I love physical books; the look, the smell, the feel. As a book lover, I have always been very anti-ebook. They have no smell or feel and look like, well, a phone or tablet. Plus, the thought of these electronic books killing off the publishing business, emptying library shelves, closing bookstores; I hated them. And practically, I work on a computer all day - to stare at some other electronic device for my reading enjoyment sounded torturous and certainly not like the nice escape reading is. But I bought this kindle and I am shocked to find how much I love it.If you are anything like me I strongly suggest you borrow one from somewhere and give it a try. Mine has been truly amazing. When I first received it I tried to peel off the fake image on the screen, thinking it was some piece of paper showing an example of what it looks like when turned on. But it wasn't - it was the screen itself. I, personally, had never seen e-ink before. It is amazing. When the device is not adjusting the light (this signature edition one auto-adjusts to the light around you but you can also manually adjust it) this thing looks like the words are printed on the screen, like paper. And, light or not, there is something different going on. I read someone state that the light, unlike on a tablet or computer or phone, does not shine at your eyes. Instead, the screen itself is illuminated, resulting in no eye strain at all. I have gone for hours a day on this thing and it is always comfortable. It is pleasant to read on.It is small but not too small - sort of like a mass market paperback, maybe a little bigger. Font is adjustable so the size really is perfect and only a plus. It it light. I can hold it all day comfortably. It looks great from any angle. It is anti-glare, not glare-free, but you can read this in bright light a lot easier than any normal electronic device. It is waterproof so read it without fear of spilling your drink, rain starting while reading outside, dropping it in a pool - I never imagined that could be the case without a special protective case.Mine was part of a package with a cork-covered case. It also is very light, feels good in the hand, looks really cool and is worth the extra money in my eyes. And it does the auto off and on thing when you open and close the cover. I did not but a screen protector because: 1. I don't want to put shine back on an anti-glare screen and 2. the cork case protects it.There are so many free e-books. True, many are self-published and maybe not great but some are actually pretty good and, for free, it is fun trying out books I'd never have found in paper form otherwise. I look at it like a chance to discover authors in their developmental stages. And, of course, you can purchase pretty much any other, more popular, book you'd want. You can load so many books on this thing and they hardly use any memory so you can download them, a whole book takes about 15-20 seconds to download, and read without ever needing wifi. The battery lasts for weeks between charges. Mine also came bundled with a wireless charger which works as simply as you'd expect.I will always love real books. I will always buy the ones I want in my collection. I will continue going to the library and new and used bookstores. They will always be stacked up in my house. But I am so incredibly, surprisingly happy that I now have this kindle too. It has been less than a month and I have read over 10 full novels and several short stories on it and I just love it more and more. It goes to appointments, it goes on vacation, it goes to the store; it is convenient to take anywhere and will open up to right where you left off, making it easy to just read a few paragraphs or chapters anywhere, anytime without bookmarks falling out and without moving to a bright enough spot - like I said, this thing auto-adjusts its brightness to match the environment you are in. You can watch it change as you move between rooms of varying brightness.To anyone, and especially those who thought like I did, I cannot recommend this thing enough. I don't know why I took the gamble to begin with but I'd fully expected to return it to Amazon when I realized that it wasn't for me. Now, I wouldn't give it up. I strongly suggest, try it out. Maybe your experience will be different but my reading has only improved. I love books and I also love my Kindle.