It arrived the day after I ordered it, at 8.00 in the morning. I was flabbergasted. Especially as I'd been given a delivery date of a week hence. I'd been thinking of getting one for several months now. Several close online friends have them and quite a few acquaintances too and every one of them seems to love their Kindle. Then a couple of authors wrote and asked me to review their books and it turned out they were Kindle only. So I took the plunge and ordered... a bit shocked at myself to be honest as they're not *that* cheap and I'm still wondering if the expense is justified: I have a very large tbr pile so I don't really need it. That said, I'm chuffed to bits with it and love how nice it looks and how easy it is to use.
I'm not planning on filling it full of brand new books, I have to admit. A few maybe, but I'm more attracted by the free stuff available. I downloaded a clutch of books from this site last night:
ofkb
Two Edith Whartons - The Custom of the Country and In Morroco. Also several pioneer type US travel books such as First Across the Continent by Noah Brooks and The Oregan Trail by Francis Parkman. And a couple of other sundry volumes such as South Sea Tales by Jack London.
The other site I really want to investigate is The Book Depositry's free book site: The Book Depositry
They have loads and loads of free items, many by Dodo Press by the look of it, who do some interesting titles of which I actually own several. I need just a bit (lot!) of time to go through the 13,000 strong list.
I know there are more sites out there too so am looking forward to investigating further. Plus one of the features is that you can put your own files on there, and for free now, by using the free.kindle address. So, if you're a fan fiction sort of a person you can carry that around with you as well as books. We're away for a few days at the beginning of April (Cornwall) so it'll be lovely not to have to haul a bag of books away with me, but to take my nifty new Kindle instead.
I'm obviously feeling a bit full of the joys of Spring so here're a few flowery photos I took last week at our local National Trust house, Knightshaye's Court:
23 comments:
Beautiful Knightshayes!
I've downloaded free e-books too - when am I going to read them?!!
As you'd expect spring is later up here in Northumberland, but the daffodils are in bud now and today the sky is blue and the sun is shining - time to get out in the garden.
Cath, so happy to see that you joined in with a Kindle! I think you will like it - probably more than you think. LOL
Lovely spring pics. I'm hoping to be around more often after a couple of weeks. We've sold our house and are moving into an apartment for a few months while our other house is built. We'll be storing a lot of our funrniture and even more of my books. I'll take my Kindle and one (1!!) little box of "real" books. :-)
And I can't even type these days. Sorry about the removed comment.
I knew you'd love it. :)
Congrats on the Kindle. I so LOVE mine. BTW...I am so jealous of those lovely flowers. We still have snow with patches of brown grass here and there.
Verity: I love Knighthayes at this time of year. Can't wait for April/May when the bluebells are out.
Margaret: I have no clue... for either of us. LOL.
Yes, the garden beckons, although I'm a fair-weather gardener so it's still a little bit on the chilly side for me.
Kay: How nice to see you around.
I'm still wondering if I should have spoilt myself by buying it, but eventually I may have enough free books on it to cover the cost... well that's what I keep telling myself. lol
I hope they get your house up quickly. Selfish motives as I miss your regular posts. Seriously though, I hope your upheaval is soon at an end.
No worries about the deleted comment.
Karen: You knew right... ;-)
Diane: I have a feeling I'm going to become very attached to mine too.
Yeah, it's really nice to see the spring flowers everywhere after such a long cold winter.
I hope you enjoy your Kindle.
And, yay, spring!!
congrats on the kindle Sis!! and don't worry, you deserve it!! I'm sure P thinks so too!
love the spring pics..i do miss certain flowers that wont grow here because it's way too hot..my absolute favorite flower is one that won't grow here and that's Lilacs. Enjoy the next number of weeks as everything begins to grow and come alive again..I just loved spring and fall more than I can say. :o)
Lovely flowers.
Welcome to the Kindle world. I am downloading samples on mine to see if I want to buy the book or not. Quite useful.
Yes, your pics are much more beautiful than my snowy ones!
Congrats on your newest addition! Yikes, that is fast shipping. Wish everything arrived that quickly. I haven't taken the e-reader plunge yet. Still too enamored with reading old style. But I know the day will come when I won't be able to resist.
Love this post, Cath! The flowers are beautiful and just what my craving-green-growing things eyes needed :-) daffodils! green!
Your kindle even looks fun. I'm slowly edging nearer, though I do resist it only because I like real books, how the feel and their covers. I expect I will get one, one day. I like the idea of having a whole collection of things to read at my fingertips without having to carry them around each on their own - as you say, this makes packing for trips so much more easier.
Let us know how you find reading on it!
Enjoy your Kindle. I'm not at all ready yet, but, who knows . . .
In the meantime, I love your photos. Our daffodils are just starting to show buds, making me all-the-more anxious for spring. It was nice seeing yours.
Hi Cath,
We really must get down to Knightshayes this year. We are in Frome, so Tiverton is really a short drive for us and it looks great there, especially with all the spring flowers about.
Luckily, in Somerset, we have one of the largest amounts of NT properties, so we are always spoilt for choice and manage to make full use of our membership.
I can't believe that you succumbed to the 'kindle'!! I have been holding out against it, but must now be one of the last remaining 'dinosaurs'!
My TBR pile is so large that I would never need to order a book and although I am not mean, I do begrudge paying out twice for the books, just to get them as e-books.
On the other hand .... I didn't realise there were quite so many free books out there ???? LOL
Enjoy and watch this space!!
Yvonne
Wonderful pics! Are those crocuses in amongst the daffs? And what are the dark red flowers?
Having the huge selection of books in one small packet while traveling is a great boon of the Kindle. Plus you can add more from whereever you are!
Kailana: Yeah, it's nice to see that Spring is at least on the way.
Pat: Yeah, P is fine with me and my new Kindle, apparently he's been expecting me to get one for months. lol
This is a nice time of year
over here, just wish you could see it for yourself one day.
josbookjourney: I've heard you can download sample chapters but haven't got around to finding out how to do that yet. But I will! lol
Carl: I think for sheer beauty your snow pics are hard to beat.
It took me a while to take the plunge with an e.reader, partly because, like you, I love physical books and probably will always prefer them. But the Kindle is an extra reading tool and useful for certain situations.
Susan: It seems so odd to me that we have Spring flowers here and in parts of Canada and the US you still have feet of snow. Mind... we could still get the same here, it has happened before.
I resisted with the Kindle for a long time but knew it was inevitable that I would get one one day. I don't plan to load it up with new books, probably a few but really the free classics are the draw. And the unusual travel books that are also free. It would cost such a lot to buy those that if I put enough on the Kindle it will have paid for itself. LOL. (Well, that's my excuse....)
lifeonthecutoff: It sounds like you're several weeks behind us with Spring. Glad you enjoyed the photos.
Yvonne: We try to make full use of our NT membership too. Even if it's just to take our grandson for a stroll in the gardens at Knightshayes. You're right, we're so lucky down here. I love Barrington Court in Somerset. And can recommend Coleton Fishacre, down near Brixham, if you haven't been, and Cotehele in Cornwall.
Paying out twice for books is not on my agenda. LOL. Too mean. I may put a few new books on there but am going mainly for the free ones.
Sue: Yes, crocuses in amongst the daffs, so pretty. I'm not sure what the red flower with the bumble bee is but it might be winter jasmine?
Yep, no more lugging a bag of books all over the place. And I think you can get Twitter and FB on it too, need to investigate as that would be fun to have when I'm away.
Hi Cath,
We've been to Barrington Court and Coleton Fishacre, but not Cotehele.
We do try to get down to Cornwall each year, so we may have to try and visit Cotehele this year.
We visited several NT places last year, although Lanhydrock was our favourite.
Yvonne
No! Don't tell me these pictures are real. We still have snow, snow, snow. Cold. But the rains have begun so there is hope. But yellow. I just can't believe it. Two months from now around here.
I use my Kindle just at bedtime so I don't have to handle a big book. I have truly enjoyed it. I've also spent a fair bit on Kindle books. :<)
Yvonne: Cotehele is very much worth a visit. I know it's a bit of a stretch for you but the house is Elizabethan and fascinating and the garden is wonderful. And there's a lovely valley walk down to the river Tamar. Definitely one of my favourite NT properties. I like Lanhydrock too. We're staying in Bodmin for a few days in early April and plan to pay a visit as we haven't been there for years.
Nan: Yes, the Spring pics are definitely real, though you wouldn't know it today as it's pouring with rain and miserable.
Yes, I must admit I'm pondering what book to treat myself to as my first Kindle 'buy'.
How exciting! I admit I caved in recently and bought one, too, though I bought a Nook. I said I would never get one and here I have been quite enjoying it. I still always have a paper book (or several) along with me, but now that I have a number of books loaded onto it, I bring that to work, too. There are loads of freebies out there but I did buy two ebooks just recently. I just don't want to make a habit of that--but they are cool. Enjoy!
Danielle: I don't plan to make a habit of buying too many books on Kindle either. I bought my first one yesterday - a Miss Read book - and was shocked at how easy and *quick* it is. That could easily get out of hand, well it could knowing me... lol. I know it'll never replace proper books though, I love paper books too much for that. But as an extra tool, it's fine and it's certainly a space-saver!
I told you it would arrived quickly! Glad you are pleased with it.
Steve: You did tell me it would arrive quickly but even I was shocked when it came at 8am the very next day!
Post a Comment