My first time...

Bound and Gagged by Dana Summers September 11, 2010

 ...reading on a Kindle, that is.

I legally purchased an ebook from the Amazon Kindle store for my first read on my new Kindle. I downloaded The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman for $5.00 after much deliberation and on the recommendation of CK and now that I've finished it, I can share my first impressions about reading on a Kindle.

At first, it's a bit weird. The Kindle is a bit wider than the standard paperback and much thinner. It doesn't have the solid heft of holding a book but I got used to that pretty quickly. The design is comfortable though everyone I showed it to tried to use it as a touchscreen. It seems like it should be touchscreen but I don't find that a drawback at all. The navigation buttons on both sides of the Kindle for page forward and page back are a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it's very easy to navigate your book with whatever hand you choose but their location makes it hard to figure out how to hold your Kindle. Sometimes I accidentally paged forward when I didn't mean to.

I don't like not knowing how many pages are in a book. The Kindle does give you a numeric location which Amazon says is "a digital answer to page numbers" and also shows you a progress indicator displaying what percentage of the book you've read. This took some getting used to but I guess it's something I can live with. 

Other than that, once you get used to it (and that happens pretty quickly), reading on the Kindle is terrific! There isn't eye strain and you can download tons of books and have them easily available. It's actually a little dangerous - how impulsively you can see a new book you want to read and decide you have to have it now. 

For now, I have found some alternatives to purchasing ebooks from Amazon and I already have 5 more books waiting to be read as well as 2 free word games. 

I have a feeling that with my new Kindle I'll be able to read more books though of course the biggest drawback is that it can't be used on Shabbat (hey Machon Tzomet - how about a grama).

So stay posted for more info as I get ready to delve into a new book on my Kindle.