I have too many Kindle books.
Granted, 280+ is a drop in the bucket compared with the physical books that crowd our bookshelves. Many of the ebooks are duplicates of physical books I already have, books I value so much I want them in both forms so I can easily search and highlight. But many are unique, since I find it very hard to resist when eReaderIQ alerts me that a book I'm interested in is on sale for $2.99 in Kindle form. While I really love the feel (and often smell) of physical books, I also appreciate what ebooks have to offer.
What concerns me, when I say I have too many Kindle books, is that I've bought and paid for them, but they're not really mine. Amazon has the ability—and sadly the right—to reach down into my Kindle and take them away from me at any time. True, they're supposed to refund the purchase price if they do so, but that's absolutely not the point. This was a concern I had at the very beginning of my relationship with Kindle, when I read the Terms & Conditions. I conveniently shelved the worry as the years went by with no problems. However, in these days of repeated attacks on First Amentment freedom of speech, social media posts and whole accounts being deleted for no reason other than that the platform objects to the (legal, protected) content, and people living in fear of offending algorithms—well, you can imagine why paranoia has returned.
I'm not certain what to do about it, other than what I just did: order a physical book that I don't actually want, just because I can imagine its very important content offending the Powers That Be enough for Amazon to make it disappear. I guess I can call it a donation to the author.
Maybe I should reread Fahrenheit 451. While I still can.
I have so many books on my Kindle, I doubt I'd know if one got snatched. Tho' Amazon regularly takes back my RENTAL books; in fact, I'm required to choose one to return before I can get another "freebie" for my subscription. (I have to admit I never read the Fine Print, but I'm really wondering why on earth Amazon would want to take back a book that's bought & paid for.)
One reason for Amazon to take back a bought-and-paid-for book is copyright arguments with the publisher; I know that has happened. They will also make updates to existing books, which I'm not altogether against (so authors can fix annoying typos), but I'd rather it not happen automatically. (There's probably a setting....) Taking back a book for political reason is indeed unreasonable, but it was also unreasonable for Facebook to take down my post, and they did, hence paranoia. :)
