I find the kindle fire much too heavy to read on and I have the smaller one. I also do not like the way pages turn. You cannot read one handed as you can w/ the regular kindle (at least I can't) and you have to touch the screen which I find distracting, not as reliable and I need to worry that my hands aren't wet or don't have popcorn butter on them, which is not an issue with my regular kindle. I also REALLY don't like the bright colored screen when reading on it. It is like reading on a computer and I prefer to feel more like I am reading a real book, not a computer screen (I look at computer screens all day for work). With my regular kindle, I can use it outside or to read in the tub and this would not be possible at all with a kindle fire. I can forget that I am on a device and feel like I am just reading a book. I don't get that w/ the Kindle Fire. A basic kindle (not touch- I hate the touch and got rid of my Kindle touch) can be had pre-owned for like $35-$40 from cowboom. I would definitely just pick one of those up to read on and not try to read on either the fire or ipad, whichever you decide to get. I've bought two kindles from here already because I want to have one in each of our houses and they've both been in good condition. I've also dropped my regular kindle MULTIPLE times (onto concrete, and falling off a hammock onto a flagstone patio when my dog jumped onto the hammock) and the kindle is none-the-worse for the wear. I do not think the same would have been true w/ an ipad or fire This post was edited by beaglesdoitbetter on Sat, Sep 21, 13 at 22:42

Thanks for the heads up, Nandina. I do get daily emails from several sites with free books, but passed this one by because I didn't think it sounded interesting. But I downloaded it on your recommendation. However, I had already trashed the email, so just went to Amazon and under the "Books" heading, typed in the name. The Kindle version did not come up as free. Then I went to the Kindle store and typed in the book name. This time it came up as free and I snagged it. Just thought I'd share. Don't know why the discrepancy, but make sure you check under the Kindle Store heading, not just books. And sometimes free books aren't even free for a whole day. Sometimes it's just hours. Gotta jump!

I just wanted to jump in and say there are many many more great tablets out there other than the ipad and much cheaper too. I have a few and absolutely love them, I can do pretty much what I do on my pc and I have several different ereader apps on them so I can read kindle format books, I can read epub format like nook books and get ebooks from the library since they also use epub format. That way I can get my books from pretty much anywhere I am not limited to just Amazon. I have lots of free books I get from sites all over the internet. I tried my brother in laws kindle before I ever made a purchase and it just was not for me, the flash of page turns messed with me and gave me headaches. And if I was going to spend the money I wanted one that did more than just one thing. If you do searches here and at the computer help forum you will find many of us here have other tablets like the Pandigital Novel, and other Android OS tablets. I just recently bought a sylvania one which I am really enjoying. I do have one device that is strictly an ereader, it has color and it connects to wifi so I can get books directly to it, it is a Lookbook and they have had them on sale from time to time at CVS for $50 an amazing price it looks very much like the kindle and it comes with a very nice case. Do some searches here for the many many threads we have where we discuss them and the various options. I have paid under $150 for all of mine. I just can not see paying so much more for an ipad. My hairdresser was looking at my new tablet recently and said she liked it a lot better than her ipad, to me the ipad it a little large and heavy that was her complaint also. I also love the Andorid OS and all the tons of apps out there you can add to the device. I have a ton of games on mine and like I said several ereader apps, I watch youtube, videos, music, pictures, surf, post here from them, do my email. Honestly I am rarely on my desktop anymore since I can sit anywhere in the house with my tablet, and it is lighter weight than my netbook (netbook is just a small version of a notebook or laptop) Pandigital Novel eReaders LookBook a great place to see how many of the tablets are available is to check out China Grabber, I would not get any that were not at least Android 2.2 they can do a lot more stuff.There are some however that come with android 2.1 and then do an update which brings them up to 2.2 which is how my sylvania was. Android 2.2 Froyo Tablets here are some that have Android 3.0 which is the most recent versions android 3.0 tablets" So don't think just ipad if you do you are really limiting yourself. These little tablets pack a big punch and can do a LOT of stuff. AND none of the tablets I have use a cell phone connection so there is absolutely NO monthly charges involved, they connect to wifi easily and you can do all your internet stuff that way. I found one of the topics we had here recently you can check out, there are many more if you search lookbook ereader & sylvania tablet at CVS this week If you keep watch at CVS it goes on sale for $50 Shift3 LOOKBOOK Wireless Reader In fact I am just now looking at the current CVS flier on their website and the same sylvania touch screen tablet I have and love is on sale right now for $99.99 it is on page 6 of the flier. On sale through Oct 8! If you want to try out a tablet this is a great way to give it a shot and not spend a ton of money. They sell out fast and I had to call several stores to find them available. Hey you can always return it... http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/user/home/home.jsp Here is a link that might be useful: cvs

On my Pandigital Novel tablet/ereader I have a library full of free ebooks that I find at many online sites since it uses the epub format I can also use the library system to check out their ebooks just like regular library books but I can do it from home. One of my fave online free sites is feedbooks they have a lot of great books and they do offer them in kindle format as well. I also get a lot of free ones at Barnes and Noble. Since it uses the epub format it is much more versatile as to sources. Pandigital� Novel