We really heart the Fire

Recently, I got an email from Tammie King of Night Owl Reviews. I have been reviewing books for them for some time now (I believe I started in 2013). I started reviewing ebooks for them until I was able to start reviewing their print books. Since then, I have reviewed mostly print books for them. This is because we only have one computer in the house that I was using to download ebooks onto and read them at the desk – when I had the chance to read them, that is. Because my time on the computer was so limited for a while there, I only had so much time to read ebooks that I had on the computer. Because my youngest child is older now and in school full-time, I have more time available to be on the computer earlier in the day. Also, I now also have a smartphone and now, it would seem, an e-reader, too!

But I’m not sure if I can call my e-reader a “Kindle.” Or even an e-reader!

In the past, I was asked if I was interested in getting a Kindle. I said “no” because I didn’t think I would be interested in using one to read books. At that time, I was too hooked on print books!

But, lately, I have started to read ebooks again, and I am now more interested in continuing to read ebooks. And until recently, I was still only reading them on the computer!

Then I got Tammie’s email that was sent to all reviewers, in which she informed us that NOR was switching to “ebook-only” for reviews. Because I didn’t have an e-reader, I let Tammie know I was iffy on my time to read ebooks, since I was reading them on the computer! Well, Tammie got back to me saying “I have a Kindle I can send you,” and that got my interest! Now, at this point, I recently started to read ebooks again, and I was interested in reading MORE ebooks! And my desire to own a Kindle? It was certainly there! So I let Tammie know I’d be interested in using the Kindle to review books for NOR – and I thanked her for her generosity in providing one!

When I received the Kindle, my son was with me to look at it. We were both really excited about it! He even took my picture of me holding it for the first time. LOL I was happy to now own an e-reader – but as I learned, I wasn’t sure if I could call it that! Or even a Kindle!

I told my husband that I got a “Kindle,” and when I showed it to him, he said that it wasn't a Kindle.

I was confused. Tammie called it a Kindle. It was made by Amazon, who makes the Kindles, so it’s a Kindle, right? Sure, it says “Fire” on it, but it’s still a Kindle….right??

Well, I wasn’t too sure if it was! And when I set it up on my Amazon account, they identified it as my “Fire” and not "Kindle." So should I call it my Fire?? That seems a little weird.

My son solved my dilemma by referring to it as a "tablet." Technically, it is NOT a “tablet” as tablets are known in the tech world, but since it is bigger than my smartphone and kinda shaped like a “tablet,” the name has stuck. Also, we can do other things on it besides read ebooks – like play games, watch videos, take pictures and stuff. There is also email on there, but I haven’t yet figured out how to get it to work for my email. (I am still getting acquainted with it.)

But I think that calling it a “tablet” is a good idea. Calling it a “Fire” just isn’t workable for us. Especially this morning, when I told my son to “grab the Fire” before we headed out the door. Then I realized what I had said and amended that to: “I mean, grab the tablet. Don’t grab actual fire.” He laughed and pretended to pick up invisible fire from the fireplace and carry it to his backpack.

Having the Fire/tablet has been awesome for us and I am really grateful to Tammie King for sending it (thanks again, Tammie!). I am still trying to figure it all out and have also downloaded some ebooks onto it in preparation for getting used to reading ebooks on it and figuring out how that feature works, too, for when I start reviewing ebooks for NOR. (Right now, I am working my way through a stack of prints to review for them.) My son is also using it and has enjoyed the tech features on it too.

And ever since I have been checking out ebooks on Amazon, I started to think about renewing my membership for Kindle Unlimited to get free ebooks to read. (I never have enough books OR ebooks to read!!) I cancelled that membership a while ago because I just WASN’T reading ebooks! But now I have the tablet/Fire/Kindle/e-reader to read ebooks with, and downloading ebooks on Amazon through Kindle Unlimited is a snap. So today, when my friend was advertising that her ebook was free for a limited time through Kindle Unlimited, that was the push to make me decide to go ahead and renew my membership with Kindle Unlimited and I snatched a copy of my friend’s book in ebook form (get it here).

So now it looks like I’m all set to read ebooks again and I look forward to reading as many ebooks on the Kindle Fire e-reader that I can! And I look forward to reviewing future ebooks for Night Owl thanks to the e-reader making my ability to read them now a little more convenient.