My Foray Into E-Reading

By on June 5, 2011 in Kindle, Week In Review

Early last week, I finally decided to pick up an e-reader.  After many months deliberating whether I wanted to enter into the world of e-reading, and debating which e-reader to get, I ended up purchasing an Amazon Kindle.  I spoke some about my deliberation with e-reading here.

I decided upon the Kindle after I saw what the new Barnes and Noble Nook looked like, and I was looking for something that had 3G wireless access for when I travel out of town.  So far, I’m pretty happy with my purchase.  I definitely like the way the e-ink looks and reads on the display.  I didn’t think the quality would be so good, nor the reading experience all that much different.

But because the reading experience hasn’t been significantly different, there are some things that I’ve noticed that I miss.  For example, page numbers, that’s a biggie.  At the bottom of the Kindle is simply states how far along, in a percentage, that you are in the book.  I have to press the menu button, and it shows what page I’m on in the book and the location number.  However, from what I understand, page numbers aren’t included yet on all kindle e-books.  I also miss actually feeling the physical portion of a book, feeling the pages, the ability to easily move back and forth between pages, etc.

I’m testing my Kindle by reading President Bush’s Decision Points, as I have mentioned in my previous two posts.  With this test run, I”m finding that I’m definitely enjoying the dictionary feature of the Kindle, which I have used to look up a few words I didn’t know.  I’m also LOVING the fact that I can highlight passages and write notes about those passages.  Usually, I don’t write in my books, or underline passages, since I don’t like to do that.  With the Kindle, I’m finding that I’m highlighting and writing notes frequently, without feeling bad since I’m not actually writing in the book.

Finally, I’m also liking the idea of downloading samples of books that I might like to read.  I did that with Decision Points, and I’m doing that with Henry Kissinger’s new book, On China, and a couple of others.  It’s nice not having to actually go to the library, or to the bookstore to peruse those books I might be interested in before purchasing them.  I have a feeling that I’m going to use this feature frequently.

Overall, I’m enjoying my experience so far, and I’m looking forward to many hours of reading on my Kindle; however, I also won’t quit reading physical books either.  :-)   If you have an e-reader, or have read any e-books, I’d love to hear about your experience!

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  • http://www.readerbuzz.blogspot.com debnance at readerbuzz

    Nicely written. I agree with every point you made. Love the dictionary feature especially and I really miss the page numbers.

    • http://beltwayliterature.wordpress.com Jeremy

      The page number feature I believe will be the biggest thing to get over for me. However, I don’t think that’s necessarily a deal breaker. :-)

  • http://www.greatthoughts.com Andrea

    My Kindle is a dear friend! You will grow to love it!

    • http://beltwayliterature.wordpress.com Jeremy

      I’m definitely beginning to see my enjoyment with it growing. I’m surprised with how quickly I’ve been loving reading on it!

  • http://unfinishedperson.com unfinishedperson

    I won’t lie to you and say that I’m not disappointed that you got a Kindle over a Nook, but…

    …glad you did get an e-reader. I know you’re going to love it, even if you’re reading a book by George Bush for your first book ;) .

    I loved The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich when I read it back in high school. It was one of my favorite books, but I’ve never tackled it again…and I don’t know if I will. To you, who regularly reads tomes, it’s nothing. But to us, mere mortals ;) , it’s a chore.

    • http://beltwayliterature.wordpress.com Jeremy

      I played with the Nook at Barnes and Noble a couple of days before I picked up my Kindle. They had some of the 3G ones left in the store, but I think if the new ones came with 3G I would’ve probably been all over it. :-)

      I’m definitely starting to really enjoy reading on it. So far, I’m enjoying it significantly more than I thought, and I’m learning that I’m loving it more and more as I read, even if it’s a George Bush book. :-p

      I’m definitely looking forward to reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I’ve tried on multiple occasions to read it, most recently in high school, but couldn’t really get into it, now I know the situation will be much different. :-)

  • http://leighanneslit.blogspot.com S.Leighanne

    I ended up getting a Nook and I love it. There are things that I miss, but like you, the dictionary feature, and the highlight/notes feature is wonderful.
    I think in some cases it can really enhance the reading experience. I know a lot of times if I don’t know the meaning of a word, I skip it and don’t bother looking it up. Being able to look it up is definitely a plus. Also, the portability is a big plus for me as well, since I’m almost always on the go!
    Of course, there are some things that just need to be read in print, and though I love my e-reader, it will NEVER take the place of print books, as some people seem to think it will.

    • http://beltwayliterature.wordpress.com Jeremy

      Most definitely having the dictionary feature included is a time saver. There would definitely be times where I would see a word and not look it up because I wasn’t near a computer. I was only looking up words while I was reading during lunch at work.

      I definitely agree there are going to be some books that need to be read in print, nor do I think they’ll ever take the place of print books. There will always be a demand for print books, or at least, I hope there will be! Nothing beats having a book library in your house!

  • http://www.laurelrainsnowcreations.com laurelrainsnow

    I have the same issues with my Kindle…I didn’t know about finding out the page number on the menu…I’ll have to check and see if I have that feature.

    I still don’t know how to find what I’ve highlighted…on the menu, it has a place to click for notes and highlights, but mine didn’t take me there…it took me to my bookmarks…hmm. I must be doing something wrong.

    So, as you can see, I’m still figuring it out, too. I do love the ease of downloading new books, though, and being able to preorder.

    Thanks for visiting my salon.

    • http://beltwayliterature.wordpress.com Jeremy

      I believe the page number feature is included in the latest version of the kindle software, which I believe is version 3.1. At least that’s what the release notes said when it prompted me to update the software when I attached it to my computer.

      I’m still trying to explore the highlights feature of my kindle too. As soon as I made my first highlight, a new item appeared on the home screen called my clippings, and it seems to have all my highlights/notes included there, but I’ll have to take another look to be for sure. :-)

  • http://hawthornescarlet.blogspot.com/ Laura

    I like the dictionary feature on the Kindle. I have an I-Pad because I didn’t just want an e-reader, but it definitely gets glare. As a teacher, there are some interesting challenges with citation because of the lack of page numbers in Kindle editions.

    Here is my Sunday Salon