a whole new world of books

 My sweet hubby gave me one of these, for Christmas.

And a month later, I have kind of fallen in love with it.

I am not a big techy person, I have a $10 flip phone (since I rarely use my phone, who needs all those bells and whistles?)  I am on my laptop a big part of my workday, but since I mostly use it for work I try to stay away from it, unless I am loading goodies into my Etsy shop, or attempting a blog post, during the evening and weekends.  Because when I am messing with an electronic device I am not getting anything hand crafted, and that is what my fingers would rather be doing.

But the Kindle Fire makes me really happy.  The first thing I did after I opened it was to download a book: "Red Mist" by Patricia Cornwall.  It completely violated my own rule about never paying more than $3 for a book (I love Half Price Books bargain basement and avid readers who have yard sales), but hey, it was Christmas Day, so I deserved to splurge!  And there is nothing better than catching up with Kay Scarpetta, this one did not disappoint.


A day does not go by that I am not reading on my Kindle, mostly at night before bed, or in the middle of the night when I can't sleep.  "Red Mist" was a fast read, and it was followed by "A Field of Darkness" by Cornelia Read (a mystery with Madeline Dare, written in a really fresh, delightful way).   I can't wait to read other Madeline Dare mysteries.







It was followed by "The St. Paul Conspiracy" McRyan Mystery Series #1 by Roger Stelljes-a book that takes place in St. Paul.  It is so fun to read books where you are familiar with all of the places depicted throughout the story-much like the Lucas Davenport mysteries.    I borrowed it through the Kindle Owner's Lending Library, a neat feature where Prime Members get to borrow a book a month.


Next, I downloaded "Maids of Misfortune" - A Victorian San Francisco Mystery by Louisa M. Locke.  (Clearly I have been on a mystery kick lately...)  It was very enjoyable, and part of it even took place near the Cliff House restaurant, where Mike and I ate the last time we were in California. I plan to find more of these mysteries to read-San Francisco has always really fascinated me, and the author's website piqued my interest.


Amazon offers a Kindle Deal of the Day, book downloads are free or very inexpensive.  It's a great way to try new authors.  I almost feel like I have a library day, every day!

I have this one in my Kindle, just waiting to be read,  "The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks" by Donald Harington.  I love knowing I have fresh books just waiting for me.




Another Deal of the Day was this title  "The Secret Holocaust Diaries" by Nonna Bannister - I am waiting to be in the right frame of mind to delve into it.   Perhaps once I get off my mystery kick!



I am currently in the middle of  "The Highest Tide" by Jim Lynch, about a fourteen year old boy who discovers a giant squid during his nocturnal low tide adventures.  It is delightful.

I have also downloaded a few free games to play, I use Sudoku every day to keep my brain in shape (in theory...)  I have also downloaded some books on organization and cookbooks.  It is so versatile!

The Kindle Fire also lets me browse the web, so I can check my Gmail, Facebook, and Etsy shop along with my favorite blogs.  And I can have Pandora playing my favorite music in the background at the same time.  I haven't watched a movie on it yet, but since I am a Prime member I can watch thousands of them for free.

I have come to realize that the reason I love my Kindle Fire so much is that when I am holding it, it's just about me enjoying some down time.  And we could all use a little more of that!

(all book images from the author's web sites, check them out if you are interested!)