Kindle Review and Tips!

A few weeks ago I purchased a Kindle Wi-Fi 6" and thought I'd offer my review here. 

I should preface this by saying I'm a reader by nature. I can easily read a book every few days if I find it engaging and am not adverse to reading in digital form. 

I selected a Kindle for several reasons: 

1. It's very lightweight and the size is manageable for my hands. 

The Kindle I selected weighs just 6 ounces and sits at 6.5" X 4.5", or roughly the size of a small paperback. The page turn buttons, found on both the left and right sides, are long which I imagine allow it to accommodate very different hand sizes comfortably.

2. The E-Ink screen is easier on my eyes than a backlit reader. 

E Ink was originally developed in 1996 and is sort of analogous an Etch-A-Sketch. Basically: 

http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/06/einks-screens-explained-with-a-snowglobe/

Make sense? Yeah, I don't really get it either. What I know is that spending 1 hour reading on my Kindle is MUCH easier on my eyes than my mac or ipad. I can't say with any authority that the Kindle is easier to read than a paperback, but I would say the experience is comparable for me. 

3. Lending/Purchasing Options.

Obtaining books on your Kindle doesn't have to be expensive, in fact it can even be free! Here are some of my favorite resources for getting free or low cost books: 

Our local public library, the Fort Worth Public Library, offers Overdrive subscriptions to members allowing us to borrow books without ever leaving our house. It's easy, fast and totally free.

Amazon Prime members have access to the Kindle Owner's Lending Library included as part of the membership service. The Lending Library currently has more than 300,000 books that members can borrow for free with no due dates. Not a Prime Member? That's ok! Check out the Amazon Daily Deals where you can find selected books for $.99-$1.99 each day. 

Kindle also allows book owners to loan each book 1 time, so it's no surprise that social networking has stepped up to match book owners to book seekers. Lendle is currently my favorite platform. In order to participate in Lendle, you have to own Kindle books and be willing to lend them to other members- that's it. As of 3/31, there are currently 101,478 books available to loan from other book owners. The best part though is that these are books that you know someone has read and at least enjoyed enough to own (and maybe pay for previously), so chances are higher of finding what you want here.

I also wanted to share my POV regarding the 'Kindle with ads'. Seriously, save yourself the $20. I truly do not mind the Kindle ads, in fact, sometime they point me to a new book that is on sale or wouldn't have otherwise been on my radar. The ads do not interrupt your reading and act as your 'screen saver' rather than the photo of some dead writer. If I had to do it again I'd purchase Jason's paperwhite with ads.

Finally, I've mentioned Goodreads before but wanted to say that Jason told me they were recently purchased by Amazon. This could either greatly improve the experience or turn into another advertising venue, so the jury is still out. As of right now though I still LOVE Goodreads for cataloging books that I want to read or have read and getting recommendations from other book lovers. Click here if you want to see my bookshelf!

Overall, I am a huge fan of my Kindle and find that there are many resources available for finding free or low cost books. If you're considering joining the Kindle family feel free to shoot me an email with any questions you may have. 

Happy reading!

-DBC