Ode to our Kindles

A stomach bug from outer darkness blazed through our neighborhood a couple of weeks ago. I had four children throwing up all at once but somehow managed to avoid catching the illness myself and sent up many and various prayers of gratitude. My super hero immunity finally fatigued though (probably due to scarfing Moose Tracks ice cream like it was going out of style) and now I’m the one running to the little girls room every five seconds.

Since I am stuck living no more than a sprinting distance from the bathroom, I’ve been occupying myself by finishing The Scarlet Pimpernel and watching the 1982 movie of the same name, which of course only vaguely resembles the book. I recommend the book, though the first chapter had me nearly giving up – it picks up after that. There is a surprising amount of anti-Semitic content near the end which had me Googling for more information on French and English prejudice of the time. I think I live in this sheltered little bubble where it is very easy to believe that most thinking individuals today no longer harbor such unjust feelings toward their fellow man, but that’s what you get, I suppose when you live in an area with almost 0% diversity.

I wanted to read more Robin McKinley books, but not many are available for the Kindle, and obviously I can’t quite get to the library. HA, I typed bathroom instead of library first. See where my brain is? But I was delighted to see the next book in the Maze Runner Trilogy was out, so I used an Amazon gift card and downloaded it immediately.

Since I get asked quite a bit, here are the Kindles we own:

I have an older version, the Kindle 2. I love it. I love where the buttons are, how the keyboard is laid out, the pink cover I have for it, how I have everything on it organized (of course) into collections. It goes everywhere with me. I share it with the kids, and have a lot of free classics on there we use for homeschooling. I have no plans to upgrade until the thing breaks beyond repair. (Please never break, dear Kindle). If you’ve wanted a Kindle, and can find this version for less money than one of the new Kindles, get it. I think the thousands of free classic books is reason alone to get the Kindle, and if your library offers e-books you can loan with your e-reader, all the better! (Mine doesn’t, yet, but I’m harassing them regularly).

After reading the The Hunger Games series, I handed my Kindle to my husband and told him he had to read the three amazing books immediately. He lost three straight days wrapped up in the books and fell in love with my Kindle. He ordered the Kindle 3 (now called “Kindle Keyboard”) and is as devoted to his version as I am to mine. He has a very cool case with a built in light that runs off the Kindle battery. His battery doesn’t last as long as mine due to this, but it is the one thing I wish mine had. I’ve gone through a number of clip on lights but they all seem to chew up batteries or break.

Since we share an Amazon account, both our Kindles are linked. If I want to borrow my husband’s Kindle after he’s gone to sleep so I can use his light, I can access all my books in his archives folder. Fabulous! When I left my Kindle at the bed and breakfast we stayed at for our anniversary, I was able to use his for homeschooling without issue until my Kindle got mailed back to me.

Lending: my sister has a Kindle, and while you can only loan a Kindle book once (my only gripe), I have used this feature to loan her books I purchased and loved. I hope Amazon changes that policy to something else – maybe lending a book 5 times? Or twice a year? If they did something like that, I think I’d take part in something like Lendle.

Thoughts on the New Kindles: well, I love that they are so affordable now. If I can discipline myself to save up my little Amazon Affiliate gift cards, I might get my two oldest children their own for Christmas. I’m not sure I like the idea of no more physical keyboard — I type notes in non-fiction books pretty frequently and I think the touch screen keypad might be a pain, but then, a touch screen sounds pretty sweet – though pushing the buttons on my Kindle is like breathing to me now.

Believe it or not, I’ve never desired an iPad, but I love how affordable the Kindle Fire is compared to it, and hope it does really well. Apple needs some viable competition, me thinks. If you’re looking for an e-reader and not a tablet type thing that does a whole bunch of stuff, I’d recommend a plain Kindle over the Fire. But if you want a little laptop replacement you can do more stuff on, the Fire would be a good choice. I wonder though, while I think reading on the iPad looks cool, I wonder about eye fatigue. That ink technology the Kindles have is marvelous and I *love* that I can take it outside and read in a glare without issue. My iPod is rendered absolutely useless out in the sun.

Oft asked: No, I don’t miss real books. Mostly because I still read them. I get stuff from the library all the time (like those Robin McKinley books that aren’t available in Kindle format). When the Kindle first came out, I didn’t think it would appeal to me at all – I liked the smell of books, I liked turning pages, I liked seeing my books all stacked up on a bookshelf. I still do! I don’t think owning a Kindle means you never hold, buy, or borrow a real book anymore. Plus, I think I read even *more* now that I have a very portable e-reader. I thought I read a ton before, but I’ve definitely increased how much I read just due to the availability of free books, how portable the Kindle is, and how easy it is to download a cheap book my library doesn’t have (small town library = small selection). Also, I read in bed all the time (can’t get to sleep unless I turn off my brain first by reading a few chapters), and let’s talk about how marvelous it is to read a giant tome on the Kindle, laying on your side and not having to prop the heavy book up or shift the book back and forth as you move from page to page.

I will wrap this all up by adding, you don’t have to own a Kindle to take advantage of all those free classics! You can download Kindle for your computer or iPod and still take advantage of the free books — fantastic if you’re a homeschooler!

Do you have a Kindle or another e-reader? Do you love and adore it? Do you have an iPad? Do you find it tiresome to read books on it or is it fine? Any other questions?

* This is not a sponsored post. Though I always link to Amazon stuff with my Affiliate account whenever possible (gotta earn that pile of pennies!), I write with loving adoration about my Kindle because I love it and bought it with my own hard earned cash (when they were way more expensive!)