Review: Kindle, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Even in the midst of a festival, I have a bad a habit of slipping off to read.

Hi, I'm Maura and I have a problem. I'm addicted to books. I never leave the house without at least one book in my bag, I sometimes like them better than I like real people and I spend probably 75% of my free time reading. On average I probably go through about 4 or 5 books a month depending on size, and given that books run about 1,000 Yen and up over here that's an expensive habit. Not to mention the fact that all those books are a hassle when you move countries every few years.

So when considering the order I was about to place at Amazon.com for the next month's reading materials, it occurred to me that it was really time to buy myself a Kindle. If you don't know, a Kindle is Amazon's E-reader for reading books electronically. Go here to see more. When I first heard of them the bibliophile in me shrunk back in distaste, but after having seen one up close I realized how nice they actually are. The screen is very easy to read and doesn't strain the eyes, and the ability to carry not just one book but an entire library around with me has finally fulfilled a life-long dream.

I spent a little extra on mine to get the 3G Wireless network as well. It allows you to shop for books pretty much anytime, anywhere (or more specifically, in over 100 countries around the world). There are also a number of old, no-copyright books which can be downloaded for free. This is a fantastic deal for me, given that I read a lot of old books and poetry.

Other cool features that it has include a dictionary, so you can look up words simply by highlighting them. (This came in very helpful when reading China Mieville's latest book.) You can also access websites like Wikipedia to look things up. The Kindle can read to you, although I'm not a big fan of being read to by a computer. And you can take notes or highlight certain passages.

So to sum things up, I really love my new Kindle. I admit, I'm always going to have a weakness for books; I'm sure when I settle down one day, my house will be indistinguishable from a small library. But in the end it's the act of reading that I love the most, and how can I resist all those books right at my fingertips, wherever I go? 

Kindle, you are a thing of beauty.

Also, my cover is shiny purple crocodile skin. You could love it for the shiny-ness alone.