I’m in love.

And its with my Kindle.

I love books. Always have.  I collect them.  I owned over 100 (which I’ve sold or donated before my trip).  I never wanted an E-reader of any kind.  how could they be better than a book? I hate reading on the computer, what would make me like it on some e-reader?

WELL LET ME TELL YOU!…

1. CAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE PAPER…you cannot read your Kindle in the dark.  it is not backlight (like your computer screen or Ipad).  But you CAN easily read your Kindle in the dark with a flashlight, lamp, or this little LED light clipped to the top of it (they sell them specifically for Kindles too).

2. NO SERIOUSLY, IT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE PAPER

3. YOU CAN HIGHLIGHT STUFF, BOOKMARK PAGES, AND WRITE NOTES…So if your boss calls to add work to your schedule and you are in the middle of reading on your Kindle and have no pen and paper – you can just start typing into your Kindle and it automatically will take the note.  Then you can save it, and go write down when you are working in your work book later on after you’ve finished the chapter or whatever.  (This has actually come in handy for me on more than a few occasions). 

And to view all your notes, just go to the VIEW NOTES & MARKS option in the menu screen and all your notes, bookmarks, and things pop up (but in order of how you took them in the book.  And only about 4 at a time show up, so there is a lot of scrolling you have to do if you took a lot of notes. This feature would be better enhanced by being able to see all marks for, say, a chapter of a book at a time).

4. ITS SO COOL TO CARRY ONLY ONE THING AROUND INSTEAD OF BOOKS. … So if you are reading a necessary, informative, yet boring book – and need to mix it up with a cool Sergei Lukyanenko novel (before you stab your own eyes out) – you now only have to carry one tiny thing versus 2 books

5. THERE ARE “FORWARD” AND “BACKWARD” PAGE-CHANGE BUTTONS ON EACH SIDE!  … so if you find that perfect ‘sweet spot’ comfy position in your bed you can stay there…and not have to keep rolling side to side or change position every time you want to read the next page.

6. YOU CAN READ PDFs ON YOUR KINDLE. … you can email a PDF file to your Kindle (each Kindle comes with its own email address), so you can read PDF’s without printing them out, or needing to waste precious laptop battery (say if you are flying or something).

7. THE BATTERY KICKS ASS! … The battery, even when Wi-Fi is turned on, lasts 3 to 4 weeks!  No joke!  Sometimes it lasts longer.  If you are stuck on a 12 hour day at work, sitting on your butt and reading all day, the battery may only last 2 weeks.  (hahaha…ONLY 2 WEEKS).  Its amazing!

8. THE AMAZON CUSTOMER SERVICE IS GREAT! .. My Kindle, for some reason stopped working a few months ago (before the initial year had run out).   It wouldn’t turn on.  The hard-drive went or something out of nowhere.  I spent a few minutes on the phone with Amazon, we tried a hard reset, that didn’t work, so Amazon sent the replacement Kindle – no questions or hassles – that night.  I got it 2 days later.  AND…they shipped it where I wanted since I was on the road traveling (and gave me 30 days to ship back the old one before they would charge me for the new one.)

9. IT HAS WIFI.  I have the Wi-Fi Kindle and I can log my Kindle into any Wi-Fi network, buy a book online, and it will automatically be delivered to my Kindle.  (I also have the option of plugging my Kindle straight into my computer to download books too.) 

The Kindle however, is not that great trying to go onto the internet.  I wouldn’t recommend it.  It freezes up really bad.  BUT YOU CAN go onto Amazon with no problem and buy books online USING your Kindle.  It is however much faster and easier to navigate the full Amazon website on your computer.  But –  if you realized you’ve finished all your books, and you’re in the airport on a 3 hour layover – you can use you pop onto Amazon and buy a new book to read right through your Kindle.

10. THERES A BUILT IN DICTIONARY!  Really.  You just move the cursor to the front of a word and the definition pops up on the page.  No more just skipping over words or having to jump between your book and a dictionary…now you just move the cursor to a word that you don’t know, and up pops the definition.  (I’ve also heard great reviews about this feature from people trying to learn more English).

I love my kindle.  There are very few things I would change.

The Wi-Fi is great, but don’t try to actually use the internet because your Kindle will freeze up. 

Also, you can supposedly listen to music on your Kindle (and audiobooks) as well;  but since I have my music somewhere else, and am NOT an auditory learner at all (I would so zone out and not pay attention when listening to audio books, therefore I have not purchased any) – I have not tried this feature yet.  

But I love my Kindle, and am so glad that it was given to me as a birthday present. I actually loved it so much, I immediately went out and ordered one for my sister for Christmas (and she absolutely loves hers too).

Thank you Kindle and Amazon for being awesome.

CHEERS!

(ps.  this post is in no way sponsored by Kindle or Amazon – though I would be quite responsive if they wanted to sponsor me at all.   I just really love my Kindle.  I think it is amazing and I seriously have a, like, 15 minute spiel explaining all the features and how cool the Kindle is,  that I will tell anyone that asks me about my Kindle.  And I’ve done it.  A lot.  I’m pretty sure I’ve convinced about 12 people in airports (no joke) to buy a Kindle now.)

CHEERS!

About Dani Blanchette

I am a freelance travel and music photographer and creator of GoingNomadic.com.
I love music, food, and exploring cities without guidebooks. I’ve flown a helicopter, hitchhiked down the east coast USA, and once snuck into the back of a zoo (in Serbia) and pet a lion.
I am always up for an adventure, and sometimes I videotape them.