10 Reasons I Love the Kindle

Last week, I wrote about why I would continue to buy and read printed books.  It seemed only fair to also then go on to share this week about why I love the Kindle.  (I’m sure just about all of these apply to any e-reader device.  I just happen to have the Kindle.)

10 Reasons I Love the Kindle

1. The Kindle is just so portable!  I can easily stick it in just about any bag I have (even my purse, if I cleaned it out).  Some books can be bulky, so the Kindle is a nice alternative to that.

2. I can have tons of books with me wherever I go.  Our son Noah takes a bunch of books with him pretty much anywhere we go.  If we’re going to drive across town, he’s going to have at least two books with him, and that’s only if we stop him from bringing five.  I don’t know why he does this, but we humor him on it.

Being able to have a bunch of books on the Kindle saves me from feeling like Noah if I’m going on a trip.  No hard decisions about which books to bring along or how much weight they’re going to add to my bag.

3. There is a plethora of free or very inexpensive eBooks.  I don’t know how it is on other sites, but if you have a Kindle or a Kindle reading app, you will have access to a crazy number of free or cheap books.

Are they all top quality?  Well, no, of course not.  But, you’ll find winners.

Plus, with Kindle’s KDP Select program, eBooks that are enrolled in that have the option of using up to five free days each 90 days.  When my only eBook that is in the Select program was recently free for three days, it was downloaded over 1600 times in those few days.  (For those that might say, “Why give away an eBook like that and get excited about it?”  Well, first, it’s good advertising for me as a writer.  And, second, I just kind of like seeing such a large number downloaded.  That was fun for me.  I’m kooky like that.)

4. I’m able to self-publish eBooks and present them to a larger audience.  I have really loved having my eBooks available for the Kindle.  Here is my dirty little secret: I get giddy every single time I can go to Amazon and search for Angie Kauffman.  Is that nerdy or dumb?  Either way, I’m embracing it.

5. It’s easy to read.  The e-ink on the Kindle makes books nice and crisp to read.  I dig that.

6. I can download books just about anywhere.  Well, not really anywhere.  I didn’t opt for the considerably higher price for the 3G version of my Kindle because it just didn’t seem worth it.  I have WiFi at my house and a huge amount of businesses have WiFi available.

If you can find a McDonald’s or Starbucks (which is where I am at while I’m writing this, actually), you can download a new book to your Kindle.  This is great for traveling or for people without Internet at home.  (My Grandpa loves using his Kindle.  He pretty much exclusively uses McDonald’s for WiFi each time he’s going to download a book.)

7. I have a cool apple green case.  Shallow reason?  Why yes, yes it is.  But, that’s how I roll.  I love that color of green.

8. Some Kindle books you buy can be loaned.  As I understand it, a book can only be loaned once and it’s only for 14 days.  But, this can be a great way to share a good book with a friend.

9. It can be an environmentally friendly option.  Well, this one is admittedly a little iffy.  I don’t really know the environmental impact of building Kindles and what they contain versus the process of cutting down trees for paper and producing books.  I think it’s probably a decent guess that it’s at least a bit more environmentally friendly (if not a bunch).

10. The new Kindle Paperwhite has a built in light.  This has been one of the drawbacks for most of the Kindle models (except the Kindle Fire) for a while now.  The new Paperwhite version looks pretty spiffy though, and I think that feature is an amazing addition to the Kindle.  While I haven’t preordered a Paperwhite (and am not sure that I will), my Mom preordered hers on the day that they announced it, as she had been considering getting a Kindle Fire just for the light.

Um, so here is a little humorous side note: It was only one day while we were sitting at Mass and one of the readings included something about kindling a fire that I almost gasped.  Right afterward, I had to excitedly tell Eric that it just dawned on me why the picked the name Fire for that Kindle.  (Yeah, and I have a master’s degree.  It’s scary, isn’t it?)

If you have an e-reader device or read eBooks on your computer, what is the best ebook that you’ve read?  (Even if it’s also available as a printed book, feel free to share it!)

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