Last summer I received the Kindle e-book as a gift.  Though curious about how the Kindle worked I had little interest in owning one so for awhile my Kindle stayed unwrapped while I contemplated whether or not to join the e-book generation.  Alone one rainy weekend I decided to give it a try.  It was very easy to set-up.  Although you do need access to a computer to register both your Kindle and a credit card at Amazon.com, once registered all of your transactions take place through the ether (my word for the great wireless world of what I guess are mobile phone airwaves).  A moment of shopping in the Kindle book store and I was able to download a book in just a few minutes.  If instant gratification is your thing, the Kindle rates an A.  l spent the rest of the day and night reading Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay about a Jewish family rounded up by the French Police in Nazi occupied Paris in 1942.  I was hooked. I loved the book and I enjoyed the ease of reading it on my Kindle.  Having trouble seeing small print, not a problem, just adjust the print size to your liking.  Always losing your place in hard copy books, again not a problem, the Kindle remembers your last page.  In the mood for another book, just go to the search box and type in a name or an author and if its available in the Kindle library, downloading is just a click away.

As much as I enjoy my Kindle, I do miss a few things about reading hard copy books.  I love the trip to the book store, in my case the Barnes and Noble around the corner.  I enjoy walking around and looking at the newly published books, the table of the staff’s favorites, the new paper backs and the old classics.  I also like hanging in the book store, with a cup of coffee and a few magazines.  Though you can browse a lot of lists on your Kindle, including the NY Times best sellers or Amazon’s most frequently purchased, the physical experience of visiting a book store and the visual and tactile feel of a book is definitely something I miss.  That said, I am enjoying my Kindle very much.  I love the ease of satisfying my spur of the moment wim to read something new regardless of where I am.  I much prefer carrying my Kindle to lugging around one or more heavy hard covered books and I enjoy the ability to adjust the size of the print to compensate for lighting and, I must admit, my not always cooperative eyes.  As a result of its ease of use I am reading more than ever since I almost always have my Kindle with me, in waiting rooms, on subways, at home and on planes.  Good news for Amazon, good news too for the authors and good news for me because the cost of an e-book is less than most hard copy books.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the spookier things about the Kindle. When your Kindle’s wireless is on, which is generally all of the time unless you opt to turn it off, Amazon has a access to your device. When Amazon accidentally let readers buy e-copies of George Orwell’s books it was able to electronically wipe them off purchasers’ Kindles without warning.  Although they suffered a flurry of bad publicity over this action and have promised never to act so intrusively again, the reality is that the Kindle “big brother” knows all.  When my Kindle broke, Amazon impressively overnighted me a replacement but I have to admit that I was a little unnerved that my new Kindle knew where I was in the last book that I was reading.  So buyer beware, if you find the idea of the gremlins at Amazon knowing what you are up to unacceptable, stick to hard copy books.  If you are unphased by the new world than give the e-book a try.

One more thing, I have focused this note on the Kindle, because that is the e-book that I received as a gift.  However, if you decide to go the e-book route, check out the new Barnes and Noble Nook and any of the other technologies now available.  I’ll leave it to you to decide which one suits your needs and preferences.  As for me I plan to keep reading my Kindle and browsing the book stores.  When I feel a book needs to live in my home because it is so impressive, or beautiful or its something I want to share with all my friends, then I’ll probably still  purchase a hard copy.  As for the quick and easy reading of best sellers and other books that I am in the mood to try, I’ll take advantage of the e-book option.

A few books I’ve read on my Kindle lately that I highly recommend are  the two Stieg Larsson’s books available in the US: The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire.  I also recently read The Help by Kathryn Stockett and  am currently enjoying The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.  If you are in the mood for something more topical and serious, try The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright, a book that I would recommend in hard copy because I think it is the definitive book on the history of Al Queda, it serves as a good reference for  understanding much of  the tragedy and quagmire of Afghanistan and because the tables and references in the book are hard to appreciate in e-format.

Let me know what you are reading. I am always in the market for a good recommendation would enjoy hearing your views on any of the books I’ve mentioned.

To find out more about Arin, click on her photo

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