Books on the Road

Greeley, Colorado

We have been nomadic now for 9 months. Nine months! When I think of what things have made this lifestyle possible for us, one stands supreme. Digital readers. Seriously. I don't know how this would work otherwise. When I tell people that I love my Kindle Fire, a lot of them, I mean A LOT of them, tell me "Oh, but I love real books." Never mind that an electronic book is very 'real,' I still get it, I love bound paper books too, but more than that, I just love books and books aren't so much about the paper they are printed on as they are about the stories and ideas inside them and those come through just fine no matter the format. I read approximately a book a week, my kids certainly outpace me, but even if we each read just 4 books a month that represents a whopping 40 books we would have needed to haul around with us, or else obtain and then discard somewhere and somehow, over the last 9 months. Foreseeing this obstacle we purchased readers for each of the kids as their birthday gifts in the months leading up to our trip. At most given, waking moments, I can almost guarantee that at least two of them are using theirs.

We use ours in conjunction with Overdrive through our library in Colorado, so we haven't actually purchased a single digital book. We go through the Overdrive app to look up the book we want and check it out. Our library checks books out for three weeks at a time. After the three weeks are up, the library automatically takes them back, so no overdue fines ever, but you do have a time limit in which to read your book, especially if it is a popular book that other people may have holds on so you can't just check it right back out. If you do need to check your book back out, the reader remembers where you were in it. If the library doesn't own the book I want, then I can recommend it for purchase. So far my library has purchased every book I recommend. We loved library trips when we were living in one place, but it is also very cool to sit on the couch, look up a book I want to read and with a few clicks, have it in my hand ready to read. It can be panic inducing though, when in the course of a few hours, several books you had on hold all suddenly come in and now you have three weeks to read all five.

But there's still more! Our kids' devices all have curfews set on them, meaning they cease to function at 10:30 pm. I think it is cool. Ronan says he misses staying up till 2 am reading paper books! But they have figured a way around the curfew (of course), downloaded audio books still play even when all other functionality shuts down at 10:30. So, with a good pair of earbuds, it is even easier to be sneaky about how late you are up with your book, as no flashlight is even required. Our Fires also all have the Gospel Library app installed, meaning all the scriptures, hymns, church magazines, conference reports dating back to the 70s and complete church curriculum. We use duolingo on them to study languages. We take notes on them.

Yes, we all still take advantage of a chance to hold a book in our hands when we get one, but tomorrow when we get on a plane, I will be so grateful for the little handheld libraries that we each carry. The alternative would obviously have been a lot of additional and very weighty luggage.