Accomplishment: according to my reading list, I read 33 books in 2012!
After I badmouthed it in an early blog, I've now been thinking more about getting a Kindle. I used to get most of my books at the library, but it started to get inconvenient to go there, and they only gave you two weeks to read the books, which I didn't like. Then I started buying all my books used from Amazon. Now my baby rips books out of my hands, so I started reading them all on the laptop, which she amazingly does not touch.
The benefits of reading Kindle books on the computer are thusly:
1) No books accumulating in my bookcase
2) Can read books with embarrassing titles
3) I started getting books online from library, which not only saves money but gives me guidance over what I should read (i.e. I based it on what comes available)
4) Many books available from Amazon on the Kindle for very cheap or free
But I'd like to switch to an actual Kindle to get more portability, plus I could borrow books from Amazon prime. Also, I hate the fact that when I'm reading, everyone thinks I'm just surfing the web. I think there's value in your kids seeing you reading a book, especially if they can't tell it's a junk book because it's on the Kindle.
Then again, by the time my baby is old enough that I feel like I can safely have a Kindle, the Kindle probably won't even exist. There'll probably be some new invention I have to buy. Like a K-Pad. Or an iNdle.
Totally worth it. Also, you can check out library books with a Kindle through Overdrive.com.
ReplyDeleteBut if you use overdrive, you have to go through your local library, right? You don't have access to, like, all the Kindle library books in the country.
DeleteI actually have three different library accounts I use (two mine and one my mother's), so that gives me a lot of options.
Correct.
DeleteDunno about your libraries, but mine still only give you two weeks even with an ebook! The book becomes unreadable after two weeks! Which I totally don't understand since in theory there are an unlimited number of copies of an ebook.
DeleteI have a Kindle and my husband has a Kindle fire. They were both bought with an extended warranty. My kindle was in the tablet section of my padded backpack and developed a problem with the screen. Amazon offered a $15 discount on a replacement since I had purchased the Kindle more than a year previous. Called the extended warranty folks and they shipped a new one the next day. They also sent a prepaid return label for the old one.
ReplyDeleteIf your child is a concern, buy the extended warranty. It cost me $25 and completely replaced my $140 Kindle with the same model.
I didn't get the extended warranty but my kindle has been replaced twice. The first time the screen froze and nothing would make it change, the second the screen broke and got an image stuck on it. No issues with Amazon at all, they just sent out a new one and the label to ship the old one back.
DeleteI love it for reading.
Fizzy,
ReplyDeleteI am a fellow bibliophile and I spent alot of time internally debating on whether or not to buy a Kindle.
After two years of ownership, I can tell you that I love, love, love my Kindle! There were quite a few pros and cons on my initial list, but now all of the cons have dropped off, save for the fact that I can't enjoy the smell of a library book via little Kindle.
I won't bore you by rehashing all of my pros/cons, esp. since you named most of them, but I do want to mention my two favorite things about Kindle (they are not whiskers on kittens nor bright satin sashes). I love the portability of such a device; pulp simply can't compete. In the same vein, I am making an environmental-friendly effort by not buying books cut from trees, and that is self-satisfying for me.
If you are a fellow Amazon-ite, I would definitely recommend Kindle; it is very easy to use, whether you are checking out books from the library or buying from Amazon. I haven't had one issue with it in two years and it works just as efficiently today as it did when I took it out of the box, knock on wood. The only thing I can't speak to is how toddler-proof it is.
Enjoy!
I've had two different nook devices (the competing B&N version of a Kindle). I'm a huge reader - read 100+ books a year, easily, and when my partner was in the hospital, it was more like two books a day while she was in ICU. I only got the newer version because it had a sharper screen (I have the e-ink version, not the tablet/color version). It's such a good thing to have - but be aware, the e-ink versions are better for reading (looks like a page, not a screen) while the LCD screen ones are more for internet/magazines/etc. than for reading books. You can get library books on Kindle or nook, but nook also natively reads PDF files - so any professional documents you may want to have handy in PDF format will read easily on the nook. I know I can get lots of professional references in PDF format.
ReplyDeleteI JUST buckled and bought a Kindle all of two days ago... I realized that I wanted to read, but accessibility to the library/bookstores on a medical student schedule was a limiting factor. I'm already loving it!
ReplyDeleteI have a Nook color and liked it until I got my iPad. I can read Nook and Kindle books which allows me to price shop. Rarely use my laptop any more.
ReplyDeleteI love love love my Kindle. Enough said.
ReplyDeleteI love my Kindle, love Amazon Prime (hate the one book a month rule though, lol), I really can't say enough about it. I can still read a book if I have to, but reading on my Kindle is so enjoyable I much prefer to read that way. Be sure to get the one with the screen that lights up though, it is amazing how much that improves the reading experience. Not the Kindle Fire though, at least not for reading.
ReplyDeleteI had an older version Nook that lasted about two years before dying. What everyone says is true about e-reading, even for someone with no ability or interest in learning about all of its capabilities (I'm more of a plug and play person. I don't know half of what my i-phone can do.)
ReplyDeleteYou cannot beat them for portability. Standing in line at Starbucks? No problem. No lugging around heavy books when traveling and you can even sneak a peak during really boring meetings.
The only downside I found early on was that as I looked at its library, I said, Ooo - I want this, and this, and this ... never realizing what damage I was doing to my credit card until I got the bill. I found B&N books to be pretty much the same price as retail, which was an unexpected bummer. Of course, that was really my own fault because I never followed up on their sales and specials, etc., so I probably could have done better.
When it finally died and I had to go back to buying books, I actually bought a couple of books that I had already read because I didn't recognize the cover or the blurb as the publisher had described it. Grrrr. How stupid is that? Tricia
I had an early Nook & loved it, upgraded to nook app on iPad & now have an iPad mini, which I like best of all. You can download the free app for Nook, Kindle, Kobu, iBooks and get free or super cheap books through all of them. With either iPad the image is very sharp & you can read with the light off without disturbing your spouse. I usually read until I fall asleep at night so I love that feature. I haven't tried the tablet versions of Nook or Kindle --they're probably great, but I wholeheartedly recommend the iPad mini!
ReplyDeleteI just got a Nook for Christmas. have already devoured 3 books downloaded through my local library for free. I have the basic Nook simple touch. It's all I need and was on sale for black Friday
ReplyDeleteI always considered myself a "purist". I love the feel and smell of books and keep every book I read. My husband bought me a Kindle a few years back because he said he refused to build and buy anymore bookcases.
ReplyDeleteI really love it. Since I read every night, it became difficult to hold up 1000+ page books while I was in bed. Not a problem with the Kindle.
FYI, I found that the 2 week loan can be extended. Download the book to the Kindle and don't access the internet on the device until you are finished reading the book. Once you sign on again, it'll take it off.
You can have my "real" books when you drag them out of my cold, dead hands. ;)
ReplyDelete