The Sunday Salon: Just a Few Bookish Things on My Mind

Hello and Happy Sunday to you!  I just have some random thoughts I wanted to share today. Nothing great big, but I did want to share them with ya'll. First, you probably have heard that 'Goodreads is joining Amazon!' OK, I may be a little slow but...what the heck does that mean actually? Is Amazon slowly taking over the world or what?  Don't get me wrong, I am a fan and frequent user of this global giant but what are they going to do with my favorite reading/book site? I've read some bloggers complain that this is a game-changer and they're afraid our Goodreads reviews are going to be combined with Amazon's and shown on their site. I, personally wouldn't have a problem with that, however, I would prefer that to be a one-way street. Meaning, I don't particularly want Amazon's reviews to show up on Goodreads. I'm not trying to be a snob or anything but the people whose reviews and thoughts I trust are chosen by me to be my 'friend' and those are the reviews I care about. Boy, that really did sound kinda snobby, didn't it? Well, it is what it is.

The reason I decided to bring this up here today is this: After being away from my local library's website for a couple of months, I went on there this morning to request a couple books. Even though I live in the largest county in the state of Florida, we're typically not in the forefront of technology, but we do usually catch up. Anyway, after I pulled up the book I was interested in borrowing, I was surprised to notice there is now a thumbnail picture of the book beside the description. I thought, 'Wow, that's nice'. Then I continued scrolling down the page and noticed a section for 'Reader Ratings and Reviews'. This is also a new feature on the site. It has a bold disclaimer about Goodreads and shows the average rating and a button you can click to read other reviews. After the shock wore off, I decided that this was a positive step for our po-dunk county libray. I am actually really impressed that the PTB in charge of my library made such a positive step in making our site better.

That got me to thinking that maybe Goodreads joining Amazon might not be as horrible an idea as I first thought. I don't know when any changes are to be made but I'm confident that it will not affect my current list of 'friends' on Goodreads and my access to their reviews, so I am willing to wait and see how it turns out. Has anyone else heard any rumblings about this major change? If so, I'd sure love to know what  you know. I used to use LibraryThing but eventually made Goodreads my number one book site and I am hopeful that this will not completely screw up my Feng-shui.

With my depression over the loss of Google Reader in July finally subsiding, I don't think I can take anymore major changes to things I love. I still am very perplexed as to why Google has decided to do away with Reader, but I don't want to get all that started up again....

One last thing I wanted to mention is that I'd like to let those of you who may not know, that I have a page on Facebook for Southern Girl Reads. Many of my book-friends on FB have already 'Liked' my page and I want to say Thank You for that. If you are my Friend on FB but only want to see book related posts/reviews and don't really care what I'm making for supper or family stuff, you may want to make the change to my FB fan page. For those of you whom I am not Friends with on FB, I invite you to visit my page and 'Like' it if you so desire. I'd love to have you!

OK, well that's all I have today. I hope that if any of ya'll have information on the Amazon/Goodreads Thing,  you'll leave a comment so we can all know what you know! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week ahead in books!

[TSS] Kindle Paperwhite 3G - My Thoughts

Hello and Happy Sunday! Today I thought I'd do something a little different.  With all of the great new technology out in the world these days, there is just so much to choose from it can be hard to keep it all straight. Its hard to know which devices are right for your individual needs. That's why I thought I'd talk about the newest Kindle product, the Kindle Paperwhite 3G. Over the last year, I've been using my Kindle more and more. In fact, most of the books I've read this year were on my Kindle 3G. Although I do miss adding actual books to my library, due to my progressive retinal disease, it is becoming harder and harder to read paper books. Sometimes the print is so light and small, it is almost impossible for me and ends up giving me headaches. Large print books are much more expensive and bulky so I don't care for them too much. I do, however, request those when borrowing from the library.

I have been very happy with my Kindle 3G and I read much quicker when using it. Since I've had it for awhile, it is the older version with the keyboard instead of the touch screen, but I was OK with that too. That said, I still had an issue with lighting. Since RP makes my eyes appear to have a white film over them all the time, (which I call The Fog), I have to use a reading lamp and position it above my shoulder so the light shines directly on my Kindle in order for me to read. If I am in a brightly lit room or outside, I don't have as big a problem because of the glare-free screen. But when you're trying to relax sometimes you don't want to have to have all the lights on full blast to read. Kind of takes away from the experience, ya know? So I always have a small-ish movable lamp over my shoulder. It's becoming like a growth on my back and I'm tired of it! So you can imagine how thrilled I was when Amazon introduced the Kindle Paperwhilte with the built-in light! Why didn't they think of this sooner??

So I ordered one as an early Christmas present for myself and I couldn't be happier! And even though I have WiFi at my house, I opted for the 3G as well. I realize that for almost the same money I could've gotten the Kindle Fire and that's what people say to me. They wonder why I didn't get it instead. And honestly, that is partly the reason I'm writing this post. The answer is simple. The screen on the Kindle Fire is not conducive for my eyes. It is more like a computer screen and it would just be too hard on my already maxed out eyes. It would be really cool to have the Fire and be able to do all the great things it offers, but frankly, I have a PC for that. I use my device strictly for reading (and playing word games) so the Paperwhite was made especially for my needs.

One of the other things I love about it is the Touch Screen. If I'm honest, I was a little concerned about it before, because I thought I'd be hitting it all the time but it was very easy to get used to. Another obvious change in the Paperwhite is how clear, crisp and bold the fonts are! It is so much brighter and the light is MAGNIFICENT!! You probably won't find anybody else as excited about that light than me! OK, I'll say it - I'm in love with it! I can absolutely read ANYwhere now and because the device pulls the light back down to itself, there is NO GLARE AT ALL!

The speed of the Paperwhite is amazing as well. There is no delay whatsoever when turning pages. It's just instant. And if you want to look up a word in the built-in dictionary, just touch the word to highlight it and a few seconds later, the definition is staring you in the face!

Surprisingly, the Paperwhite is even smaller than my older Kindle because there is no keyboard. It's about the size of a trade size paperback, maybe even smaller. I tuck it in my purse and take it everywhere with me. You never know when you might get a few minutes of reading in, especially when you rely on others to take you places and you find yourself sitting and waiting for someone to pick you up. It makes time pass very quickly.

There are many other great features about this device that I didn't address but I wanted to hit on the ones that were most important in my decision making. Please leave me a comment if you have something you'd like to add, even if you feel differently about this device. I'd like to hear your comments. I hope this post is helpful to anyone thinking about buying a reading device or upgrading to a new one and trying to decide which one is for you. There are a lot of choices out there but for people with eye issues, in my opinion, the Kindle Paperwhite is the way to go. I couldn't be happier with my choice and also to be rid of that annoying reading lamp that has been following me around for years!

[TSS] Taking The Plunge!

I'm very excited today because I've done something I've been kicking around for quite awhile. Now that I've finally done it, I can't hardly wait for it to get here! That's right - I took the plunge and ordered a Kindle! I'd planned to get one later in the year as a Christmas present to myself but when Amazon lowered the price to $189.00 AND offered free 2-day shipping, I just couldn't put it off any longer. Now, don't get me wrong, I am one of those people who thought Yeah, e readers are pretty cool, but I like a real book. And I still feel that way, but I've been warming up to the idea of an e reader for awhile now. Especially since my trip to Ohio, when I had a hard time deciding what book to take with me to read on the plane. I didn't want to take up room in my suitcase, but I didn't want to get stuck with a book I wasn't in the mood for. But the main reason I purchased the Kindle is because I've read where it's so much easier on the eyes and God knows I need all the help there I can get. With my eye disease, my eyes get so tired and it's harder and harder for me to focus on the lines without them blurring. (Thank goodness my eye doctor doesn't read my blog or he'd tell me to lay off the books, but I just can't do that.) I'm hoping this will help with the eye fatigue I've been experiencing. The downside for me is that I love collecting books for my personal library so I will miss having the actual book sitting on my shelf. I'm sure I'll still get a fair share of actual books though, so I can live with that.

I haven't decided what book will be the first I download but I'm planning to spend some time today browsing the Kindle Store at Amazon. I've kind of got my eye on THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin, but we'll see. Any suggestions?

So, I'd like to know - do you use a Kindle, or some other reading device like the Nook? If so, what do you think of it? Or maybe you're one of those people who are against e readers all together? I'd love to know your thoughts.

My Kindle should be arriving Tuesday, thanks to the free 2-day shipping offer, so you know what I'll be doing that day - looking out for that brown truck! Yep, that's right, the UPS man! As for today, I'm taking it easy, staying out of the scorching heat and finishing EAT, PRAY, LOVE. This book has me all over the place - but I am anxious to finish it so I can make up my mind for once and for all if I liked it or not. I hope you are having an enjoyable Sunday with a great book!