Electronic paper (or e-paper) technology is finally reaching a point where it’s actually becoming a viable alternative to regular paper formats. The readability in many types of light has improved immensely, the variety of available reading material has increased to a usable amount and the pricing for both the units and the electronic format books is finally coming down from the stratosphere…

As an environmentalist, I say, YEAH to electronic paper / ebooks! Think of how many forests won’t have to die, gallons of ink and chemicals won’t end up in our rivers, and how much fuel will be saved by not having to transport millions of tons of books cross-country just to start. However, as a rabid book collector, someone who likes to hold a physical volume in my hands as I read and who collects them for their book jacket art, too, I rue the day all books become only electronic… (Of course, that will just make my ‘real’ books’ just that more valuable, eh? ;)

In the meantime, though, one of the new e-paper / electronic book readers that is floating to the top of the popular heap is the new Amazon Kindle. It has some amazing features:

The screen is as sharp and natural as reading ink on paper—and nothing like the strain and glare of a computer screen. Kindle is also friendly on the fingertips. It never gets hot (unlike many laptops!) and is designed for ambidextrous use so both “lefties” and “righties” can read comfortably at any angle for long periods of time, perfect for those long flights or car rides or while waiting for any kind of appointment.

It has a 6″ diagonal E-Ink® electronic paper display with 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 167 ppi, 4-level gray scale. As you can see from the picture, it’s about the size and thickness of a book club edition or paperback book, a good size for carrying in a briefcase or purse and still have room for other stuff.

And check out how easy it is to use:

• No computer, no cables, no syncing.
• Wireless connectivity (EVDO) enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed. (Limited or no access currently in Alaska or Montana, though)
• No monthly wireless bills, service plans, or commitments—Kindle takes care of the wireless delivery so you can simply click, buy, and read.
• Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.
• More than 90,000 books available, including more than 95 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers.
• New York Times® Best Sellers and all New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise. (Compare that to $24.99 or more for the hardcover nowadays!)
• Free book samples. Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.
• Top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
• Includes free wireless access to the planet’s most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia—Wikipedia.org.
• Holds up to 200 titles, so you can have a whole library available at your fingertips
• Long battery life. Leave wireless on and recharge approximately every other day. Turn wireless off and read for a week or more before recharging. Fully recharges in 2 hours.
• Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing

Now, if only they could have some way to store the dust jacket art and info (in color and hi res) along with the books themselves, this would go a long way to making it practically perfect… =)

For more details on the Amazon Kindle or to buy one of your own directly from Amazon, click here.

Find the Amazon Kindle on eBay

I think the best gift I ever got was the gift of reading – just as my Mom was taught to read at age 3, she taught me to also read at a very early age (not quite 3 but pretty close), passing along a great love of books and opening up whole worlds and vistas to my mind and soul, letting me share in other people’s lives, real and imaginary, albeit vicariously, through their writing. Being able to read provides me with a way to entertain myself and others, learn new skills, have a laugh, keep current with what’s going on around me, stay safer by being able to understand the precautions on warning labels, and so much, much more. Who wouldn’t want the people they love to have those abilities?

Developing a passion for reading, though, begins with being able to actually read. Teaching reading to others, though, is hard for most people. For most of us, it’s been a LOT of years since we originally learned, and we know how to read, but probably don’t remember how we actually learned to do it. (I know I don’t remember the steps – only that I couldn’t live without reading since I learned!)

If you’re not sure where to start in your teaching efforts, however, there are some great inexpensive programs/eBooks you can use at home to help you and whomever you’re trying to teach, whether it’s your kids or someone else who wants or needs to get better at it:

Uncle Rogers Reader: Teach Your Child To Read With Uncle Rogers Multi-sensory Phonics Learning System — Guaranteed! Download This Program Immediately And Begin Teaching Your Child How To Read With Linguistic, Multi-sensory And Phonics Methods No Matter What Their Skill Level

Phonogram Secrets Revealed! & Phonogram Flash Cards: Sensationally Boost Your Child’s Spelling, Reading And Writing Quickly And Easily With Only 45 Phonic Sounds. Research Based Instantly Printable Phonogram Flash Cards. Step By Step Lessons, Audio/video Lessons, Phonics List, Resources, & Printable Sheets.

Robot Reader Reading Games And Phonics Games: Reading Games And Phonics Games For School Or Homeschool Education – Full Color Professional Games To Print Directly From Your Computer – Print Board Games, Card Games, Bingo Games, Domino Games And More.

Frontline Phonics: A complete beginning reading program for parents to teach their child to read at home.

Learn to Read Kindergarten System by Hooked on Phonics
Phonics from A to Z (2nd Edition)
Month-by-Month Phonics for Upper Grades: A Second Chance for Struggling Readers and Students Learning English

And while the titles are a tad insulting ;), these are really great books to use, too:

Teaching Kids to Read for Dummies by Tracey Wood
Phonics for Dummies by Susan Greve

If you want to give a gift to your child or anyone else that will last a lifetime, teach him or her to love reading and to do it well. Remember, the earlier a person learns, the easier school will usually be, and the easier reading is, the more it will become a lifetime passion, helping out pretty much in all aspects of life….

(If you already know how to read well, but need to be able to do so faster, either for fun or for work, don’t forget to check out the 16-Minute Speed Reading Audio Program. It’s The Fastest Speed Reading Course That Doubles Your Reading Speed In Just 16-Minutes! As they say, “Double your pleasure, double your fun”…)

With all the great new technology out there and so much time spent away from home, downloadable eBooks are finally coming into their own as the new way to read. When you consider how much space a new bestseller hardcover takes — think Terry Goodkind’s newest book CONFESSOR: Chainfire Trilogy, Part 3 at 608 pgs and more than 2lbs — and eBook versions seem a LOT more convenient to carry around in your handheld or SmartPhone and read at your convenience!

I don’t know about you, but I go crazy if I don’t have something interesting to read when I’m stuck waiting for my car’s oil to be changed or sitting in a doctor’s waiting room, but my poor purse definitely would explode if I tried to carry around my favorite Sci Fi or Fantasy hard covers (or even some of the mega-paperbacks…) So while I collect hardcovers and paperbacks at home, for my commute and travels, eBooks make the most sense. (I don’t read while I drive, of course, but as waits at stop lights get longer and longer, I can practically sneak a whole chapter in each way.)

For rabid readers who don’t particularly want to actually collect the books (or who don’t have the space for them) eBooks are such a great way to satisfy your need to read and also save money and time in your book hunts. The downloads are available immediately and are usually 10-50% or more off the price of buying the hardcover book. (Then, if you really love the book, you could pick up the ‘real book’ (hard or paperback) later — if you didn’t like the book, ERASE it, eh, and make room for something better on your phone or computer.)

Besides being easy and fast, I really like eBooks because they are environmentally friendly. Think how many trees breathe easier each time an eBook is downloaded versus another Stephen King mega-tome being printed. (I swear each time he writes a new one, a whole forest shudders…)

Here’s a small sampling of what’s hot this week on eBook:

1ST TO DIE – James Patterson
SWORD OF SHANNARA TRILOGY – Terry Brooks
HOW TO BE A WRITER – Stewart Ferris
STAR WARS MEDSTAR 2: JEDI HEALER – Michael Reaves

(Try Out eBooks.com: Buy One, Get One Free on Selected Titles!)