Kindle Book Store

We received a Kindle for Christmas and to be honest, I was for lack of a better word, curious. We don't exactly live in a metropolitan area and wireless is not a household word here in the sticks. I wasn't sure what to expect.

Needing to check out the new device, I immediately ordered a subscription to Reason Magazine, a terrific deal at $1.25 a month. The problem was I had to drive over an hour to download the magazine each month. I cancelled the subsciption after about six months, mainly because it wasn't convenient.

Shawn has played around with it and added screensavers and audio files to our Kindle. I take it with me everywhere. It's a terrific tool for homeschoolers, simply download your book, magazine, newspaper and take it with you. There are no pages to bend, it's lightweight, easy to read and very portable.

I have a friend who kept recommending books on tape or dvd to listen to in the car while we travel. The problem is my mind really wanders. I find I can listen for about 30-minutes, only to realize that I was thinking about something else and missed the last 15-minutes of the book. Of course, then I have to rewind it and start again. I just can't do it.

With the Kindle, I can read and seeing the words on the screen helps me to stay focused and the family seems to enjoy it when I read to them in the car. My 12-year-old enjoys reading books on the Kindle. For some reason the books don't seem to large when you aren't holding some big heavy book in your hand.

I can feel good about doing my part on reducing the amount of paper we use and I save money because Kindle books cost less than a printed book. The best part is the room I save. I can added Kindle books galore and they don't take up any of my book shelves. Now that's a real bonus, since space is real premium at our house.