Review Reading, New Kindle Downloads and What to Read?!

I am currently reading Demi-Monde: Winter, by Rod Rees, for review.  It's pretty good so far!  I have another review copy to read, as well.  The other is Archon: The Books of Raziel by Sabrina Benulis.  It seems interesting.

I am enjoying reading for review purposes, but I miss reading on my Kindle a little.  Especially since Demi-Monde  is rather large.  I've gotten used to the non-weight that is my Kindle.  Makes it much easier to read what would be HUGE volume.  Since my carpal tunnel is acting up fiercely, holding something light has been a welcome change.

I added a couple new books to the eighty-something I already have downloaded.  After a recent purchased of a Kindle gift card, I downloaded The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  I have already read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, but haven't had a chance to even look at Mockingjay yet.  I plan on rereading the first two, to brush up before I read Mockingjay.

Another book I downloaded was Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.  It has been on my to-read list for some time.  A friend mentioned something about it the other day, and I remembered I wanted to read it, so I looked for a Kindle Edition.  I was ecstatic to find that it was $2.99!

Now I have so many books to read, it's not funny!  I have had a copy of Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 since the 28th of October, and I haven't even cracked it.  My brain sees how big it is, and my hands just throb at the thought of hefting it!  I also have Stephen Fry's The Liar, which has been kicking around my room for a while. 

Not to mention that  I am STILL reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.  He is on hiatus until I read the review novels that I have here.  Holmes is definitely next, then I have actual novels to read.  Or do I read another Kindle title?  This has never really been a dilemma for me before!

The Kindle Touch Has Landed, Also Alice is One Odd Girl!!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was waiting for my Kindle Touch to arrive,  Well it finally did at about 6:30 PM.  UPS must have had a busy day!  At any rate, it came.  When it did, I was thrilled.  I met the UPS man at the truck (mostly because I was waiting around to go somewhere when he was on my street) and got it from him. 

I did as as I said I was going to do, I convinced my mom that she should give it to me as an early graduation/birthday present.  I took it (back) home with me to download the 86 (!!!) free books I ordered from Amazon.  It didn't take as long as I thought it was going to; about a half an hour or so.

What took me the most time was deciding how to sort them.  Since I had some young adult (or what I considered young adult--L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, etc.) I knew I needed a folder for that.  Otherwise, my folders are split up by author's country of birth (English Lit, etc).  With the special case of Jane Austen and Emily Bronte, they are in the Victorian Literature folder.

The book I decided to start reading, after I had everything sorted, was Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.  I had never had the chance to read this before, which is probably shocking.  I just never managed to get a copy at the library, etc. 

Anyway, I must say one thing: Alice is all sorts of effed up!  She isn't really phased as she's falling through the rabbit hole (to what could be her ultimate doom), but finds herself crying when she realizes she grew too large to fit through the door.  I think the poor girl has a chemical imbalance, and mild schizophrenia.  Otherwise, it's a great read!

Reading in the Digital Age

For a long time I was someone who pooh-poohed the idea of an e-reader.  I will always enjoy the tactile experience of holding an actual paper and cardboard construction.  There are other things that come along with reading a book (over an e-reader), like the smell of it.  Especially an older book that has that thrilling smell that I liken to the smell of an amazing adventure that awaits within.  (Yes, I know that that smell can mean bad things for the book, but I still enjoy it.)

It was hard to sell me on the idea of reading books in a digital reader.  I thought about all those negative things, like screen glare, etc.  That is, until my mother (who is an avid reader herself--albeit one who doesn't like the smell of an old book) got a Kindle last Christmas.  I refused to look at it; to be drawn into its charms (which according to my mom and my sister, it had). 

One day, however, curiosity got the better of me and I gave it the once over.  No glare.  Light weight.  Could look up words you might not know.  I started to win me over little by little.  I still couldn't get on board with owning one, even though I talked to some friends who really were enjoying theirs.  I asked all the questions one asks about how it works, and how much people enjoyed theirs.

I was sold after looking at Amazon.com.  (The price drop didn't hurt, either).  I asked my mother to buy me one for Christmas.  She gave me the money to order it--I ordered the Kindle Touch--so it would be linked to my Amazon account.  I placed the order, and received conformation of shipping just the other day. 

When I received the e-mail that it had shipped, I got very excited.  I went to look for free books offered by Amazon, and wound up downloading 86 titles.  They are mostly classics that I have never read, or have never gotten around to buying a hard copy of.  I'll admit I might have gone a bit crazy with the downloading.

So here it is, November 23rd, and I am expecting it to be delivered to me today.  Granted, I cannot open it, or have anything to do with it until Christmas.  That bugs the crap out of me, because I want to look at it, and play with it a little.  Instead it will be sitting there in its unopened box, taunting me.  That is, unless I can convince my mother to give it to me as an early graduation/birthday gift (both of which take place next month--the 16th and 19th, respectively).  I might just try that, and have her pick me up something else for Christmas!