After losing my ipod touch, I decided to replace it with the much-cheaper nano. However, that meant that I wouldn’t be able to use it for email or game apps. I survived, but when the Kindle Fire came out, I wanted it! I could use it to watch my Amazon Prime free video content; I could get some game apps from the android market, I could use it for email and web on the go, and well — yeah, I might use it to read.

I put it on my Christmas list and lo and behold, my wish was his command. After using it for over a month, here are some of the ways that the Kindle Fire has surprised me:

1. I actually enjoy reading on it! I honestly thought that the Fire would be my tablet toy, but I’d still use my old Kindle with the e-ink screen for reading. Boy was I wrong. The backlit screen doesn’t bother me at all. I generally keep the brightness turned way down (about 25%), and it doesn’t bother my eyes at all. Believe me, this had been a concern. I spend enough time staring at screens, and the thought of a glossy backlit screen didn’t appeal to me at all (though I thought it would be good for nighttime reading in the car, and it is).
2. However, it really won’t do for outside reading. This weekend my husband and I got away to Florida with some friends. I brought my “new toy” (as my husband calls it), but it did NOT do for reading on the back patio or by the pool. I do a lot of reading outside on vacation and at home, so I’ll probably choose to bring the traditional Kindle, E Ink Display when that’s going to be the case.
3. The game apps aren’t nearly as great as those available for Apple devices (no Diner Dash! No Chocolatier!), but that’s probably fine. I’ve amused myself with Sally’s Salon and kept my son entertained with Angry Birds.



4. It’s heavier than I would have thought. Especially holding on to it and trying to play games, I noticed the weight. However, I bought the Marware jurni Kindle Fire Case Cover that has a sort of pocket you can slip your hand into without gripping it so tightly, and I love it. It does make a difference.

Have you been surprised — either positively or negatively — by your ereader or tablet purchase?

*Here are all the posts I’ve written about my Kindle:

• My thoughts on the Kindle (5/09)
• A month of e-reading (6/10)
• Hello, Kindle, my old friend (2/11)
• My Kindle got skinned 9/11

For me, variety is good — both food wise and in my literary pursuits. I love reading fiction that makes me think, and feel, and cry. I return to deeply-drawn characters again and again in my mind. I also am affected by reading people’s true stories in memoir or biography form, learning from both their successes and failures. Interesting nonfiction presents information in a way that rewards my time with knowledge. Books help strengthen my faith or my knowledge of the things of God.

But sometimes I just want to be entertained. I want to read a page-turning suspense novel or a mindless romance. They are often formulaic and won’t likely stick with me for longer than the handful of hours that it might take me to finish it. But they are enjoyable. Like candy, they sometimes leave me craving more. Like candy, they are easy and pleasant to digest.

We were staying at my in-laws’ house at Christmas. They are both readers, and so there are newspapers and magazines, paperbacks, and library books all over the house. I noticed a Dean Koontz title in a stack of my father-in-law’s books. It looked interesting, and I used to enjoy his books, so I picked it up. Pretty soon I was immersed in The Good Guy.

It was suspenseful, interesting, and entertaining — perfect for sitting in the living room with the family and reading a chapter here or there.

My father-in-law’s mother is also a big reader, and usually gives books at Christmas. This year she gave me a Nicholas Sparks book, Safe Haven. I have read a few of his novels, but it’s been a while. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this one, because like Koontz’s novel, it had some danger and suspense and was a bit of a thriller, instead of 100% romance.

There was a time in my life that these types of books made up the vast majority of my reading diet. They became routine and expected. Can you eat too much candy? Maybe. All I know is that after not having read anything like these two in a while, I genuinely enjoyed them.

What’s more, just like the sweet and delicious chocolately goodness, they left me craving more.

Jennifer Donovan blogs at Snapshot about life in Houston in her house full of bookworms.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to a teeny personal agenda, too. I was curious about this series, and if they were here in the house, then I might get a chance to read at least the first one myself.

I spent the first eleven days of the year consuming the series every chance I got. I snuck the books into the bathroom at work, even! I wanted to drop everything in life and just live in Percy’s world. Soon enough, I had made my way through all the books, and I decided to pull down another book that I had put on his list, Brian Selznick’s Wonderstruck. My son had torn through that one the day after he received it, and he had enthusiastically recommended I read it. “You’re going to LOVE it, Mom, I just know it.”

He was right, of course. I was wowed by Selznick’s detailed sketches and their ability to tell a nuanced story in images. The story was touching and emotional, and I lost myself in it one evening. As with Rick Riordan’s series, I found myself marveling at the power of middle grade fiction, the books written primarily for an audience in the nine to twelve age range. This literature needs to speak to kids at a time in their lives when everything is just so intense– emotions, worries, excitements, friendships, life in general. At this age, children are more able to think logically, and they’re just beginning to develop some abstract reasoning, which brings about a greater understanding of others and situations in life beyond their own personal experiences. What a perfect opportunity for literature!

I don’t have the greatest memory for much of my earliest years, but late elementary school is the time that is most alive in my mind of childhood. For me, this was the time when my adoration of reading really blossomed. I can vividly remember the feeling of Scholastic paperbacks in my hand as a kid, anywhere and everywhere. I fell in love with every character I encountered. There wasn’t a book I read that I didn’t love. I wasn’t picky, I just wanted to immerse myself in a world on the page. I wore my Bookworm nickname with pride, and I saw nothing wrong with always having my “nose buried in a book,” as my mother often declared.

As I finished the first book of Riordan’s next series, The Heroes of Olympus, I brought my total of middle grade fiction to seven for the month. (It would have been eight if the second of that series had come in earlier from the library!) Yes, I loved the stories, the action and adventure, the spunky characters, the peek into the world of tweens and teens. I enjoyed bonding with my son over books he has pored over time and again, even though I learned that it is very, very challenging for him to not drop spoiler comments into our conversations!

And, I couldn’t help but revel in the experience of reliving my own childhood reading days. I could almost pretend I was eleven years old again, sprawled out across my double bed, reading the day away. Ahhhh.

Dawn indulges in her love for picture books every day as a preschool teacher and mom to two young children, and she is embracing the world of middle grade fiction alongside her oldest. She lives online at my thoughts exactly.

The most notable feature is lighting that actually allowed me to read. Not only was the lamp nice and bright, but there were reading lights on both sides of the bed, not to mention two books on the nightstand for those who might be in need of reading material: Poems of the Sea and Paulo Coehlo’s The Alchemist.

This chaise at the end of the bed was a VERY cozy place to sit and read (or — yes– watch TV). The cabinets around the TV also had some books (mostly decorative, but it was still a nice sight).

In addition to a really homey interior, the location — right on the Santa Monica boardwalk — was beautiful. Please read more about the surprising way I enjoyed the boardwalk at Snapshot.

Jennifer Donovan has enjoyed writing for 5 Minutes for Mom, especially attending press junkets (This trip and hotel was sponsored by Universal Studios). Be sure to check out the Big Miracle movie coverage next week.

For the last four years, my life as a stay-at-home mom was certainly hectic, but there were some natural periods of downtime in which reading could occur. During the blessed hours of one and three each afternoon, the children napped and I was free to choose between the lure of blogging, Facebook, or grabbing my book. Quite often, choice number three prevailed, and the time would fly by. I’ll even admit to bringing a book along to the playground on some mornings for those snippets of time when the children played together conflict-free, and I could breeze through five pages or so. I’m not going to minimize the amount of work that I did as a stay-at-home mom, but it did have its advantages in the reading-here-and-there department during the day.

Now that I’ve returned to full-time work, teaching preschool at a university-based laboratory school, I can no longer grab a few minutes of reading at random times during the morning. In the middle of the day, I do have a period of time when I’m out of the classroom, and when I can stop doing work, I try to grab whatever book is the current read for at least ten minutes or so. There’s also the joy of commuting on public transportation, which ideally would provide the best time for reading, though the preschooler and kindergartener who commute with me sometimes put a nix on that. When it’s successful, I enjoy every little minute I can get.

Thankfully, being a mother has prepared me well for reading in short spurts. Back in my breastfeeding days, I eventually found a comfortable position that allowed me to both feed the baby and feed my reading habit. Sometimes that lasted for thirty minutes, other times it was a short five. That was just the beginning of this long path of parenthood, and as my children have grown over the years, I’ve learned that nothing is ever guaranteed. Working or staying home, it doesn’t matter, making the time to read has always taken a bit of effort. Right now, I’m trying to accept the new reality and find what works best.

In any case, reading is, and always has been, my favorite habit to indulge. How do you fit it in?

Editor’s Note: Dawn is also a regular blogger over at the She Knows Real Moms Guide. A recent column that I think our readers will find interesting is Reading Together Every Day, Really. Check it out, as well as Dawn’s other daily blogs for the site.

Dawn is getting better at this whole balancing work/home/family/blogging/reading thing, in tiny increments at least. When she’s not sneaking a few more pages, she might be blogging away at my thoughts exactly.

But having a goal has its issues:

• I tend to shy away from longer books. Why read an 800 page book when I could read 2 or even 3 shorter books in the same time?
• I’m never sure if I should include kids’ fiction in my total. If I read a middle grade novel to make sure it’s appropriate for Alex, do I include it? What if it’s a middle grade book for review? I don’t include picture books, but where do I draw the line?
• Then there are the parenting or other non-fiction that I end up skimming or only reading pertinent chapters. If I don’t read every word in a book, should it be on the list?

Of course this is not to say that I won’t be tracking the books I read, I will still use Goodreads so I know what books I’ve read and when. But maybe this will be the year I step away from my spreadsheet. Anything I record in there can also be done in Goodreads, and it’s one less place to keep up to date.

And really, to say I’m not setting a goal is untrue. I want to re-read the last 3 Harry Potter books, I read the first 4 this year but didn’t get to finish them. I also want to read a series I’ve never read before: The Lord of the Rings. Those are all pretty long books, so my total will be a lot shorter than this year. But I’m ok with that. Reading should be fun, not a chore, and stressing over how many books I’ve read has been taking the fun out of it.

So you’re probably wondering if I did reach my goal of 100 books, and on December 30, I actually completed book number 102. For more on the books I read, check out my personal blog, Life With My Boys and Books.

Do you set goals to read a certain number of books in a year? Do you find it helpful to have a goal, or does it stress you out?

Nancy is looking forward to a year of good reading, no matter how many books she reads. She writes about her 2 boys, books and life in Colorado at Life With My Boys and Books.

I’ve also joined in the S. Krishna’s South Asian Authors challenge (two years in a row and planning on a third), because I like to read South Asian literature, and I like connecting with others who feel the same way, and it can easily dovetail with my review reading, since I’m drawn to those titles anyway.

But this year, I’m challenging myself in my own way. I’m going to read at least 12 books this year that are absolutely only solely just for me. No review copies, no deadlines, no reports. Twelve doesn’t sound like all that much considering I read over 150 books this year (including those audiobooks and lots of kids’ fiction). But I want to show myself that I can do it. It’s a goal that I put on my What’s on Your Nightstand posts throughout the year as well as those Fall and Spring challenges, but then I fall short.

Why? Why don’t I just read what I want to read?

There are good reasons for this, the top one being that I’m a book reviewer. I like being a book reviewer. I love the books that come across my desk via my inbox or unsolicited deliveries. Once I accept them, I have an obligation to follow-through in a timely fashion, so other books get pushed aside. But I can take time with twelve books over the course of 2012, and perhaps like that first Fall into Reading Challenge 5 years ago, this goal will just be the tip of the iceberg.

I’d also like to challenge myself to accurately track the number of books I read. I loved jotting thoughts, pages read, and when I started and finished my books in my Reader’s Notebook the last couple of years, but I was never 100% accurate about tracking it, and never had a good collection of my reviews either. Though I was planning to just use a page on my personal blog, after reading that post, and the post about buying my second reader’s notebook, I think I might keep it in paper once again, with just a list of links online (and duh–I guess I could use goodreads for that, right??).

To recap — in 2012 I’m challenging myself to read at least 12 books just for me, and I’m also challenging myself to keep an accurate record of what I’ve read.

What about you? Link to your reading goals for 2012 below, including any challenges that you are joining in.

Jennifer Donovan is grateful that she has the time to read and that she is surrounded by so many wonderful options. She’s shared some of her other personal goals for 2012 at her blog Snapshot.

JENNIFER

• I’m feeding Kyle’s love of Calvin and Hobbes with a copy of one of the collections he doesn’t have: The Indispensable Calvin And Hobbes. I’m also trying to expand his appreciation of comics with a really nice hardbound Peanuts collection that I found in the clearance section at Barnes and Noble for around $10.
• My kids’ bookworm roots run on both sides — not only from my own dad, but from Terry’s side of the family as well. My father-in-law and his mother are both huge readers. In addition to some other goodies, I bought The Hunger Games book for my/his grandmother (click the link for a chance to win the book and movie poster). That’s right! I’m giving the violent dystopian bestseller to my grandmother! And what’s more, I think she’ll like it, since she’s a fan of mystery and suspense and has dabbled in sci-fi.

LAUREN

• My son is an avid sports fan. Every year, Santa brings him Scholastic’s Year in Sports. This book is filled with statistics, and my son pores over it for months. This is perfect for the 9-12 age range (or even older for those who love stats).
• My daughter recently started reading chapter books. She found Sophie the Awesome in her stocking. I saw this series at our recent book fair, so I’m sure Santa made a good pick. I think my daughter will enjoy this exuberant character.
• Almost every year, I give my mom the newest Nicholas Sparks book. She has them all, so I think that The Best of Me is a welcome addition to her collection!

DAWN

• Just a couple weeks ago, my children’s school (where I also happen to teach) held its annual Scholastic Book Fair, and I picked up a couple of paperback books for the kids’ stockings. Raining Cats and Dogs: A Collection of Irresistible Idioms and Illustrations to Tickle the Funny Bones of Young People seemed to be perfect for my four year old who loves to giggle over the funny things words can mean.
• For my kindergarten daughter, whose class recently completed an extensive study of bones and fossils, I chose the Scholastic 2011 winner of the “Kids are Authors” contest: What Does the X-Ray Say? I’m a big fan of this campaign that recognizes literary work created by school groups, and the topic couldn’t have been more appropriate for my daughter this year!
• Since my mother-in-law took care of some significant book purchasing this year (Elephant & Piggie and Percy Jackson among the familiar characters in the mix), we opted to get our oldest a book that differed from his usual fare of middle grade and YA novels, and went with a puzzle book. Brain Games: Improve Your Memory is filled with a variety of number and word games that seem like his thing. Though we’re not looking to lower our 11 year old’s brain age, we predict he’ll have fun with this one.

NANCY

• A few years ago my sister and I agreed to give books to each other’s kids. We can order online and have them shipped right to each other’s houses. My niece is in first grade but reading above grade level, and I use my advantage of already having been through that grade with my son to pick out some new material for her. So I got her The Judy Moody Star-Studded Collection: Books 1-3, The Pain and the Great One Quartet Box Set and Ivy & Bean’s Secret Treasure Box (Books 1-3). All are new to her and I think she’ll enjoy them. I also like that you can get boxed sets at Amazon pretty inexpensively.
• The Amazon method also means I get a sneak peek at what the boys are getting. Alex is getting the rest of the Wimpy Kid books that he doesn’t already have, plus both The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and Darth Paper Strikes Back.
• Zach is getting a bunch of picture books, including E-mergency! by Tom Lichtenheld, who we love, and Caralyn Buehner’s Snowmen at Christmas, the newest in a series of books about what snowmen do when we’re not looking.

TRISH

• Most of my nieces and nephews wanted gift cards this year, but my newest nephew is only 10 months old, so I still get to pick out his presents! Along with his regular gift, I tucked in a fun board book, based on a Dr. Seuss classic, called One Fish, Two Fish, Three, Four, Five Fish.
• My son is getting Squish #2: Brave New Pond and Stink Trek: The Adventures of Uncle Stinky #2. Since they are both sequels to books he liked, I know they will be well-received.
• And, although my husband is more of a music buff, he did ask for one book, which I was happy to get him: Normal Christianity: If Jesus is Normal, what is the Church? by Jon Welton.

ELIZABETH:

• I’m late to the party, as usual! I’m on the West Coast, which is a valid excuse, and am also visiting the in-laws, which is even more of an excuse if only you knew! We still haven’t opened our gifts yet, but every one of us is getting books. (Yes, I am pretty sure that I am getting the The Complete Pelican Shakespeare, which I asked for when I realized I’d lost my old copy in one of our many moves.)
• Elliot bought Ilsa 2 books, neither of which I can link since I can’t remember what they were even though I helped pick them out.
• I bought Ilsa some of the Anne of Green Gables books. I grew up in Canada reading L.M.M. Montgomery, and I have passed on my Emily books and attempted to pass on my Anne books. Sadly, I’d read a lot of them to death, and Ilsa’s collection was missing a few. Not after today! Ilsa’s twin, Abel, is getting a comic collection.
• Even Donn, who claims he’s not a reader, is getting 2 books: Elliott Erwitt Paris and Robert Capa: The Definitive Collection Yes, those are picture books!