Bandwagon, I'm (Sorta Kinda) On It

So. I have a Kindle. Not the sexy new Touch or Fire all the hip kids got for Chrismukkah, but the plain old Kindle Keyboard (Wi-Fi). The Husband bought me one just before we went to England in September. You’re thinking that was a sweet and loving gesture, but it was really a self-serving one. The Husband is tired of me shuttling half tons (tonnes) of literature from one continent to another -- and I always return with more than I departed with! Once, I brought so many books home with me that my suitcase weighed too much and we had to pay an extra baggage fee. The Husband has never forgotten this.

Kindle = no tonnage fees.

So, my Kindle Keyboard was pretty sweet and I downloaded a bunch of free books onto it before we left to keep me busy. Everything was ticking along just fine right up until the middle of our holiday, when part of the screensaver stopped going away. Bits of Audubon birds, just sitting there. Grr. While Amazon was great about replacing the device when I returned home, I still had to tote a couple chunksters onto the plane to keep me from climbing the cabin walls. (I like flying. I do not like planes. It's a bit of a problem considering many of the places I'd like to visit require rather long flights. I'm sure the answer is medication, but I'm a control freak and worry what decisions I might make under the influence of something that plays with my brain. Like, I might start chatting with perfect strangers. Nooo).

Anyway, I’ve downloaded tons of free eBooks from Amazon and sites like Baen Free Library. Theoretically, I can also download free Kindle eBooks from my library consortium, but it's a wee bit complicated and I can't be arsed. I know, I know. I'm a librarian. I should be right out front, leading the patrons into A New Age of Reading ... and I am, at work. At work, I will happily show you how to download an eBook using a library computer and then transfer it to your device. At home, I snark and dig my heels in. There are too many steps involved in downloading a library eBook to my Kindle Keyboard. My library experiences should be better, goshdarnittoheck. But, I know, much of it has nothing to do with my library consortium and everything to do with DRM and the publishing industry's ostrich-brained, knee-jerk reaction to change.

/rant

On a happier (?) note, one of my coworker's loaned me a Kindle eBook, Sheila Simonson's A Cousinly Connexion, and that was a pretty interesting experience (also a fun read). As I expected, she had no access to the item while it was loaned to me, but I hadn't expected such a short loan period -- a mere fourteen days! I'm a fast reader, but I can see where someone like The Husband, who reads in fits and starts, might find the loan period rather restrictive. It doesn't even look like I can reloan Kindle eBooks -- Kindle Lending Help says "eligible Kindle books can be loaned once for a period of 14 days." Bah.