Kindle Love

I debated about getting a Kindle for a long time.  I love electronics… iPhones, computers, cameras… if its got batteries, I want it.  But I also love books… with pages… that smell like paper and ink… I love book stores… used book stores that smell like old books and big, new book stores that smell like coffee. I felt like I might be betraying “real” books and my favorite used book store by getting a Kindle.   I also like to read in the tub… electronics…. water…. 😦

One of my biggest road blocks was being unable to share my Kindle books.  My Mom, Aunt and I share all our books (we are book junkies… we’ll read anything).

Well the final tipping point was this winter…. we were snowed (or iced) in repeatedly.  It was so miserable… I read all my books… I read my reserve books (stuff I wasn’t excited to read, but thought I should), I even read books that I’d partially read but hadn’t liked and quit halfway through.   Then all my books were gone… and I was still snowed in.  It wasn’t hard to convince my mom after that.  We both ordered Kindles.  We picked the less expensive Kindle, 6″ E Ink Display  that way we felt like we could still read in the tub… yeah, if we dropped it, that would stink… but we like to read in the tub… Neither one of us was willing to give that up.

The very next day I was checking Woot.com‘s Daily Deals… they had the older Kindle Touch on sale…. ONE DAY!  Really?!  Mom and I ordered two, one for my aunt and one for Dad… Happy Next Three Holidays! We didn’t wait to give it to them… Why?  Holding on to gifts until a certain day on the calendar is just silly… if you have something you know someone you love will enjoy… give it to them!  Duh!

We got around the “sharing” issue by putting mine, Mom’s and Auntie’s Kindles all under my Amazon account (Dad likes war books, he’s on his own).  I order the books and manage the account… we share the book costs… it all works out pretty good.  Mom and Auntie aren’t tech-fans… they wouldn’t have gotten a Kindle if I wasn’t managing the ordering and delivering of the books.  Once a week they hand me their Kindles and I sync any new books and clear off the old.  Using the Kindle is super easy though… they don’t have any issues using it.

We have discovered a number of new authors by signing up for the Daily Deal emails and since I have an Amazon Prime Membership we get one free book each month through the Kindle First program.

I still visit my favorite used book store.  Used book stores are still the best place to find old books… and it is wonderful to be able to ask the store clerks what to read next.  Amazon’s recommendations just can’t replace a human.  I have a pile of old mysteries on the nightstand right now.

We all love our Kindle’s now.  I have a couple of suggestions if you decide to buy one… (1) Watch Woot.com for a sale (if you aren’t in a rush… who knows when they may show up again).  (2) If you buy one through Amazon, just get the E-Ink… I don’t get the point of the Kindle Fire…. Those things are $200-$300…. you want to be able to read on the beach… in the car… in the TUB!  Buy an iPad for surfing the web…. get a Kindle for reading books.  (3) Get the one WITH ads…. Mom and I got the one WITHOUT ads…. Dad’s and Auntie’s have ads… the ads only show up as a screensaver when the Kindle is “asleep” …. it’s not a big deal…. save a few bucks. (4) Keep going to used book stores… Amazon doesn’t have all the old stuff.