Kindle + Skios - Michael Frayn

I used to promise myself to never get one of those Ebooks because I prefer to identify myself as a no-frills, pen-and-paper person. Now that reading off a slab of electronic constitutes one of my daily tasks, I'm re-evaluating the merits of the Ebook. Expectantly, I had been too quick to disparage the worthiness of this gadget in the past and now I'm starting to regret why I have not given it a try earlier.

I got a Kindle 7th Generation!!! I didn't get Paperwhite or Voyage because I think the functions of the basic Kindle suffices.

I like the entire E-Ink thing, which, in layman's terms, is like one of those kid play toys which you draw/doodle on, and with a swipe, your screen becomes clean (idk what it's called). Basically, whatever print you see on the Kindle doesn't require additional battery or power to remain there. Each pixel has the ability to display varied shades of grey, and so concertedly, they conjure a letter, or a greyscale image, etc whatever.

Screen-Saver mode

The Lucifer Effect - Philip Zimbardo

The Kindle also automatically reloads where you last left off upon hitting the screen-saver button again. I don't off my Kindle because according to other readers on the net, repeated on and offing will deplete the battery more than how prolonged screen-saver mode does. The battery of the Kindle sustains for a protracted amount of time, so running out of juice is something I don't really have to worry about. 

I'm currently only 31% through The Lucifer Effect, and I'm determined it'll be the first non-fiction book that I'll ever finish!!!

Another great function is the highlighting of text so you can revisit your favourite excerpt. I would highlight actual books with a fluorescent Stabilo highlighter but I'd be defacing the book. Also, the best thing that the Kindle provides is probably the in-built Oxford dictionary; so with just a tap and hold, definitions will appear. Very, extremely, utterly suitable for lazy people like me who sometimes can't bother to lift my arms to reach for my phone's dictionary. Plus, the Kindle also automatically stores and compiles all your searched words in a Vocab list so you can review them as and when you like.

Upon receiving my Kindle, I fed it with all the Roald Dahl books that I have missed, a few of Hubert Selby Jr.'s to try out, and also Books 1 to 11 of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Recently, I picked up The Penultimate Peril (Book 12)(Only book 12 and 13 are in my possession) to resume the grim series but I can only vaguely remember Books 1 to 11 from my PRIMARY school days. I'm pretty bent on completing this series because it's so morbidly captivating, and the persona of Lemony Snicket that the author constructed through bits and pieces at the end of each book is very enigmatic and compelling. I love the narrative style of this series, it's like you're a part of the Baudelaires' dark and whimsical journey.

The Kindle also has Wi-fi to allow connection to Amazon and online dictionaries. But oddly, it doesn't have an "Off Wi-fi" option, so the alternative is to switch on Airplane mode. 

Great piece of gizmo, idiot-proof and straightforward. In addition, I can finally read really thick and heavy books while commuting to work, and DURING work. I mean, well, the company contract states that the phone is strictly forbidden, but it has no bearing on books and EBooks what. Plus my immediate supervisor turns a blind eye to phones so I presume it extends to other forms of gadgets ah. (Great working attitude, way to go NX)

I think it'll probably take me many months to finish all my EBooks (34, LOL), and I still have approx. 10 plus paperbacks in my cupboard. 

Skios - Michael Frayn 

Skios was an easy read. It's one of those light-reading stories that takes your mind off things, that sucks you into ludicrous situations. An eccentric man with a taste for risks switches identity with an academic in some sort of mid-career crisis spells an entirely impossible but funny plot, with dashes of screwball humour which makes it quite unforgettable. A messy cocktail of lost identities, lost luggages and fish-out-of-water experiences in a fictional Greek island, Skios.

Towards the end of the book there were many things going on at once - the activities of the 2 main characters and their tangled network of acquaintances (who played minor roles) - culminating to a very, very lackluster ending. I mean, since there were so many things going on, I expected the story to kind of end of with a bang, but I was sorely disappointed as it kinda left it hanging. 

But overall, an enjoyable read, purely for laughs, one of those books that seems to be written for a comedy adaptation.