09 February 2012

Kindle worship

I received a Kindle Touch for Christmas while I was in the U.S. and it's honestly the best gift I've ever gotten.

It amazes me how much reading I get done with this Kindle, and it's pretty handy to carry around while traveling.  I read in the NYC subway, at the bank while waiting for my turn at the counter, at the doctor's waiting lounge, and any other place that forces me to be in a state of inertia for more than 5 minutes.

In a span of 7 weeks since I've gotten the Kindle, I've finished seven books and am in the middle of the eighth, which is Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest. Considering how awfully slow I was last 2011 in tackling my book backlog, doing an average of one book a week on my Kindle now is a major improvement.

I find myself scouring the Amazon Kindle bestsellers list for good sales on a regular basis.  Was able to buy Neil Gaiman's 10th Anniversary edition of American Gods for less than $4 (!!!) and bought Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy at a discounted bundled price of $18.50.

I also managed to download a whole bunch of Kindle-formatted public domain books for free. This means I can finally attempt to re-read James Joyce's Ulysses and Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace without straining my wrist from the weight of these books. Hurray for Project Gutenberg and all those groups who labor to make such great literature free and accessible.

And now for the vain part. My Kindle in all its Kate Spade-covered glory. Yes, I had to buy a Kate Spade Kindle cover--because my beloved reading device shouldn't be decked out in anything that's less than Kate Spade.

Straight from the box. And my first free Kindle e-book download was Popular Tales from the Norse.


My Kate Spade Jubilee Stripe Kindle cover. Cheery blue-and-green stripes on canvas.


I got this in Target. It's amazing how many Kindle e-books one can buy with $50. I'm trying not to use it up as much as I can. You now know what to buy me for my birthday or for Christmas.
 

My Kindle is small enough to fit into my Kate Spade Call Me Hayden shoulder bag (which, by the way, has the most adorable bag lining ever).

The Kindle doesn't change my love for printed books. Just this evening, I found myself reading A.S. Byatt's Ragnarok: The End of the Gods, and I know that there's still joy to be had in the physical turning of pages in one's hand. But the Kindle does make reading on the go beautifully easy.

And oh that notion of having 3,000 books in just one device...! I can imagine growing old with you, Kindle.


2 comments:

  1. I have the exact same device waiting for me back home, a belated birthday present from Joyce ordered via a friend in New York. I'm looking forward to travelling with a substantially lighter backback!

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  2. Am excited for you. I initially thought I'd be averse to a Kindle, but I've discovered how useful it is. Lonely Planet books come in Kindle editions already, so at least you don't have to carry a thick guidebook whenever you travel!

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