In My Mailbox: Amazon Kindle!

A few months ago on Christmas Eve I entered a contest on BestFantasyBooks.com to win a Kindle.  I took advantage of the multiple ways of gaining entries to increase my chances, but I was still absolutely stunned when contest sponsor Ben sent me a notification that I had won!!  Much to my delight, UPS delivered it on March 1st while I was A:  Home, not out running errands, missing the delivery and B: Alone with no monkeys about!

I took several pictures as I opened the package and got the contents out, but of course I cannot find my USB plug to download the camera's pictures to my computer right now!  I'll add them to this post as soon as I can get my act together in that regard.

The Kindle and its package contents are very simple.  Aside from the product itself, included in the Amazon box are a plug to connect the Kindle to a computer, as well as a converter for an A/C wall outlet.  There's a nice printed quick-start user guide as well.  And while the Kindle could use some charging, it's ready to use right out of the box.  I also plan to purchase a cover for it in the near future.

Later that afternoon while my son was in his piano lesson, I had a little time to "play" with my new toy for a bit.  I found the included User's Guide to be helpful, showing me many features of the Kindle that I didn't even know existed.  The Guide within the Kindle is long and I've had a busy week, so I imagine as I have more time to read through it I'll be able to discover all sorts of new things.

I think the thing that I'm most impressed with is the "ink" technology that is unique to the Kindle.  Unlike the iPad (which I also would love to have!), the screen has little to no glare, making it readable in bright sunlight.  It also requires little battery power, as no energy is required to hold images on the screen.  Power is used to place the images/words there, but one displayed, the screen is like a static Etch-a-sketch, holding the picture until you change the page or until the automatic screen saver image comes up.

Right now I'm in the middle of reading the book Angelology by Danielle Trussoni (Check out my giveaway while you're here).  The ARC that I have is 21 ounces (1 1/3 lbs) and measures 9.25" x 6" x 1.25".  It's heavy and will not fit into my Strand tote bag. Whereas my Kindle is 8 ounces (1/2 lb), measures 7.5" x 4.8" x .335" and easily fits in my tote.  I'm enjoying this novel, but I can tell you that it's so much nicer to be able to take the Kindle with me when I'm out and about.  Yesterday (March 4th) I had an unexpected 30 minute wait at my son's school.  The time passed in a flash.  Why?  Because I pulled out the Kindle and got lots of reading done!  I think I will always prefer the printed editions of books, but in cases like that, the Kindle is such a nice option!

It's been a busy week and I haven't had a chance to play with the Kindle as much as I would have liked, so I'm hoping to delve into it some more this weekend after I get some work done.  But I didn't want too much time to pass before making this post.  HUGE thanks to Ben at BestFantasyBooks.com--- this is such a wonderful treat, one I will enjoy for years to come!