WIRELESS READER DOES MORE THAN BROWSE

As a “frugalista,” I yearned for a Kindle e-book reader for more than a year before I finally gave in to my husband’s offer to buy me one for Christmas. Although I love to read, I resisted for a long time because I wasn’t sure if I would use it enough to justify the cost. As a mom of three, I don’t get much time for reading, and I don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on downloaded books.

Half a year later, the Kindle is something I use every single day. I’m delighted that it helps me find time to read. But I also love using my Kindle in ways I had not anticipated.

Before I got my Kindle, I knew that the device could access the Internet. But at first I found the “experimental” Web interface too clunky, so I stuck to books.

I had thought I was too busy to read, but I soon realized that if I kept my Kindle in the pocket of the rocking chair, I could quietly click through the pages while nursing the baby. When my son had trouble falling asleep, I no longer minded, because I was enjoying some rare me-time.

Then one day, our home Internet access went down just as I was expecting an important e-mail. I picked up my Kindle and was able to handle the business at hand—if not as easily as I could on a computer, easily enough.

As the weeks went by, I became more familiar with the Web interface. E-mailing, checking Facebook and reading blogs became the first things I did when I picked up my Kindle. Since I’m too cheap to pay for a monthly cell phone data plan, the Kindle is a mobile Internet device handy for checking e-mail on the road.

Yet my favorite unexpected return came right at home. I love to browse bookstores and libraries, thumbing through new titles or classics. But with three kids, I rarely get past the children’s section of a bricks-and-mortar bookstore anymore.

Then I realized that my Kindle is a virtual bookstore. Because Amazon makes (often lengthy) samples of books available for free download, I am able to check out new books on a whim from my own home. Many times I hear authors interviewed on NPR and check out their new books just minutes later, before I have time to forget.

I can’t believe I spent a year wondering if I would get any use out of a Kindle, when it turned out to have many more uses than I’d bargained for.

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