For the Insatiable reader – ? Kindle? maybe

When Stu and I went on our cruise to Panama, I took several paperbacks with me as did Stu. I read all of mine, all of his and then moved into the ship library. I had resisted ebook readers, figuring they weren’t for me. This trip made me look at them again.

I read all the reviews,everything I could about comparing theKindle with the Nook and other readers like the Sony. So many things to compare, so many things to think about. In the end I decided on the Kindle, thinking it would work best for me and my style of reading and taste in books.

But there were rumors of price cuts coming…so I wanted to wait as long as possible. But the blogs I had been following were always posting free ebooks for the Kindle and I didn’t want to miss out on those. What to do?

First thing I did was download and install Kindle for the PC as well as the app for my iPhone. I could then download the free books and either read them on those devices (I ended up only reading on the iPhone once in a while) and transfer the unread ones to my future Kindle 2.

I ended up buying before the price cuts but it was still worth it. While on our cruise to Alaska, I got numerous questions about it as well as high-5’s from others with readers.

So where did I find the free books? My main resources were a couple of blogs. They also have a lot of chatter about the industry, which sometimes proves interesting. They list low cost books as well as featuring free books. (There is some duplication but I still find some books only appearing in one blog, so I still follow them all.)

• Kindle Review
• Kindle Nation Daily
• Books on the Knob

If you just want industry information, updates and reviews before buying the add this blog,
A Kindle World and read this comparison.

There are other resources for free and low cost ebooks, here are a few:

• Gutenburg Project
• SmashWords
• Baen Free Library
• World Public Library
• Internet Archive
• Free Classics For Amazon Kindle
• Border’s Free Book List (includes classics)
• Google Books (mostly older, public domain books)

Oh, if you are interested in free MP3’s for your Kindle, iPod or other mP3 player, visit free MP3’s at Amazon. Some other interesting sites to check out are:

• Calibre, a free and open source e-book library management application developed by users of e-books for users of e-books. Note – also works with MACs
• Mobipocket, a program that lets you create an ebook in a few clicks by adding HTML and image files to your publication.
• Myebook, publish your own or read others ebooks.
• Wattpad, a place to read and share original fiction and connect with readers and writers from around the world.

Calibre and Mobipocket can convert epub books for Kindle use. That makes sites like Kobo’s Free eBook list even more useful.

There are even games for the Kindle – I like the free word games. I’ve used them when I can’t sleep. LOL!

• Every Word – free
• Shuffled Row – free
• Scrabble – $4.99
• Mine Sweeper – free
• EA Solitaire – $3.99
• Triple Town – $2.99

I have the Kindle 2 and this is the cover I got. I had tried another and returned it, it covered up too much of the corners and I didn’t like it. This one snaps the Kindle into place. If I ever upgrade, I’ll get the same one. I love the fact that it can stand like an easel, too. I use that for reading in bed. LOL!

Don’t forget that you can read PDF books as well on your Kindle….I downloaded all of Nick Russell’s Books from his CDthat I bought as well as my Wal-Mart Park and No Park lists.

So, what do I like to read? Mystery, fantasy, Sci-Fi and romance (contemporary, time travel, historical). I have bought a couple of non-fiction books like:

• Cesar’s Way
• The Thyroid Diet
• YOU: The Owner’s Manual

I suspect I will eventually upgrade to a newer Kindle and then Stu will take over mine. The good thing is that we can share one account and have the books on both devices. A lot of the mysteries I read are ones he enjoys as well. Of course in his mind, as soon as one of our laptops go, he’s getting an iPad and I’ll get the remaining laptop. Even if the iPad didn’t require a computer for setup, I’d need one for the web site work that I do.

So hopefully I have answered a few questions and helped you on your way to more reading!