The Book Show by RJ Ananthi Book Review

"Can't tell that it's been happening for years, a confusion that has been cropping up recently is, Should we read Paperback books? Or should we read on Kindle? Or there's something else. Where's that? Or should we buy a Hardcopy book? Hardback or Paperback or Kindle? Or should we read on the E-reader Kindle option on our phone? These questions might pop up.

Initially when I started reading, I bought Paperbacks. It gave me the sense of feeling that I'm reading a book. To hold a book and have no phone around me, no other distraction from any other devices, to get into this and to flip pages, to mark using a highlighter, to write notes next to those lines, I needed Paperback for all of these. So, to initiate my reading habits, these Paperbacks were needed.

But I also know certain people, who started reading on Kindle, or on phone or laptops, and have finished reading so many books. So, it doesn't mean, one needs to start only with Paperbacks. People can also start with e-books. Ask yourself where your interest lies. Before buying a Kindle, check if you're able to read for longer hours on a laptop or phone.

Obviously, Kindle is safer for the eyes compared to those, as the light won't be so bright, and it gives you the same feel as reading a book. Also, the basic version of Kindle has no built-in light. You'd read a reflection. Even if you go for an advanced Kindle, you can set the brightness to zero and read in natural light. So, Kindle has certain better options. So, you can choose what you want for the 'Feeling of reading.' if you want to start with paperbacks or are you comfortable reading on Kindle. If you're comfortable, then you can go for Kindle. There's a Kindle with me here. So, you can go for Kindle reader.

One more criteria to check is that, will you be reading a minimum of ten books a year. If yes, and also if there's an emergency or travel and you can't carry books, then, you can go for a Kindle. But if you're someone who reads books very rarely, I'd suggest, start with a physical book. The more you see the book lying around you, you will feel the urge to read more. When your Kindle screen is off, you will only see a wallpaper. It is not going to call you to read. Whereas, if you look at this book, 'Poetry by Sukumaran,' or any book for that matter, like these cartoons, something will keep calling us. The calling by a book cover, to start the habit of reading, or to keep on asking you to read, for the nudge, if you're not reading a lot of books, I'd say, stick to Paperbacks.

After developing a reading habit, going for an e-Reader will work. Even for that, initially, try reading on your phone or your laptop, and then go for a Kindle. If you start reading more books due to our Book Show, if you win the contest that we run, we will give you a Kindle. Officers IAS Academy and Book Show have collaborated together and announced the winners who will receive the Kindle. The list is in the description. But before you take part in such contests, you need to figure out if Kindle would work for you or if books would be enough.

Thirdly, we need to figure out why we're reading. For instance, there'll not be a need to mark while reading Fiction. Because I review, I highlight the character names or things I need to say about those characters. Based on that I write notes. Hence Paperbacks are helpful for me. Normally, for these books, I'd have highlighted. A day before the shoot, Either me or one of my teammates would copy-paste those highlighted content, go through it and use it for reviewing. Kindle is, however, helpful in whatever we mark is collated under the 'Notes' Tab, and shows a complete list. So, there's not a need to take notes separately.

As and when I highlight while reading, they're stored under the 'Notes' section. So, we finally export it as a PDF, and before making the video, I go through the pointers and get an idea of what I have read in that book. Beyond this, there's another advantage to Kindle. Many of them ask me, what to do if one is unable to know the meaning of a word while reading. Initially, there will be a setback. After a point, we won't go through a dictionary to find the meaning. We'll begin to understand the word's meaning from its context. And one fine day, we will use that word in a sentence. But, we wouldn't have searched a dictionary for it.

The more we come across that word, the more we get used to it. On Kindle, if you're unable to comprehend a word, if you long press the word, the dictionary meaning would pop up. Also, those words get stored in a place. So, if you want to improve your vocabulary, you can find those words stored under a tab, your vocabulary improves. So, this is also one thing I like about Kindle.

Another important thing is that, if I'm making two videos in a week, I need to review two books, which means I should have finished reading two books. If I read such paperback books, sometimes, my calculations are right, sometimes, they might be wrong. For example, there are 330 pages in this book. I've read 260 out of them. There are still a few more pages remaining. If tomorrow is my shoot day, and if it's already 7 pm tonight, there are factors that determine if I would be able to finish reading it by night or not.

But, even if I read it throughout the night, I can't assess exactly how long that would take. However, on a Kindle, based on your reading speed, it would tell you how long it would take for you to finish the book. For certain books, when you open them, it would show 4 hours to finish it. I get really happy. Which means, I need to read 1 hour every day for four days. or I'd split it across 6 days. It has helped me a lot in planning. Some books show me 13 hours when I open them. I get scared. I'd panic how I'd schedule the next shoot. Such books, I review later, for which I'll plan my reading accordingly.

Sometimes, I'd plan videos for 2-3 weeks in advance. So, when I have a long gap of 2-3 weeks, I go through my Kindle's downloaded books, and find out which book requires the longest reading time, and read it. Whereas if I have to review it immediately the next week, I will find out which book I can read in the shortest time, and will choose to read it. This is also possible on Kindle.

On Kindle, every book seems like a sleek one. So, mentally, the book size doesn't burden you. Also, once we know the hours it would take for us to read, we can actually schedule accordingly and choose a book. That is also an advantage. Also, I've mentioned Goodreads before, that you can explore more books there. If you open a

book on Kindle, if you have a Goodreads account, there's an option 'Mark as currently reading'. If you select that, it'll reflect on your Goodreads account that you're reading the book. Once you've read the book and checked the 'Mark as read' option, it will ask you to enter the rating, it will automatically get updated on Goodreads. So, you'll also have a track of the books you've read.

Unlike our phones, but previously, our phones did not have such options, there used to be days when our phone charge would last long for 4-5 days. But these days we need to charge frequently. Reason being, our usage. Also, we're using the phone for a multitude of things. So, it needs frequent charging. But on Kindle, if you charge once, but it also depends on your reading speed, but for me, the charge lasts on an average of 2-3 weeks. So, it lasts longer. Also, during the night, we might be tempted to read. At the same time, as it's the time of sleeping, we can't read under a light. During such times, it's very helpful, as if you set the Kindle's light to a minimum, its brightness won't be equal to that of our phone's brightness. So, it won't harm our eyes. So, one can read in that brightness. It has helped me while reading fiction. I tend to read fiction during the night.

When sleep trickles in, I just want to drift off. I don't want to get out of the bed, turn off the lights. Hence, Kindle comes in handy. Or even otherwise, one could have a reading lamp. But, I'm still saying that Kindle seems to be an easier version. Beyond these, another thing I love about Kindle is the 'Kindle Unlimited.' One should definitely explore. It has a minimal payment. I don't remember the exact amount as I'm not promoting it. So, I'm not aware of the amount. But I know that it's lesser than the price of a book.

In that, if we pick a Rajesh Kumar's novel, or even Tamil books, will be at zero rupees. Or might be a classic book like Leo Tolstoy's, or Virginia Woolf's, would be available for free, or for fifty rupees. So, at a nominal rate, one can access a lot of books. So, Kindle Unlimited gives access to all these. There are a lot of Tamil books as well, Tamil poetry books too. It's a great thing that all these can be read for free.

Another great thing is that, it might sound like impulsive buying, but we're not getting a product here. So, physically, we're not causing any damage to the environment. For instance, we think of buying a particular book. We need to order and the delivery person has to arrive. The transportation, the packaging, the carbon footprint for the production of the book, are nullified if you read a book on Kindle. Again, this has its carbon footprint too. One might not get the environment-friendly feeling. But, if you're someone who reads a lot of books, compared to that quantity, this makes sense. Also, when compared to your phone or laptop's power consumption, this makes much sense. So, you can opt for Kindle.

But if you feel, you can't catch a whiff of the book, we can buy a few books for the sake of it, and buy the rest on Kindle, somewhere we can strike a balance. On The Book Show, this version of the Kindle in collaboration with Officers IAS Academy, is what we're giving out for free. So, if you're someone who reads a lot of books, or want to improve your reading habits, and if you already don't have a Kindle, and if you're very sure about reading, you can participate in our contest and can win a Kindle.

The one I'm using is an advanced version, which is currently unavailable in India. I chose it for the book review purpose. I'm guessing it might become available here as well very soon. This one has an option to note things down. Using their stylus, one can write and it feels like writing on paper. For instance, I'm writing something like this. it feels like I'm writing on a notebook. They've developed it in such a way that you've a magic eraser option as well. We might've used these options on an iPad or tab. But as I mentioned before, Kindle is eye-friendly when compared to the other devices. It gives you the real feeling of reading a book. So does the feel of writing on it.

If you know of someone who's returning from a foreign country and if you read a lot of books on Kindle, go for the latest model. This is a Kindle Scribe. So, you can buy that. Or else, you can settle for the lower version. You can either buy or contest and win. But if you're someone who's already using a Kindle, you can share your experience. If you like this video, like and comment. And if you've any doubts, do ask me. I could only think of this much while creating content. If you want to know anything, do reach out. If I do know the answer, I'll help you out.

If anyone's wondering on the same lines, do share this video. Should I choose a paperback or a hardbound or a Kindle - if someone's confused regarding this, share this video to them. Do you think anyone would be so confused? Visit 'The Book Show' website. If you've bought a Kindle and are wondering what to read, there are different genres to explore there. Find your interest and pick a book. Don't forget to check out the website You can also reach out to me through the website. We've been working arduously for the website. It will be fully operational very soon.

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THANK YOU SO MUCH