Kindle, anyone?

An elderly couple we know gave each other Kindles for Christmas. Because of the generosity of this couple, my husband and I haven't had to purchase a book for years because our friends are avid readers and kindly pass their books on to us whenever they finish reading them.

I'll admit that I felt a twinge of regret when we saw their new Kindles because we knew it meant an end to all the free reading we had enjoyed over the years, but, when we saw how excited they were about their Kindles, I couldn't begrudge them a bit.

In fact, they almost have me convinced to get one of my own. Now all I have to do is convince my husband, and we'll be able to look forward to Kindles stuffed with dozens and dozens of books to read when we go on vacation, or have to wait for hours at the doctor's office, or just want to spend an afternoon lolling on the bed with a good book.

The couple who started all this is almost as frugal as I am---especially the gentleman, and he was quick to show me all the free books he had downloaded to his Kindle. His wife was a little more picky and had veered more to religious fiction and to Glen Beck recommendations. I'll have to admit that "free" greatly appeals to me, but my choices would probably be a bit of a mix between free, religion, and politics.

So far, our friends have downloaded enough titles to keep them busy for several months at far less cost that they usually spent for reading material in a single month before Kindle came into their lives. The lower cost of books for the Kindle will help them the price of their Kindles in no time at all.

That's the argument I'll use on my husband. (Of course, it would take us longer, since we were getting most of our reading material free, but we knew freebies like that wouldn't last forever.)

The Kindle is lighter than an ordinary paperback book, and you can adjust the size of the print to suit your own eyes--both really great advantages as far as I'm concerned.

Actually, my husband won't need as much convincing as you might think. He is a sucker for electronic gadgets, and I can tell that he is already half-convinced after tinkering for a few minutes with one of the Kindles that belongs to our friends. (Besides, I got some cash as a Christmas gift, so mine Kindle is already more than half paid for.)

Knowing my husband though, I suspect he'll say to order one for myself and he'll decide later whether or not to get one for himself. Then, of course, every time I want to use it, he'll be reading his own stuff on it.

If you haven't checked a Kindle out, yet, take a look. You will be amazed at all the stuff this little gadget will do. Click here to learn more about it.

Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology