Today I’ve decided to talk about the Kindle for Barrie Summy’s Book Review Club.  Don’t forget to check out Barrie’s other great book club reviews.

 I didn’t know what to get my husband for Father’s Day, so I consulted with my daughter and decided that since he is an avid reader and our bookshelves are overflowing, what better present than a Kindle.  I checked out the smaller 6” and larger DX 9.7” models.

It was a toss up, smaller and less expensive ($359.00) vs. larger screen and costlier ($489.00).  But the ultimate decision on any purchase lies in it’s use.  What will he use it for?  What capacity will he need?  What features most closely match his needs?

While you can read a book on both Kindles, the new DX model with the larger screen is more convenient if you want to subscribe to journals and newspapers or purchase college textbooks. 

So far, we haven’t subscribed to any journals or newspapers, but we purchased a textbook the other day.  The download took more than 60 seconds.  I think the wireless connection in our house was slow, so I can’t say whether it will always take a longer period of time to download, but we’ll see.  We did download several samples(The first chapters or pages of a book).  Those downloads were quicker, 60 seconds or less.

The text-to-speech is very clear with English.  However, I happened to download a book that included several foreign words and I needed to check the text to identify the word.

The rotating display is cool, but sometimes you had to tilt the screen upright before the display turned to landscape mode.

 I love the way you can be reading several books at a time and the Kindle knows where you left off in each of them.  The menu screen is easy to use and allows you to jump to different locations in the book, search for a particular word or phrase, add a bookmark, highlight, and add notes.  The charge lasts several days.  You can also turn the wireless option off when you are not downloading a book and of course Amazon has made purchasing books so convenient and easy.  I know I haven’t talked about all the features, but it’s a busy day with lots more to do, so I’ll end here.

 If you haven’t gotten the idea yet, yes, my husband agreed to share his Kindle DX with me.  He’s pretty good about sharing.  I try to read my books while he’s at the office and he gets access nights and weekends.  It’s kind of like sharing a cell phone in the early days of cell phones when you only kept it in the car for emergency use.  I’m guessing that as time goes by, we may need to buy another Kindle, and maybe by that time there will be more competition in the electronic book market.  But until then, I’ll sit back, pick my feet up, and enjoy the Kindle DX.

Happy reading everyone.

p.s.  Amazon is now saying that that Kindle DX is sold out.  Glad I got mine early.

Here are the stats on the Kindles from Amazon 

Kindle DX Display	9.7″ diagonal E Ink®
Size	10.4″ x 7.2″ x 0.38″
Storage	3,500 books
PDF Support	native PDF reader
Rotating Display	yes
3G Wireless	yes
Books in Under 60 Seconds	yes
Text-to-Speech	yes
Whispersync	yes
Price	$489.00

 

Kindle Display	6″ diagonal E Ink®
Size	8″ x 5.3″ x 0.36″
Storage	1,500 books
PDF Support	via conversion
Rotating Display	no
3G Wireless	yes
Books in Under 60 Seconds	yes
Text-to-Speech	no
Whispersync	yes
Price	$359.00

Posted: July 1st, 2009 under Uncategorized, writing.
Comments: 5

Over the past several months I’ve talked about being mindful and present to each moment of our lives.  It’s so easy to forget.  To fall back on old habits.  To blame others for all the bad things that happen in our lives.

 

This past week, I’ve gotten past the “why me” stage of my broken ankle and have once again focused on being present.  While I wouldn’t recommend that anyone break an arm, a foot, or a leg, using crutches has forced me to be mindful of every movement of my body. 

 

Walking up and down steps has been especially challenging.  Going up, I need to place my right foot on the step, raise my body until I’m balanced, place the crutches on the step then repeat the process.  Going down, I do the opposite, place the crutches on the step below, lower my injured leg, step down with my right.  Even after doing this several days, I still have to stay focused.  If not, I’m tumbling down a flight of stairs.

 

Fixing meals is also a challenge.  In my small kitchen, I hobble to the refrigerator, take out a yogurt and fresh fruit, hobble to the counter, moving the fruit toward the sink to rinse, hobble to the drawer for a knife, hobble back.  After filling my bowl, the next challenge is to carry it to the table while using both hands on the crutches.  With a little stretching, I manage to make it to the table in one piece.  The alternate, I suppose, is eating standing up in the kitchen, but it’s not as comfortable.

 

I’ve been very fortunate this past week to have my husband home.  He’s made the meals, carried my pillows up and down the stairs, drove me to the doctor’s office and to visit my mother.  I’m so grateful.  Today he went back to work.  So I’m alone, fending for myself.

 

I realized that breaking my ankle did more for me than slow me down.  It made me appreciate the miracle of my body.  How many times to we take our bodies for granted?  We constantly use our hands and our feet, our arms, legs, neck, and torso.  We see, hear, touch, taste and smell without a second thought.  Only when something is taken away do we really stop and realize the miracle that we are.

 

So if you life seems out of control, try this experiment.  Take an ace bandage, wrap it around your ankle and walk on crutches for week.  You’ll get frustrated, angry, annoyed.  You’ll want to rip the bandage off and say to heck with this.  But don’t.  Keep the bandage on, keep using the crutches until you can feel happy that you still have one good foot, two good arms and hands.  You can see and hear, touch, taste and smell.  You can love and be loved.  Then go ahead and put the crutches away.

 

Posted: July 28th, 2008 under Uncategorized, mindfulness, present moment.
Comments: 1

I’m not sure where this list originated from, but it was forwarded to me in email.  These are truly wise words.  I just had to share it.  Enjoy your day.

 

1. A day without sunshine is like night.

 

2. On the other hand, you have different fingers. 

 

3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.

 

4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

 

5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.

 

6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest. 

 

7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

 

8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.

 

9. Support bacteria. They’re the only culture some people have.

 

10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

 

11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

 

12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments. 

 

13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.

 

14. OK, so what’s the speed of dark?

 

15. When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.

 

16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

 

17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?

 

18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines 

 

19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

 

20. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

 

21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, ‘What the hell happened?’

 

22. Just remember — if the world didn’t suck, we would all fall off.

 

23. Light travels faster than sound. That’s why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

 

 

 

 

Posted: June 16th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 5