve gotten the most questions about in the lead up to Prime Day.

Yesterday, I bought myself a new basic Kindle.

Last fall, after literally a decade of people telling me the Paperwhite was the way to go, I finally caved and bought one so I’d know for myself.

I like the Paperwhite but frankly, I prefer the basic Kindle and I missed having one (I’d passed my 10+ year old basic Kindle along to my sister when I upgraded to the Paperwhite).

Here’s why the basic Kindle gets my vote:

• It’s less expensive! Right now, the Paperwhite is marked down from $149 to $134 (for reference, I bought my Paperwhite for $94 last fall when they still sold 8 GB Paperwhites – now that storage size isn’t available. Also note that you are very unlikely to need more storage – an 8 GB Kindle can hold 3000-6000 books and basically no one needs more than that many books available at any given moment). The basic Kindle is normally $99 and right now it’s $84. Even better, I traded in our old useless Fire tablet and got a 20% off discount and a $5 gift card toward my new Kindle, so it was really $62! (Directions for doing a trade-in here).
• It’s smaller. Look, I know smaller isn’t always better, but I think in the case of the Kindle, it definitely is. I hated that my new Paperwhite didn’t fit inside my beloved travel belt bag and that itself was basically a deal breaker for me.
• The basic Kindle has all the features I care about. It has dark mode, it has a built-in light, it has the digital ink/anti-glare screen that means you can read even in bright sunlight (unlike reading on a phone or tablet). And you can send Libby books to it! (Directions for that here).
• I don’t care about the upgrades of the Paperwhite. The main upgrades for the Paperwhite are that it is waterproof and that it has a warm light option. I knew I didn’t care about the waterproofing because I’m not a bathtub or pool reader but people absolutely RAVED about the warm light. . . and I found I didn’t care about it at all. If those two features matter to you, by all means go with a Paperwhite. But for me, they weren’t worth the extra cost or size.

It has been fun to try out a Paperwhite, but I’m downright giddy at the arrival of my new basic Kindle because I think it’s just such a much better deal and a better size for my life.

Also, every time I talk about Kindles, I get a slew of people saying “I just love the feel/smell of a physical book and can’t imagine reading on a Kindle. Would you suggest I try it?”

Last time, I shared one of those comments and these are a handful of the comments that came absolutely FLOODING in:

I love a classic book, but the kindle is awesome. I definitely prefer it for travel, it’s small, lightweight, and I can store a lot of books on it. The digital ink makes it feel similar to a book. I do not like reading on most electronic devices, but the kindle is great. I also like the backlight screen so I can read easily when my husband is trying to sleep.

I never thought l’d like an e-reader. I LOVE my Kindle. One of the best purchases ever! (I’d say I now read 50/50 kindle and paper books)

I felt the same and was resistant. Bought one to share with my kid and we ended up fighting over it. Got my own and have read SO MUCH MORE since getting one.

I used to be a “I like physical books” person. I purchased my Kindle during COVID when the libraries shut down. I now switch between physical books and my Kindle. All depends on availability of book, travel, mood, etc. I never once regretted buying mine, and I still love love love actual books.

I also prefer a physical book. but not when traveling or if I can get an ecopy from the library faster! then I always reach for my kindle! plenty of space in my life for both 🙂

Now that l’ve been using a kindle for my print reading for years, an actual book feels a little cumbersome to me

Felt this way too and after having a kindle for a couple years now, 1 dislike a traditional book! Love being able to read without the light on and so much easier to access books quickly! Game changer!

I was the same. The second I finally decided to give it a try, I fell in love and my reading has increased dramatically.

I was worried about this because I love paper books. I honestly LOVE my kindle!! I can read in bed at night and it’s so easy to take places. And access to way more books through the library etc.

I love my Kindle! I was just talking with my husband about this the other day. It has helped increase my reading, especially since l’m in a season of nursing babies. I went from reading a book a month about to reading 88 one year! I l use it at night instead of scrolling my phone and the light isn’t disturbing the baby like a lamp would if I was reading a actual book. I like the lightweight aspect of reading a Kindle vs a book too, makes it easier to read one handed or in bed.

So if you’ve worried about using an e-reader when you love a physical book (a common concern for readers!), these comments might help you feel better!

Also, you can order a Kindle while they’re on sale today, try it out for a few weeks, and if you hate it, just return it! (That’s the beauty of buying from Amazon!).

As a side note, you can also listen to books from your Audible library on your Kindle reader (you’ll just need Bluetooth headphones) so don’t miss the 3 free months of Audible deal going on right now too!

If you have any Kindle questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them all!

P.S. The case on my Kindle is from Page and linked here!

If you liked this post about why I went back to my Basic Kindle Reader, you might also like these other posts:

• Kindle 101: Everything You Need to Know About How a Kindle Works
• How to Turn off Popular Highlights on Kindle
• How to Share Kindle Books