Tuesday, August 12, 2008

It's Here! It's Here!

I was going to do a long newsy post about surviving summer and the last few things we did that I didn't get around to posting about. Very wordy, lots of pictures. Seeing my sister from Idaho that I haven't seen in a couple years. DD's first swim meet. The kids finishing up gymnastics. The kids first day of school. Putting my baby on the bus for the first time...

blah, blah, blah...All that went out the door at 2:15 p.m. central standard time by an unexpected ding dong.

I got a new toy.









The Kindle. A Kindle. My kindle, my own, my precious. I have been begging Dan for one for my birthday and lookey lookey, he listened. He was not wanting to spend the money but I finally hit him with unassailable logic. I was in love and would most likely end up getting one, one way or another. It was in his best interest to get it for me now. It will save him money. It saves him whatever he would've spent on another birthday present that I may or may not like.



Anyone not familiar with what this is? To a person who reads two or three books a week this is the best invention since the printing press.

An electronic book reader. The Kindle has the capacity to hold 200 books. With simple memory cards like you use in your digital camera your library stash can be as big as your real one. And to download a book is often more than half the price. All books 9.99 or less. A normal best-seller hardback book is $25, after 25 books, my kindle has paid for itself.

And it has a built in Oxford dictionary, access to Wikipedia, and can download books wirelessly without ever paying for any sort of internet or contract. Amazon pays for what they call the whispernet and it uses the cellphone internet so connection is every where you get cell coverage.

No doubt to any of you I could go on and on about how great this thing is but it has given me a true dilemma.

Which book do I get first? This is a decision of momentous weight. I will forever remember this. Fiction, nonfiction? Thriller, sci-fi, fantasy? Each book says something about the reader. I can't just get something I want to read and call it a day. This matters.

And yes, I did the same thing to my ipod. I sat there with a large stack of CD's agonizing over what would go in first. It was John Mayer followed immediately by Jack Johnson.

I think I need to take a chill. Curling up with a good book always relaxes me. Argh!

13 comments:

SuperCoolMom said...

Oooh. Aaaaaaahhh. Congratulations! I'm sure you'll be very happy together!

M A Haddox said...

Congradulations, Cristtin! I tried helping Dan with other suggestions since he was reluctant to get this for you. I'm glad he did get this, however.

It's ridiculous to think that you will wait for our suggestions before you buy your first book. In fact, I bet you got one shortly after you finished your blog. :P However, I think you should get a good Star Trek novel. Seeing as the Kindle is an obvious predecessor to the PADD used in the future (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/PADD).

Nikki said...

I'm confused. So, you can scan all your books into it and then just carry the kindle to read? If so, how many books can it hold?

Nikki said...

Oh, I just saw the holding 200 books part. So nevermind. But can it hold 200 HUGE books?

Nikki said...

Okay, nevermind again. I just went and looked it up. I had never heard of it before. That is REALLY AWESOME! I want one now. *sigh*

Pure Golding said...

Being the bibliophile that I am I would much rather have a book in hand that I can see on the shelf. You know, hold it, see the cover, etc. I don't actually need to read it and I feel the comfort! But you go ahead and enjoy the technology.

M A Haddox said...

Cristtin, now you won't be able to act like this the next time you go shopping for books:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9fDxEfMgpY

L4GWTW said...

Cristtin I have been wanting one of those. I think they are so cool. Let me know how you like it.

Haddorkus said...

Mike, sometimes I just don't know about you. I can't imagine how you find that stuff.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love books and to read but my book shelves are getting a little crazy. And once in a while, not very often, I do get a book that I am not crazy about. I got this so that I can keep up with my crazy reading habits, not spend as much money, and not take as much space.

But I will absolutely still buy books. Books that go in any series that I am already working on. Books that are especially pretty. Stuff like that.

Just because I have an ipod didn't make me stop buying CD's.

oda41143 Missy said...

I've never head of this before, but if it makes you happy--YIPEE!!! congrats.

Abbey said...

Wow, that's amazing. Hooray for you! Did you get it for your birthday, or did he just surprise you with it? Sorry I don't remember when you b-day is...I'm horrible!

If it was for you birthday, Happy Birthday...if not, happy early birthday.

Nikki said...

Happy Birthday Cristtin!

Anonymous said...

Ok I just typed out a whole huge comment and it didn't go through. Rah. Do you have my email address? I want to email you about The Tudors and Breaking Dawn and all sorts of things!!