Cool Toys

After a couple months of not-so-subtle hinting, my husband finally got me an Amazon Kindle. For those of you who haven't heard of the Kindle, rest assured it has nothing to do with large women burning down your house. It's one of those electronic books from Amazon, the on-line book seller.

I've had it for a while now, and it's super cool! Unlike most of the other electronic readers, the Kindle actually has real books that I want to read. I have to buy them, but they are cheaper than most paperbacks. The other readers that my husband tried to suggest were limited to free on-line content. As you can imagine, there are a lot of free books out there, but let's just say you get what you pay for.

The Kindle comes with wireless access, but there's no monthly access fee. You can flip on the Kindle, shop on-line at Amazon.com, and the book is zapped to the Kindle within seconds. It's like magic to a non-techy person like me! I can also use a USB cable when I'm outside the wireless network (like in the Netherlands, for example).

The unit itself is about the size and weight of a small paperback. It will hold up to 10 novels at a time. This is a great feature for traveling. I can download 10 books before I leave and not have to carry all that extra weight. And when I am sitting by myself in a restaurant, I can put the Kindle on the table and not have to struggle with holding the pages open. As I get tired, I can increase the font size. The screen is not backlit like a computer screen either so your eyes don't get as tired. It has some special kind of display that doesn't take much power so the battery lasts a long time, too.

I've already read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and now I'm working on The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber. Both are good books. I'm always looking for good book suggestions, so post a comment if you have a favorite book!

Before you think I'm a paid advertiser for this product (I'm not), let me point out a couple of things that could be improved. The Kindle cover that comes with the unit is seriously flawed. It's a leather and suede cover much like the cover of a real hard-back book. But it doesn't hook onto the Kindle very well so it always feels like it's falling out. Seems like they could have figured out some better engineering on that! Also, the page turning buttons are so big that you end up accidentally turning the page every time you try to straighten the Kindle in the crappy cover. There's very little room between the buttons to hold the unit. These are minor complaints, though. Overall, I think this is an awesome new toy for anyone who read a lot.