A bit more kindling

 

     I don't mean to go on about the Kindle forever, but I know some people are considering getting one so I thought a few more observations on it might be of some use.

     The discovery that I can read and knit at the same time has been great, but confining ourselves to the point of the thing, here's what I've found:

I've left the text size and number of words per page at the default setting which gives, as you see in the picture, a few paragraphs per 'page'. This seems to aid concentration; there is less to focus on, the eye isn't drawn to a word elsewhere or on the facing page, there is no temptation to skip ahead to see when the chapter will end - all to the good as fewer distractions mean I make the most of my reading time.

    Bookmarking, highlighting passages and making notes in the text is all very easy to do, and - always the note-taker - I'm using these functions a lot. If you have the Kindle app for PC, iPhone, etc., you can refer to all your notes (and read the book itself, should you wish to) on your computer or phone; use the 'Sync & Check for Items' option in the Kindle menu and your notes and marks will be transferred, as if by magic, to your other devices (I have found there is sometimes a delay with this, but that hasn't bothered me).

    The search facility means you can easily refer back to any passage just by typing in a relevant word, so if you have forgotten a detail you can go back and remind yourself of it, or indeed look ahead should you want to know if something (a name, a place, an activity, say) occurs again later in the text.

    You can sample any book you're thinking of getting; that comes free and can be sent to your computer rather than the Kindle itself if you have the app. and want to read it that way. I'm resisting cluttering myself up with lots of tempting chapters before I'm ready to acquire my next book, but it's great to be able to have a good look at a book before you buy it.

    Speaking of buying, there is so much material available for nothing or for very little that, depending on your tastes, you could read a great deal at minimal cost. For example, I paid only 74 pence for The Country of the Pointed Firs whereas the cheapest paper edition of the book is quite a lot more than that, and 'new' books are less expensive than their paper versions, too.

    If there's anything else you'd like to know, please just ask, or for those who are old hands at the Kindle, do share your tips if you have any. As you can see, I'm loving it!