YEP, as you can see, I received a Kindle for Christmas. And YES, I've fallen in LUV with it, to my great surprise and to the surprise of my many reading friends who consider me a "purist" (not sure why).I'm sharing here the ten reasons I LUV my Kindle, but next month I'll be giving the ten reasons I DON'T LUV it. Just so you know. . .
ONE REASON I'm so keen on my K is that I can now buy books instantly. If my husband thought I kept Amazon in business last year, you can just guess what he's going to say this year. (Maybe, but maybe not. See Reason Two.)
Let me give you a speedy purchase example from a few minutes ago. On Tuesday (2-8-11) the Wall Street Journal ran a marvelous opinion piece, "The Roots of Ronald Reagan's Ambition" by John Fund. Know what those roots were? A Christian novel by a Christian author, Harold Bell Wright's That Printer of Udell's, first published in 1902!
Since I'm sharing about Kindles, I just checked to see if That Printer of Udell's is formatted for the K. Sure enough, it is! And right before my eyes, the K price went from $6.23 to $0.00. So of course, ten seconds later, it was on my K. As soon as I've finished this blog, I'll start reading it. I'm eager to read the novel that changed and directed the course of President Reagan's fascinating life. I'm guessing the novel has LOTS of other new readers this weekend besides me. (Maybe you?)
The SECOND REASON I'm so keen on my Kindle is something I just mentioned in the previous paragraph. The low price of books! And most of my K books so far have cost $0.00, including the new Holman Christian Standard Bible just released last Fall. Can't beat that! (Note: Zero dollar prices sometimes last only a day or two.)
THIRD REASON: The instructions for using the K are so easy to follow and implement. A huge plus for someone like me who didn't grow up in this wonderful techie world we now enjoy.
FOUR: It's so light and comfortable to hold. I do a LOT of reading in bed, and the K sure beats books for reading in bed with ease.
FIVE: Plus the K is so easy to read. I always wondered about that, and now I know from personal experience. It's easier than books to see at night. And in a second or two, I can change the font size and line spacing to increase reading ease and speed.
SIX: I've read that some readers say the K slows their reading. Not me. I can read faster because I can turn the pages faster and easier than I can book pages. Yep, I do LUV my Kindle.
SEVEN: It's something new and fun to chat about with friends at book clubs, on blogs, on Facebook, and even with family! My son-in-law also received one for Christmas. We were quite the center of attention as we compared our K's and what we were reading. No one else in our family group had one. They probably will soon. . .
EIGHT: It's just the traveling "thing" for readers like me. I always have trouble keeping my suitcase weight under 50 pounds because of books. The last trip I went on, my suitcase was underweight. Thanks to my Kindle, I had a bunch of new books with me on the plane to enjoy, as well as a devotional and several Bibles. I remember last September being impressed at the ACFW Conference in Indy by an attendee who was comparing a Bible passage in several translations on her K. Now I can do that too. WOW!
NINE: In addition to books, in a flash I can get just about any newspaper and magazine I want on my K. I haven't done so yet, but I plan to, especially the Wall Street Journal that I read every day.
TEN: My K also gives me something to dislike. And I'm human enough to enjoy a complaining session now and then. So check back next month on the second Friday of March for the reasons I DON'T LUV my Kindle. (Although I'm not sure I can come up with ten. . . :-)
Millie Samuelson
I LUV my Kindle, too. I've had it for a little over a year (after "begging" for it as a retirement gift). Most of the classics are available for that fabulous $0.00 price, so I've been re-reading some of my old favorites. But it's biggest advantages are reducing the strain on my bookshelves (which don't have room for any more books) and knowing I always have plenty of reading material on a trip.
ReplyDeleteMillie, I'm waiting to see the things you don't love. I have a couple, but they are miniscule next to the things I do love.
Hi Kathryn -- Yep, I'm already stumped on my list of "don't luvs" after just a couple. Send me yours. If they're different from mine, I'll include them and credit you. HEY, in case you check back here, have you read my comment below on yesterday's post? I included you because of your comment about confidentiality. Happy Friday! :-)
ReplyDeleteI love my kindle. Light, portable, and easy to read. I can also download samples to see if I want to but the book. The page on the kindle almost exactly mimics a page in a book.
ReplyDeleteHi Dale -- Yes, that's one of the luvs I forgot to mention -- getting free samples. I too have enjoyed that feature! Thanks for the reminder. . . :-)
ReplyDeleteI've had my Kindle for six months, and what I like most is that I can read the first few chapters on a book for free, and if I like it, I can check it out at the library. Too many times, I brought home a stack of library books only to take them back unread because they were not that interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe highlighting feature is great too. Someday, for fun, I'm going to put photos on it.
Great obs, Kenny! I haven't used the highlighting feature yet, but I'm sure I will. I also really like that it has the "go to"/"find" feature. Happy Friday! :-)
ReplyDeleteOK, I have been on the fence. Love my hardcovers and softcovers, but many of the ladies that are in my bookclub now have Kindles. It appears there are two versions that I know of or at least two different prices. I will be looking forward to next month on the things you do not like about it and I wonder how it compares to the Nook? Thanks for more insight on the Kindle.
ReplyDeleteI've been hearing about one advantage of the Nook, Wanda -- you can share books among Nook owners. Kindle has just started a sharing program, but you can only share a book once. Next month will be here soon. . . see you then! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Millie! I, too, want to see you come up with ten reasons you DON'T love the Kindle. The only reason I got one (the $139 version) was because my book came out first on Kindle. It has a few formatting issues, but I've been told it doesn't adversely impact the reading. But, next time around... Sorry to go off on a rabbit trail there. There's still some kinks to work out, as there always are with technology. I'll say that my Kindle sales have been brisk and higher than the paperback sales, proving the statement that yes, ebooks are outselling print copies of books. Not to mention the price is a little less than half the cost of the paperback. The immediacy factor is one of the best features, as are the free books. Call me silly, but it's easier to read from a Kindle while painting my nails and waiting for them to dry! But it's sometimes harder to find a certain passage if I want to look at it again (and am not sure what word to search for). Great and timely post! Blessings!
ReplyDeleteSure enjoyed your comments, JoAnn! Makes me want to get my books into Kindle format -- but I'm waiting a bit longer for a publisher other than me. . . Haven't tried the fingernail polish maneuver yet, but thanks for the tip! Weekend blessings! :-)
ReplyDelete