nomadreader

Last week I shared some helpful hints on how to borrow Kindle books from your library. After using the service for several days, I've discovered a few more things. 1. The perks of not having a Wifi Kindle Initially, I thought it was cumbersome to have a 3G Kindle instead of a Wifi version because getting library books onto my Kindle requires connecting the Kindle to a computer with USB. I realized, however, if I have to manually load these titles onto my Kindle, I also have to manually unload them. Although I no longer have the book checked out, it's still on my Kindle.  I am not able to access it from any of the Kindle apps, but I can still enjoy it on my Kindle. Obviously, this feature could be abused. It is nice, though, to have an option to have an "overdue" book if you haven't finished it yet. Different libraries have set different loan periods (happily, mine has switched from 7 to 14 day loans.) For most books, I don't need 14 days to read them. W...

Yesterday was a big day of news on the Internet. Facebook rolled out wildly unpopular changes, Pandora changed its interface, and Amazon quietly rolled out Kindle book lending from libraries (a mere one day after news broke it was testing it at Seattle public libraries.) I adore my Kindle and prefer reading on it to reading in print, so the availability of another way to access some Kindle books is amazing. (I still love ebook fling , but I don't often have luck getting access to the titles I want--often due to both publishers not allowing loans). Here are a few things to know about borrowing Kindle books from your library: 1. If your library has a title as an e-book, it now has it available for the Kindle. I used to dread seeing e-book titles available in my public library catalog because I knew they weren't Kindle compatible. Blessedly, instead of having two different e-book collections (one for Kindle format and one for epub), it's all the same. It's lovely ...

It's no secret I love my Kindle. If I could afford to only read on my Kindle, I would. When lending books for the Kindle became an option, I made a Google document with all of the books I owned that could be lent and shared it with all of my friends and family who also had Kindles. I liked the idea of sharing books, as I've never been one to hoard books I've read (books I have yet to read are a different story. My bookshelves tell a different story about me: the books I think I want to read someday but never seem to.)  My Google document just got blown out of the water by ebookfling . The concept is simple and similar to Paperback Swap: lend a book, get a credit. Borrow a book for a credit. I chose to manually list my Kindle books with them, but you can also import your library. I have several books I want to read soon (mostly the Orange Prize longlist ), and I won't loan them until I've read them. Not all Kindle books are loanable of course, but when you...

I've had a Kindle for two months now, and I still love it. There have been huge changes in how and what I read since I got it, and I've been following the news about e-book price wars, delayed e-book releases and the general wackiness of the publishing and retail industry quite closely. A Book Borrower Turned Book Buyer Before I got my Kindle, I rarely bought books. I have the benefit of both the university library and a fantastic local public library system . On the rare occasion I can't get a book through either library source, I would usually wait six months and request it through interlibrary loan or obsessively enter blog contests to win a copy. I've lived in four states in four years, and I'm tired of moving books, so I didn't feel the need to collect them. As a book blogger, I also have the luxury of review copies to entice me, so I do acquire books. Despite not being a book buyer, I adore my Kindle. I don't mind paying for books with the conveni...

As many of you know, nomadreaerboy got me a Kindle for Christmas, and I love it. To resist the temptation to spend all of the Amazon giftcards my parents and brother bought me in the first five minutes, I started browsing the Kindle bestseller list for free books. I was delighted to see Maureen Johnson's Suite Scarlett  available for free. I've read great reviews of it, but I hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. Having a free Kindle copy made it shoot to the top of my pile. I started reading it on the train home from our Christmas vacation, and I instantly liked it. It's the story of Scarlett, a delightful teenager who lives in a New York City hotel. Her parents own the hotel, which has declined in prestige over the years. There's some teen angst: her friends are all off doing exciting things all summer, and she has to work at the hotel. There's some romance too. I adore New York City, and this story is a partial ode to the city. Most importantly t...

The big news: I got a Kindle for Christmas! I was surprised; I cried. I profusely thanked nomadreaderboy! To no one's surprise, I love it! It has already changed my reading. First, I read the New York Times  again. It's delivered automatically each morning when it hits the newsstand. It's wonderful to roll over and start reading the paper in bed each morning. Then, when the paper is finished, I click into the book I'm reading. As someone who used to carry at least one book (what if I finished it? I had to have something else to read) along with the paper and the New Yorker  around, it's amazing to have all three in one place.  In honor of my Kindle, here are a few bookish articles I read and enjoyed: Small Publisher Found It's Mission in Translation  (12/26/09) - a fascinating look at Open Letter Books , a small publisher who only publishes translated works, which is a dying industry in the U.S. I have a copy of Season of Ash  by Jorge Volpi, which is p...