I love my Kindle.  I love my books, too - but the fact that no matter where I am I have a book I can read (which I pretty much did anyway, but it made my purse heavy, and I didn’t have any selection) - I haven’t done much with the internet connectivity, but project Gutenburg and I have become very close friends since I got mine at Christmas.

I use and ipad and even my itouch. Before we got the ipad, regardless of it’s small size, I loved reading on my itouch. I kept the Liturgy of the Hours (because who could carry THAT around), Danielle Bean’s daily meditations book (which fit perfectly on the little itouch page), and a bunch of other good stuff. The nice thing is, the ability to read in low light with out the cumbersome switching of the clip light, etc. And the convenience, as you said in the aritcle, and ablity to keep a library in you purse. Now I’ve moved up to the ipad. Which although bigger, is fantastic for more than just reading, of course. I have all these toddler apps and preschool apps on there for when the situation calls. My little boy has some speech delays, and we have animal flash cards, etc. But I digress. Yes. ereader. Yes. ipad. And of course ... Yes beatufiul wonderful books. We can all benenfit from our many options. I try not to shun technology, but embrace it. It’s not going away ... and there’s so much good stuff out there. And as a mother, I don’t want to be totally out of it. (Actually, I want to be the opposite ... not cool. Just in the know.) Read on sisters!

I absolutely LOVE my Kindle. When e-readers first came out I poo-poo’d it and was a purist..“You’ll pry paper books from my cold dead hands.” well, needless to say I have gone over to the dark side.  The e-ink the Kindle uses is nothing like an LED screen on a computer. I can read it for hours unlike a computer screen which tires my eyes very quickly. While the newest Kindle has internet access it isn’t very stable and usually freezes up my kindle after a couple page loads.

Now, whether or not a Kindle is worth it/cost effective for an individual depends.
Are you a big reader?
Do you read more than one book at a time?
Do you have a good, accessible library? or used book store?
Do you only read new novels or do you read books that are in the public domain (ie. old)

My kids gave me one for Mother’s Day!  I was stunned.   I was delighted to find that there are (is?) a myriad of free ebooks for downloading…so I found a few and added them to my kindle (SO easy to do!).  Then, I put the kindle in my purse (quite a small purse, but it fit!).  The other night, my daughter was in a choir concert and had to be there early.  As usual, I didn’t think this through, and, as I was walking up to the school, I was kicking myself for not bringing something to read before the concert started.  But then…I remembered!  I had a kindle in my purse!!!!!  Ahhh….it was lovely.

I got one for Christmas and I love it! The only bad thing about it is sharing with my husband! I haven’t bought any books yet because there are so many great free ones, both on Amazon and Project Gutenberg. My husband has downloaded the free program Calibre which will email documents to Amazon for you. He will get the encyclicals off the Vatican’s website and Calibre will email it to Amazon which will automatically convert it to Kindle format and put on our Kindle for us. It is so simple, all I have to do is click the mouse twice!

Karen, do you have Amazon’s non-lighted Kindle cover? If so, that may be responsible for the freezing. My brother in law and I each had the leather non-lighted cover and both of us experienced occasionally freezing. It stopped once we removed the cover. It turns out that so many people have had problems with it that Amazon is refunding your money if you call up and complain and they have stopped selling it.

I have had a Kindle since Christmas of 2009 and I LOVE it! I am a “real” book lover and the Kindle doesn’t replace all books I like to have, there are just so many free and inexpensive books available on that nice little portable Kindle! I like that many, many Kindle version books are just 9.99 and I also like that I can download hundreds of free Kindle sample books! I still buy some real books, but many more of them I get as Kindle versions. I highly recommend it!

three reasons I love my kindle:
1. the dictionary is quick and easy to access for me and the kids- great for in the car, too!
2. word games, esp. Every Word. It’s free! and now my kindergartner is becoming an amazing speller b/c of this game. oh I love seeing them curled up on the couch working on what words they “see” in those scrambled up letters- pure joy
3. the ease of reading. I find I read faster on the kindle. I don’t know why, but it’s true. I love that I can download a sample of a book and read for a bit to get a taste of the book before I buy it.

that said, I will never give up the feel and purchasing REAL books. I love them, too. I still go to the library JUST as much as before I had my kindle.

highly recommend the kindle cover with the built in light, too!

I didn’t even know it had a browser! Thankx!

Love my Kindle because of its portability It’s also easy to use while nursing (so much lighter than a book!) or chasing toddlers.    And, I just figured out how to put F&F podcasts on my Kindle today!  Now I’ll get to listen! 

I was skeptical until I saw the screen in person.  It’s so easy on the eyes!  I find there’s actually less glare in bright sunlight than with a real book and this is good because I love reading outdoors.

I actually received a Nook, not a Kindle, for Mother’s Day.  I am loving it.  I too shunned ereaders until recently.  Then I realized the convenience of tucking it in my purse, instead of a heavy hardback.  I’m connected to an IV every 2 weeks and a hardback was necessary for reading as a paperback is a nightmare to negotiate page turning one-handed.  The Nook is always in my purse now when I leave the house.  What a joy to read anywhere!

My husband bought me a Nook for my birthday/Mother’s Day a couple of years ago. I love it! I love that I can download books in a matter of minutes. I love that e-books are cheaper than “real” books that I may not like. And while there are still authors I will always buy in hardback or paperback (Jasper Fforde, A. S. Byatt), I love that I can carry my entire library with me! I don’t think paper books are going away any time soon (at least I hope not), but I’m thankful for what e-books are doing for my reading life!

I have a Nook color and I LOVE LOVE it. I broke my ankle 2 weeks ago and I have been so grateful my husband got me such a generous gift because I’m not allowed to bear weight on my leg for at least 3 more weeks. It has made sitting around a lot more tolerable! I honestly don’t miss the paper. I’m visually impaired so the backlighting and high contrast are nice for me.