Vacation Books on My Kindle

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The worst thing about e-books is that I can’t see what you are reading. I am an inveterate book gadfly, novel snooper, bookshelf peruser. If I see you reading a book I will ask you about your book. If I see you not reading a book I will ask you what you are reading. The first thing I do when visiting a colleagues office is completely ignore them, and give my full attention to the books on their bookshelf. I’ve been known to take books off shelves that don’t belong to me (the books or the shelves), and then closely question the owner of said books on their history, quality, and disposition. A complete stranger with a book in hand is a fast friend. I see the world through our books.

The Kindle ruins all this. Your books are invisible to me. The e-book kills what is most pleasurable about the book, its presence as a material object. Without being able to scan your book cover I have no way to start a conversation about what you are reading.

Someone needs to invent a Tinder for books. An app that shows what nearby people, in a specific geographic radius, are currently reading. Swipe right if you want to chat about the book being read, swipe left if there is no reading common ground.

I am going to try to take a first stab at solving this tragedy of the invisible and antisocial Kindle book. Starting tomorrow I am on vacation, and for me vacation equals reading. (Why I go anywhere if all I want to do is read is a mystery to me). In the off chance that we run into each other on holiday, I present to you my full list of vacation books stuffed into my Kindle (in alphabetical order):

The Accordion Family: Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents,and the Private Toll of Global Competition by Katherine S. Newman

American Higher Education in Crisis?: What Everyone Needs to Know by Goldie Blumenstyk

America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System by Steven Brill

Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli

Beyond the Idea: How to Execute Innovation in Any Organization by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble

Checklist for Change: Making American Higher Education a Sustainable Enterprise by Robert Zemsky

Culture Crash: The Killing of the Creative Class by Scott Timberg

Designing the New American University by Michael M. Crow and William B. Dabars

Digital Adaptation by Paul Boag and Smashing Magazine

Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics are Remaking America by William H. Frey

The End of Power by Moises Naim

The Finder by Steven Rome