Why does nobody talk about page numbers vs location numbers on Kindles

I was comparing discussion points with my book club last week and realized everyone was referencing chapter titles except me - I'd been using location numbers for 3 years thinking that's how everyone tracked their reading, and now I feel like I've been living in a completely different version of the same book the whole time; has anyone else dealt with this Kindle tracking mix-up?

3 comments

3 Comments

craig.john1mo agoTop Commenter

Read a thing recently about how Kindle decided to do location numbers because page numbers change depending on font size and margin settings. My book club had a full blown argument about this last month. One person kept saying they were on "chapter 5" but the rest of us were 80% done with the book. Real mess. Have you tried switching to page numbers through the menu settings or are you sticking with locations out of habit now?

the_jessica1mo ago

real mess" is putting it mildly lol. Its wild how one little thing like location numbers vs page numbers can split a whole group like that. Honestly I think this is part of a bigger thing where we keep trying to make everything the same for everyone when people just read and think differently. Like how some people need to see the exact page to feel progress while others just vibe with the story. Reminds me of how my friends argue about recipes all the time, some need exact measurements by weight and others just want a handful of this and a pinch of that. Both ways work fine but trying to force everyone into one system just creates drama. At the end of the day, as long as we all get to the same ending who cares how we counted the steps getting there.

shanelee1mo ago

@craig.john Oh man, that book club fight sounds brutal. I had the same thing happen with my group over "location 482" versus "page 42" - nobody could agree where we were. What worked for me was switching to page numbers in the menu (Settings > Reading Options > Page Numbers) but only if the book actually has them embedded. Some books just don't, and then you're stuck with locations no matter what. For the books that do support it, I've found it's way easier to keep everyone on the same page - literally.