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Community Corner

House and Home: Why Readers Might Want a Kindle

Amazon's e-reader could streamline a busy homeowners or renter's life

When it comes to reading books and magazines, I am fairly old-fashioned. I subscribe to and read two newspapers (including the New York Times) and several magazines. I also do a lot of reading online, but I like flipping the pages of a book and looking through magazines. This is even though Amazon.com reported earlier this year that sales of the Kindle outpaced paperback sales on its website.

After chatting with a friend of mine the other day, however, I have begun to think that maybe it’s about time that I get an e-reader, my e-reader of choice being Amazon.com’s Kindle (the 3G wireless one, since my home doesn’t have a wireless router setup). My friend and I both like to read, and were talking about how we both have precarious, dust-gathering piles of books and magazines by our beds. My husband and I are both avid readers, and I swear that the books, magazines and newspapers are taking over our home and are really starting to drive me crazy.

After the conversation with my friend, I began thinking that the Kindle might make life a lot of easier for anyone who owns a home or struggles to keep a living space neat. This is why:

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1. You can buy books without creating more clutter: This is what attracts me the most about having an e-reader. Like many readers, I have bookcases, and boxes, full of books. With the Kindle, I could buy new reads without adding to the physical dust-collecting clutter in my home. Up to 3,500 books can be stored on a Kindle, according to Amazon. And, (if I can bear to part with some books), maybe I can even reduce the amount of clutter in my home. If I wanted to, I could also subscribe to newspapers and magazines through the Kindle–that would be a true bonus, as I am always saving newspapers and magazines because I haven’t read everything yet, or want to keep a recipe, etc. Lorrie Marreo of the Clutter Diet blog, recommends the Kindle as a great clutter buster.

2. Lots of free stuff: Any mom (or anyone, for that matter) might like this part about a Kindle–Kindle owners can download plenty of reads for free. Many “classic” or out-of-copyright books, things like Jane Austen’s “Emma,” “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathanial Hawthorne and “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy, are completely free. I know I have a lot of classic literature stored in my basement (which actually isn’t a good place to store books) because I just don’t know where to put it all. With a Kindle, I could have access to those classics and free up some basement storage space. 

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3. You can find it easily: For anyone who has a lot of books at home like I do and aren’t adept at organizing them, owning a Kindle can make life a lot easier. Instead of having to go to room to room looking for a particular book, any book you own and have downloaded onto your Kindle will be waiting for you on your e-reader. That’s a real time saver. Plus, should something happen to your Kindle, you can take advantage of Amazon’s free archival service. Any Kindle owner can re-down load any book they’ve purchased from Amazon for free, and any ebook they purchase will be saved in that reader’s own online Kindle library.

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