Photo: SXC

I do have a bookshelf in most rooms, but I try to limit it to one. I treat my books like my closet. I keep a few sentimental favorites and the rest have to be read or consulted sometime in the past year to make the cut. I also have three baskets of books. One for library books and one for each kid. They love to flip through the baskets and having one for the library books enables me to keep track of the books and to avoid having them get mixed in with our personal books.

Now, if I could just fall out of love with the smell and feel of actual books, with the magic of opening a cover and finding a new world in the pages inside, I could get an e-book reader, like the Kindle through Amazon.com and have all of my books stored electronically. So far, it just isn’t for me, though.

How do you keep your books straight?

Post from: Blisstree

Keeping All Those Books Straight

Amazon’s Kindle

The Kindle is a new kind of electronic reader, and provides a high-resolution paper-like display.  It’s practically like reading a real book, with a few special touches that make it even better than the real thing.

It looks just like it does in the photo, weighing in at 10.3 ounces (lighter and thinner than most paperback books), with a six inch diagonal screen.  It easily fits into my purse, so just like with a paperback, I have something to read handy – where ever I go!

The Kindle is very easy to use (no computer required), even for the non-tech traveler.  You can search for books and download them by accessing the Kindle store using your device.  Downloads take less than a minute.  You don’t need a wi-fi hotspot, as it uses cell phone technology.

There are lots of books to choose from, too!  While all books are not yet available in Kindle format, most of the books on the New York Times Best Seller list are, and I found a good selection from all reading genres.  I like the feature that allows me to download — for FREE — the first chapters of a book to sample.  From there, I can decide if I like the book enough to buy it and download the entire thing.  This feature has saved me from a couple of purchasing mistakes, and also teased me on some titles that I otherwise would have passed by.  Many top US newspapers also also available in Kindle format, as are many top blogs.

I can pack lighter with the Kindle.  Instead of packing a handful of books for a week’s vacation, I can load up my Kindle.  Even if it’s just a quick overnight, I don’t have to pack a second book because I’m nearly done with that first.  I have the choice to pre-load with all the books I can’t wait to read, or I can just wait to download the next book after I finish what I’m reading now.  The Kindle will hold over 200 books, so even voracious readers will never be caught without, and with a SD memory card, it will hold even more.  (A back up of all your book purchases can also be found online.)

As with all electronic gadgets, especially the ones that you travel with, I was concerned about battery life, and the need to pack one more re-charger.  user manual recommends that you re-charge regularly, rather than waiting till you drain the battery.  I turn the wireless feature off, unless I’m actively using it, and have barely made a dent in the battery usage.  I’ll probably adopt the practice of re-charging when I’m at home so I don’t have to worry about that on the road.

I haven’t tried all the cool features yet, but one that I really appreciate is the adjustable text size.  I’m of that age where my reading vision isn’t quite what it used to be, and the selection of larger font sizes helps my old, tired eyes.

The Kindle wireless reader comes with a book cover, power adapter, and USB 2.0 cable, and sells for $359.  Replacement parts and a few accessories are also available.  Exclusively at Amazon.

Photo credit:  Amazon

Post from: Blisstree

Amazon’s Kindle Helps Me Pack Lighter