Detectives and Rangers

Okay, so I have a cute/funny story for you. I have a dear friend from college who loves to read as much (actually, probably more than) I do. She's always been a great resource for ideas on "what to read". Well, since Lindsay is starting to dig into some young adult level books, my friend recommended a series that both Lindz and I would enjoy, "The Rangers Apprentice" series by John Flanagan. So this summer I checked the local library a couple of times, but we never found Book 1, and since both her and I like to read books in order, we resisted checking out any of the other books in the series.

Last Friday Lindsay came home from school and proudly showed me the books she'd checked out from her school library. (She gets 4 every week). One was one of the sequels to "Bunnicula", which was an awesome kids' book that I read back in the day, and another was, dun dun dun, "The Ruins of Gorlan (Rangers Apprentice Book 1)!! That girl--she'd remembered we were looking for it and grabbed it when she saw it at school. Not only that, but she let me read it first! He he he. That's a first, me reading one of her school library books!

So, it only took me a couple of nights, but that was with me forcing myself to turn off the light at 10 p.m. I could've easily stayed up til midnight to finish it. It was great! Hattie, you were so right on, it is right up our alley--well mine at least! We'll see if Lindsay renews it today so she can read it. I loved it--the characters are endearing and there's action and fantasy and good vs. evil---all the elements that I personally love in a book. And since it's a series, I have lots more stories of Will (The Ranger's Apprentice) to enjoy!

The other "find" I have had lately when it comes to books and reading, is the author Lisa Gardner. She writes a great suspense/detective novel. I got one of her novels for free on my Kindle, which was my introduction to her, so after reading that and enjoying it, I looked at the library for any more of her books. She's got quite a few, actually. So I checked out a decent sized pile and have already made my way through a couple, specifically "The Third Victim" and "The Survivors Club", both of which were great. So if you like a good detective/suspense novel, these are just exactly that.

How about you? What types of books do you tend to enjoy? Have you read any good books lately? Or have any on your list that you want to read? C'mon folks, give me some interaction here!

Pro's & Con's of the Kindle

Alright, I feel like I've owned and used my Amazon Kindle enough to share with you what I think about it, both positive and negative. Let me start off by saying, I truly do love it. I'm so happy that my wonderful husband bought it for me for Christmas. 

Here are some reasons I love it:

• It's lightweight & portable. I took it to Mexico, read many books there and didn't have the extra 20 lbs in my luggage.
• It's super easy to get new books--and some of them have great prices--I've gotten many for free or just $0.99.
• It's super easy to read off of--not like a computer screen at all.
• You can change the size of the text from minuscule to HUGE, which is great if you are nearsighted or trying to read on the treadmill. (Ha ha)
• Amazon keeps track of the books you've bought on it, so there's no accidental double purchases.
• I can underline and make notes and then later look at just my notes on any given book.
• It's got some great little games on there that even my kiddo's can play.
• The battery lasts a long time if you aren't online all the time. And its easy to go online or offline at the touch of a button.
• There is a ton of memory on it, and even if you fill it up, you can archive the book and you still own it.
• You can download free apps that enable you to read your books on you PC if you so choose, and you can sync that with the Kindle so you can pick up where you left off.

I have thought of some reasons that the Kindle won't entirely take over my "library":

• It's almost too easy to get new books. I have five "pages" of them on there to read and yet I still look for new ones. I need to be careful not to spend all my entertainment allowance on books every month.
• It's not great for reading in the bath. I'd be scared of dropping it and ruining it and I love to read in the bath.
• The games are addicting. I've spent as much time playing on it as I have reading.
• The charger is really specific. I lost mine and had to order a new one for almost $30 with shipping.
• It's almost impossible to share a good book with a friend. Some of the books are sharing enabled, but the recipient has to have either a Kindle or the PC software to read it.
• Some of the new books are more expensive in the Kindle version than the paperback.
• Some of the free books are not super high quality "literature".

I guess that I still have more positives than negatives, and I still love it, don't get me wrong. Just wanted to share in case you were thinking about getting one. :-) And it was on my mind, so here ya go.