Our Shared Shelf discussion

However, don't you find outrageously expensive many of the books there? I mean, it's an ebook, Amazon. Charge accordingly. Steinem's book, say. I think it's pretty expensive and students, for example, may very well find they cannot afford the book.
This is not to say I do not like my Kindle. If my old one died, I would immediately pony up the cash to get a new one (one with light and a touch screen, LOL). However, ebooks should be definitely cheaper.

Yeah, I've found my Kindle to be very worth it. It's rather common for me to find books for school way cheaper in ebook format than physical copies. This month's book at $13 was a bit more than I usually pay for an ebook, but it was still cheaper than a physical copy, so I went for it anyway.

Although I would agree that it seems like they should be cheaper, authors are already getting shortchanged on ebook sales (their contracts offer a different percentage of royalties). As it is, authors get paid so small a percentage given the hard work they put in, regardless of the format :(

$14 for the book!!!! I think it's a little too expensive, I mean it's better than the print list. The print list is $28 sooo. Anyways I'm not buying it on my Kindle.

I was against kindle till my daughter bought me one, and it's love story since.
It has 3 advantages: it's cheaper, I can buy it in one click and it has all the books. Another advantage is that they have special offer every day for 2$, and I found many great books that way.
I highly recommend it

Nook, as well. Plus, Barnes and Noble has in-store tech support for the Nook. Way easier than trying to get anything done on the phone with someone who can't physically see what's going on.

I thought about a Kindle a couple of times but I already have an older iPad Mini which I also use for reading ebooks. This way I'm not restricted to one ebook store like Amazon but can use a variety of apps from Kindle to iBook to Goodreader etc. on the same device.

However this book was fairly pricey to get here in Germany. The English printed version was expensive, the German one isn't out yet. The ebook versions were a minimum of 16€ no matter which ebook store I looked so in the end I opted for the audiobook version via audible.de for € 9,99.

My iPad is heavier than a Kindle and it hasn't got e-ink and stuff like that but buying a second device just for reading books is no option for me at the moment.

Be aware, though, that Kindles, Nooks, any device you can have those apps on & also cell phones can cause or worsen insomnia. It's the blue light that all devices (including computers & tv's but not as bad as the others) put out which is similar in some ways to sunlight so it can make your brain think it's time to be awake. Some people aren't bothered by it at all but my eye doctor told me a lot are, including me. You can buy those blu-blocker glasses but my eye doctor said they don't help much. I had to stop using my tablet at least an hour before bedtime & it has helped my insomnia a lot. So I just don't buy that many ebooks any more, not worth it. (I hear someone's working on an Android smart phone that doesn't put out blue light at all.)

I was gifted a Kindle by my older sister. She knew that I have problem reading e-books. I cannot concentrate and the background light hurts my eye.
Also with a laptop or a mobile, there are so many distractions. You start surfing or check WhatsApp and stuff, so cannot concentrate.
I was of the opinion that physical copy is the best option.

But with Kindle WiFi e-reader, you have no distractions whatsoever. No messages, no background lights.

Very easy conversion of pdf to .kindle (you just have to mail yourself! with the subject: convert and voila).

All kindle books at Amazon are extremely cheap.

I had a paid subscription at an online rental store for six months. It cost me more than the price of Kindle format books at amazon.
Also there are so many awesome deals.

These guys know their stuff. Excellent product.

Just as a tip for anyone suffering from migraines, stick to print books. I have chronic migraine issues and tried kindle, but the screen light makes light headaches worse. Other than that, definitely go for it :)

I use a kindle paperwhite because of the light/eye strain/sleep issue and hardly ever use the backlight. Definitely worth looking into.

In Portugal, books cost around 20€ ($22) and the market is so small editors don't even bother to make e-books or audiobooks. The unbelievably small amount of e-books that exist only cost 2 or 3€ less than the paperback (really?? the cost of paper is only 2 ou 3€?). Reading became almost a luxury... :-( That's one of the reasons I joined Bookcrossing. And I also decided to start reading in English and take advantage of their lower prices, but in the beginning it was very hard, it took me a lot of time. It helped me improve my English, but... such a cultural thing as reading should be accessible to all people in general, not only the ones that read in English.
Anyway, that was not my point: I wanted to say that if there are so many e-books available for $2 or $3 I might consider getting a Kindle!

There are daily offers on the kindle for 2$, sometimes for .99 cents. You can check on Amazon to sea the prices.
I think it's a lot cheaper then paper book accept for the first investment since the kindle cost about 120$.
I used to have the same problem. Many times they didn't translate more then one book in a series of the first one didn't succeed.
Then I decided to move to read in English, it's when I found many greats books that I wouldn't heard on them ever.

There are daily offers on the kindle for 2$, sometimes for .99 cents. You can check on Amazon to sea the prices.
I think it's a lot cheaper then paper book accept for the first investment since the kindle cost about 120$.
I used to have the same problem. Many times they didn't translate more then one book in a series of the first one didn't succeed.
Then I decided to move to read in English, it's when I found many greats books that I wouldn't heard on them ever.

I've had a Kindle Paperwhite for nearly 3 years and I love it. It was a gift from my husband as I was so upset to find that my chronic illness meant I couldn't hold a book, he was having to crack the spines and for me it was soul destroying to see these books being damaged so much. I love the look of the page on the Paperwhite and the weight is quite light, no one can see what you're reading which for some reason I like and I rarely buy a book more expensive than 99p. Trick is to add the books you want to read to your Amazon wish list and just check everyday. They always drop in price eventually, just a bit of a waiting game.

Anna wrote: "I've had a Kindle Paperwhite for nearly 3 years and I love it. It was a gift from my husband as I was so upset to find that my chronic illness meant I couldn't hold a book, he was having to crack t..."

You can upload your wishlist to ereaderiq.com and they will email you when a book on your list drops in price.

As a point of information to discussion members, eink kindles don't have bluelight issue with sleep. The eink kindles are frontlit not backlit.

Thanks, Nospin, I'll ask my eye doc about the eink kindles. The way he was talking, *all* kindles have at least a little bluelight but I'll double-check into it.

Good thread, thanks!

I have an iPad with the Kindle and OverDrive apps on it. OverDrive has changed my life, and while I do buy the occasional Kindle book, I adore my library and its free books more.

I love my Kindle Paperwhite. I still sometimes read printed books but I also do some travelling and the Kindle is great, convenient and comfortable. Also, If you look around you can find some great books cheap. One of my favorites of last year was a $2.99 mystery on the Kindle.

I've got a Kindle Fire. I ued to have a Kindle Paperrwhite but it clogged up.

I have a Kindle Paperwhite and can only recommend it! It weighs very little, you can download books and read them immediately, most of them are much cheaper than physical copies, you can search the books in order to find certain passages, and you can adapt the letter size. And it's awesome that you can take as many books with you as you like while travelling. I've seen that there's also a waterproof Kindle version, and I'd love to get that some day so I can also read in the bathtub.

I have a Kindle too, and I like to used it, especially at night when I can read using the build in light. Though I still like to read printed books and go to the library to check books out.

Actually Kindle started off as a device without backlight. Even the newer generation Kindles have one product at least without backlight. Since there is no backlight, eye-stress is not an issue. I use an old Kindle - without backlight, and I never experienced any problems, because it is just like a normal book, you use ambient light to read.

Here my own experience with a kindle. Maybe someone had the same problem ?

I had a HD kindle but it dead since two months! I am so angry! It only had two years! One day it won't turn on, and it wasn't for the battery. I tried the 20 sec' pushing on the putton (to reconfigure the kindle) but it doesn't work.

I saw the kindle have all this same factory problem, a little piece of the mother-board with the battery which can be broken because it's too thin. You don't even need to knock off your kindle to broke it! And when I contact Amazon they told me they have no "Reparation services" so, as my garantee was for one year, I will have to pay a private reparator OR buy a new kindle with a 20€ compensation.

What a shame! I will never recommand to buy a kindle now!

ps: If someone don't believe me I have kept the Amazon conversation.

Just to clearify , none of the kindle e readers have back light including the paperwhite, it is lit from the front and may look like back light.
Also worth knowing...you can borrow e books from the public library free on the kindle.

The kindle Fire is a tablet not an e reader and is back lit : )

I love my HD Kindle. I've had it for 2 years. What I do if I'm not sure how I'll like a book is check it out from the ebook library catalog. The most popular ones will have a wait list, but they get sent directly to my Kindle once they're ready to go.

I've never tried a Kindle reader because the lighting on my Fire doesn't bother me. My mom wouldn't read ebooks on hers because of that, so I got her one of the readers for her b-day, and she loves it.

The Kindle Fire is much more cheaper thsan the Kindle Paperwhite, and is a tablet in which you can read on and browse the internet and get apps and games unlike the Kindle Paperwhite in which you only read and everything is in black and white.

Just to add in, there are many libraries with access to online book catalogues, like large regional ones. So if you have a library card at a library with such a program, then you can check out ebooks online. Some larger libraries, like university libraries, issue "e cards" so if you don't want a regular library card or don't have one, you can sign up for this and just check out ebooks.

It works like a regular library book. Check it out, you can keep it for up to two weeks. You can get on wait lists for popular books and put books on hold. It's great!!

Lynn wrote: "Be aware, though, that Kindles, Nooks, any device you can have those apps on & also cell phones can cause or worsen insomnia. It's the blue light that all devices (including computers & tv's but no..."

Lynn, that's true for tablets, but not for e-ink. Studies have shown that its' very gentle on the eyes and safe to use before bed.

as a non-American I prefer e-readers that can display a variety of formats. i don't think i can easily get e-books through amazon :/ My first e-reader was a PocketBook and now I have an Onyx Cleopatra. they're also android-based and have wifi (necessary for adobe digital editions), sometimes i check twitter through my e-reader haha.

Sherrie is right, e-ink needs an outside light source as far as I know.

Marina wrote: "as a non-American I prefer e-readers that can display a variety of formats. i don't think i can easily get e-books through amazon :/ My first e-reader was a PocketBook and now I have an Onyx Cleopa..."

I'm in Finland and buy Kindle books from US Amazon. Am not allowed to buy from the European Amazons, even though paper format is okay through those channels.