Kindle? Really? Yes.

All by himself, Kevin decided to get me a Kindle for Christmas. I had never thought of buying one for myself. All that stuff about going to the bookstore, having the physical pages in my hands, the smell of the paper: these were all reasons why I thought I wouldn't buy an e-reader.

I just finished The Girl Who Played with Fire this afternoon during Harry's nap, the first book I've read on my Kindle. (True confession: I was halfway through The Count of Monte Cristo when I downloaded TGWPWF and could not resist.) I was kind of skeptical when I opened my Christmas present, but after having it for a month now, there are some definite advantages.

First of all, portability. It weighs less than pretty much every book in my house. It holds thousands of books, so if/when I go on vacation, instead of packing three or four books, I'll just pop my Kindle into my carry-on and never run the risk of being caught without a book.

Second, there are literally thousands of free books out there, either offered free by new authors trying to build a reputation or classics that are a part of public domain. In short, free = Kate will be reading a lot of classics for a while.

Third, and this is a big one for me, no bookmark to be yanked out and misplaced by a toddler.

The only downside I see so far is that it's way too easy to fall asleep while reading when you don't have to physically turn the pages.