Literary Ludite: Amazon Kindle, Part I

I got a Kindle Fire HD 7 back in October. It was my birthday and Amazon had just released the latest version of the Kindle at a much lower price, so it was a temptation I couldn't resist, especially as I'd been considering a Kindle even when they were pricier and less fancy. I'd also been interested in an iPad MIni, but the Kindle Fire offered all of the same features for less money, and had better integration with the existing Amazon Prime/Audible apps I'd already been using.

Six months later, I'm in love with my Kindle and I couldn't imagine life without it. Don't get me wrong -- I still love physical books and I still purchase/borrow plenty of them. I had no idea how I would take to the e-reader function on the Kindle, and for the first month or two I mostly used it to read comic books and watch movies (both of which it does excellently -- the comiXology app, which comes pre-installed, is awesome, and it runs Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO Go seamlessly). When I found myself on a several month-long wait list at the public library for Station Eleven, I finally decided to use the e-reader, and I was really pleasantly surprised by how much I liked and how quickly I adapted to it. Since then, I've read quite a few books on the Kindle, with absolutely no complaints.

One of my favorite features is a metric that you can choose to have displayed on bottom of the page, which includes a counter of the time left in the chapter or in the whole book. That might sound annoying but it is actually really helpful when you're trying to fit reading into a busy schedule: if you know it will take you 90 minutes to finish Station Eleven, you can set aside 90 minutes.

This weekend I'll be travelling with it for the third time, and it is such a pleasure knowing that it will fit in any purse and carried every form of entertainment I could ever want.

Literary Ludite: Goodreads

This will be a very short post because I have nothing positive to say about Goodreads, which is an obnoxiously popular website for basics. Goodreads is the kind of thing that exists for that person you know (or knew, or only kinda know) who writes a Facebook update about how they really need a good book to read. This is an example of delicious irony and a demonstration of why I had to stop using Facebook, because the type of person who would put that on Facebook is also the person who probably never reads an actual book. 

Thus-- Goodreads. The interface is based entirely around user-created profiles, which allow one to list books read, books being read, or books waiting to be read. Then algorithms generate recommendations for you, and ads from publishers for the latest romance novels are embedded in your recommendations. Ta-da!

I suppose I'm not exactly the target demo because I've never needed a book recommendation in my life; I have quite the opposite problem, which is why 25% of the books on my shelves haven't been read yet. But even so, I tried using it with an open-mind, and I found the recommendations to be incredibly generic and unsophisticated, and in general the whole tone was low-brow. Lots of recommendations for John Green books, etc.

I would recommend skipping Goodreads altogether; if you want to socialize about a shared interest in books, join or start a book club. If you want sophisticated book recommendations based on what you've already enjoyed, visit a local library or an independent bookstore. Also, if you're not boycotting Amazon, they have user profiles and recommendations and socializing and basically everything you can get from Goodreads, but also HBO and free shipping.

Literary Ludite: comiXology

Some of you will remember my foray into the world of comics via Saga, the increasingly popular and wacky space opera series by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples (which by the way was just release in a 1 volume, issues 1-18 omnibus edition). I immediately fell in love with the story, characters and artwork, but I bemoaned the necessity of buying issue after issue, especially as new issues have been dropping until a very recent hiatus. In the end, I have accumulated three trade paperbacks, each a collection of individual comic issues, as well as many individual digital issues, via the comiXology app on my Kindle Fire HD 7, a recent birthday gift (thanks, Mom).

After using the app for a few months now, I honestly can't say enough good things about it. If you are a fan of comic books or graphic novels, the app alone makes the Kindle seem worth it, but that's information best left to a forthcoming Kindle review. The app is pre-loaded on the new Kindle, but it's also available for download on other tablets and smart phones.

comiXology is essentially an e-reader app exclusive to comics and graphic novels. The digital library is staggering in its depth, and you have access to the very newest and very oldest comics. New issues of Saga automatically downloaded on my Kindle the same day they dropped in stores, making keeping up with a current book so much easier (and less intimidating). As I've been reading Jill Lepore's The Secret History of Wonder Woman, I've been able to find many of the issues she references (her research is meticulous) and read the Justice Society or Wonder Woman comics in conjunction with the book, which has really enhanced the experience. It's also the only way most of us will ever get our hands on those old, rare, and valuable issues, which have been lovingly digitized and restored for the app.

I started using the app by searching for Saga, which was easy enough because it's one of the most popular titles on the app. I then subscribed and inhaled each issue when it appeared in my library. A word of warning -- the app can get extremely addictive; Saga, for example, always ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger, so it would not be hard to indulge in the instant gratification of buying each subsequent issue, when it would be much cheaper to just buy a big edition.

The readability of the comiXology app is also worth noting. They refer to it as "Guided View Reading Technology," and it's ideal for anyone who isn't normally a comic reader, because it allows you to zoom into each panel, and then the reader naturally moves from text to text in the order it is intended to be read. It's not easy to explain so check out their web site to see a demonstration.

Finally, there is the browsing and discovery, which is almost as fun as reading an actual comic. As I mentioned, the library is extensive, and it's organized in a way that is very conducive to browsing, allowing you to filter by writer or artists, publisher, or genre. It will recommend comics to you based on what you've already read, and there are always free books available for preview. Since Saga wrapped up, I've gotten into Captain Marvel, which will mark the first time in history I actually read a comic book before seeing the movie, as well as Ms. Marvel, which I'm sure will turn into a movie franchise soon enough.