Kindle Reading

My Kindle Oasis!

I told Steve when we were starting the process to expat to Japan that he should write a letter thanking Amazon for inventing the Kindle.  Otherwise, I can't tell you how many boxes of books I would have brought with me.  I limited myself to one box (about 30 paperbacks) just in case something happened to the Kindle or the power grid (like an earthquake causes us to lose power for a week).


With my Kindle Paperwhite starting to fade a bit (taking a while to load new purchases and sometimes freezing up) I decide to purchase the Kindle Oasis.  The feature I'm most excited about is having easier access to the airplane mode button!  When it first arrives, I'm sure the screen size is smaller - but when I hold it side-by-side to my old Kindle I can see they're exactly the same.  It's just that the Oasis casing is so much smaller. 

Amazon's picture of the 1st Generation Paperwhite

This ends up being both a good and bad thing - easier for travel, but harder to read in bed.  I have to make a little pile of the sheets and blankets to raise it above my stomach, otherwise it's too painful to tilt my neck that far down.  On the Paperwhite the frame has an extra inch at the bottom, easily lifting the screen so it's level with my eyes when I lie in bed.  Nine years of Kindle, and this is my third device!  As a quick critique, it's great, but there's not enough of a difference with the Paperwhite that it's worth the price to upgrade.  However, if you use an earlier version of Kindle or your Paperwhite is starting to die, you might want to consider buying this one.

I luck out with a Daily Deal for Kindle - Amazon puts quite a few of their "Best of the Month" selections on sale, and I decide they're worth a shot (They tend to select decent novels for their "bests" - it's just the works they produce that I dislike.)   I'm glad I did!  I've read several, and they've all been worthwhile.

 

The first one is The Wangs vs the World by Jade Chang.   A wealthy Chinese-American family loses all their money and sets out on a road trip across the US, with all sorts of shenanigans occurring, some comic.  The narrative is told from different family members' point of view, so it's interesting to see what one character thinks of another, then get to hear their own thoughts.  A good family saga, with a little satire thrown in.


 

Next is Siracusa by Delia Ephron (Nora Ephron's younger sister).  I can't wait until I return home to recommend this to my book club.  Taking place in modern time, it's about two couples (and a daughter) who vacation together in the Sicilian city of Siracusa.  Told from different characters' perspectives, you're trying to figure out the "real" story - but everyone has their own biased opinion of themselves and the other members of the group.  I'd categorize this as literary fiction.


 

The one I was most looking forward to, The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin, was probably my least favorite of the three, not that it was bad.  The write up for it reminds me of Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (great novel!), but it deals with reincarnation, so it's not really similar at all.  Even if you don't have an interest in reoccurring lives, it's still an acceptable drama about a single mother raising an emotionally troubled boy.  This ends up leading her to a scientist whose lifelong study is to prove the existence of reincarnation.  


Another deal that popped up on Amazon was for All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda.  I'd seen the good reviews for it when it was released, so I kept an eye out for it.  After I began, I was disappointed - most of it is told "in reverse" - one chapter is Day 15, the next Day 14, etc.  I feel like the movie Memento used this technique for the best purposes (I still remember the moment in watching the video when I realize we're seeing each day the same way the main character does - each time the screen goes to black you have no idea what will occur upon "waking.").  Several bestsellers have used that approach recently (Before I Sleep was also made into a movie) but I feel like it's cheap and doesn't increase the value of the plot.  However, about halfway through All the Missing Girls I start appreciating the author's manner of telling the story, and it makes it much more interesting than if it had been told in a traditional linear approach.  Definitely in the mystery/suspense genre, a woman, Nic, returns to her small hometown to help sell her father's house once he moves into a care facility.  Two girls have disappeared in the town, ten years apart, and Nic works to unravel the truth of their departures. 

I recently finished the Maise Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear.  After waiting patiently for another length of time until each book is discounted to $2 each, I finally have #3-12.  My local library has #1 and #2, so I borrow them before continuing on my Kindle.  This historical fiction/private investigator series takes place in the London area from pre-WWI to pre-WWII.  They're good mysteries, but I feel like you're not fully given all the clues so you a chance to figure it out yourself (I think the best mysteries are when the ending is a revelation, but then you realize the hints you missed along the way).  However, that does mean you have to reach the end to have the case solved, and you end up being surprised.  I end up buying #13 at full price because it was published a few weeks before I finished #12, so I decide I might as well get to it while I remember the fictional world in detail.  I like tales with British settings, but it's not my favorite like it is for some of my friends.  These aren't quite good enough to justify reading thirteen in a row (I wasn't devouring them, anxious to continue the narrative), but I think I was being a little lazy.  It was easier to just move on to the next one while I was familiar with all the characters and environment.

My patient stalking checking of Amazon prices gives me another triumph when many of John Scalzi's novels are reduced in price for one day.  I've been wanting to read Lock In since 2014 when it was published to great reviews.  It's satisfying, though I think I like his Red Shirts better (a tongue-in-cheek parody of Star Trek) and Agent to the Stars (literally, as in an agent for aliens).  Those stories have more comedic moments, and Lock In is a science fiction detective mystery.  As part of the same purchase I scored the Old Man's War series, which I believe is more military sci fi, and I look forward to getting to them, too.  

 


The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger is a classic chick lit bestseller - a lighthearted tale regarding a single female tennis pro striving to improve her game and detailing her romantic difficulties.  Great for reading on a plane or on vacation (or on a plane on the way to vacation)!






One of my book clubs has America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie on its list so I decide to give it a try, even though it has the dreaded "daughter" in the title.  This is the story of Thomas Jefferson's oldest daughter, Patsy, who was involved in the background of much of his political life.  Unlike the 2300+ reviews that average 4.5 stars at Amazon, I didn't enjoy it very much...and at 624 pages, it was way too long - it could have had some better editing.  Patsy always felt like a shadow to me, without a real personality.  I learned some new facts, but it would have been faster (and maybe more pleasant) to view them on Wikipedia.


Hmm....I don't notice any non-fiction in my recent reading...I need to change that...  Here are some potential items:

You need to really focus to understand this content!

Good to read at this time of year!