My Kindle Paperwhite: Two Years Later

Today I was looking back through my archives for inspiration and found this post when on June 26, 2013 I was very excited that I finally bought a Kindle Paperwhite.  It’s been two years since then (even though it feels like just yesterday) so I figured I might as well share my thoughts about it now that I’ve used it much more.

1.  It’s still really light and I can hold it at all kinds of angles.

This is especially good when I’m reading in bed and it’s too cold to have anything but a single hand out from under the covers.  The area where you can touch to turn the page is relatively large so I don’t even have to be that precise.  It’s definitely a good size for my hand as well.

2.  I can even read in the dark.

My Kindle Paperwhite has a very gentle light that’s easy on the eyes.  It’s great in the daytime and when I turn it down to the minimum I can read in the dark for hours without my eyes aching. Given how much time I end up looking at a computer at work during the day, this is kind of a relief when I just want to sit down and read in the evenings.

3.  The internet connection is very good and the downloading speed is quick.

When I want to download a book I received from NetGalley I turn my Kindle’s wifi on and within seconds the book starts downloading.  It’s also done in a matter of seconds, even though my wifi really isn’t the greatest.  Given that I read books that are 500+ pages sometimes, this is quite impressive.

4.  Best of all, it holds a lot of books.

I currently have over 200 books right on my Kindle and it has space for many, many more.  So if you’re an avid reader like myself, even the basic Kindle Paperwhite like I bought will hold more than enough books for you.  I of course delete the ones I don’t like but even if I didn’t I’d have quite a bit of space left.  Basically, your Kindle can be your mini-library.

5.  Sometimes it can’t keep up with my reading speed.

The only bad experience I’ve really had with my Kindle is that sometimes when I’m just sight-reading or skimming it freezes because it can’t keep up with my reading speed.  It doesn’t happen very often, mind you, but it is kind of annoying when it does.

 

So if you’re undecided about getting an ereader I’d highly recommend getting one.  I got a very basic Kindle Paperwhite for $129.99 and it has definitely been worth the money over these past two years.  I’m sure the freezing problem has probably even been improved on the newer Paperwhite models and the higher-end models like the Kindle Fire.  Basically, if you’re an avid reader or you do any book blogging and want to get books from authors/publishers/agents, you’re going to need an ereader.  And even if you’re reluctant like I was, I think you’ll find that it was definitely worth it.

Learning to Say “No”

One of the things I’ve struggled with all my life is learning when to put my foot down and just say “no”.  I’ve always been a people-pleaser and I partly blame that on my personality but also on the way I was taught to behave at school.  “Smile more!  Don’t be grumpy!  Don’t put your hand up so often; you’re intimidating the boys!”  Hearing stuff like that your whole life really has an effect on you and I have to say one of the consequences was that I had no idea how to just say “no” and not constantly apologize for it.

When I started my blog I wanted to get involved in every book-related project I could.  I joined NetGalley and Edelweiss, opened up my requests to authors and said yes to almost every one of them, commented on so many blogs regularly, etc.  It took up a lot of time but it was generally enjoyable.  However, things took a turn for the worse when I realized that they were taking up too much of my time.  My blog was eating into the other things I liked to do, like read.  Suddenly, I didn’t have the time to read all of the books I was requesting and accepting because there were too many of them.  I was buried under a pile of commitments to other bloggers.  I became very, very stressed.

Then suddenly I said no.

I closed down my review requests, respectfully declined on some projects and only requested from NetGalley what I would read and review within a week.  It was really hard but for the first time in my life I was tired of pleasing people.  I just wanted to please myself for once.  Just saying no, the simple act of saying no to someone online was a turning point for me.  I began to say no to things I didn’t want to do in real life.  I realized I don’t have to please everyone; at the end of the day I’m the one that has to live with myself.  So while I continue to be pleasant to everyone and help out where I can, I’ve finally realized that my number one priority is me.  It’s my life so at the end of the day I come first.  Of course I still help out in the community with various fundraising and volunteering projects and I help out friends in need.  But I’ve learned to say no to some things so I have room for the more important things in life.

As a book blogger you’re probably a natural people-pleaser as well as most of us seem to be more introverted.  You don’t have to be!  You really can just say no sometimes, especially if you don’t have time for something.  Saying no isn’t a bad thing.  It can be absolutely liberating and saying no to a couple of things you didn’t really want to do leaves time for you to say yes to things you really want to do.

I know it’s hard, but just say no once in a while.  It really is liberating.

Tyrion: One Year Later

Carrie's 2014 Pictures 389

One year ago I introduced Tyrion to you guys when he was just around 5 weeks old.  Remember how little and cute he was?

Now he’s just big and handsome:

mum's camera may 2015 083Oh, how time flies!  He’s going to be a pain in my butt after my surgery when I can’t exactly go out and walk him but I love him anyway.  He’ll just have to amuse himself with his many toys (but his favourite is that mangled-looking thing in the picture I had to sew a patch on).

Yep, this is totally not book-related but most book lovers seem to love animals as well so I thought I’d share.  If you guys have pictures of your pets, feel free to share as well!  We can all geek out over cute cat/dog/guinea pig/whatever pictures.

The Mad Reviewer is Now Closed to Review Requests

In light of my recent announcement as well as the fact that I have a lot of books on my to be read list from my open submissions, I will now be closing my review requests until further notice.  I’m sorry if you wanted to get your book reviewed but didn’t this time around.  As always, feel free to submit your book once I open requests again, which is not likely to happen until next spring (around May).

If you submit a request while I am closed, you will be blacklisted from my blog starting on June 26, 2015.

Thank you for your understanding.

A Note on My July Blogging Schedule

This July I’m not going to really be around here much.  That’s for one very important reason: I’m having an adult tonsillectomy.  I wasn’t able to have it as a child despite many desperate pleas and many, many rounds of antibiotics for tonsillitis so I’m having it now that my tonsils are severely affecting my quality of life.  My surgery is in early July and I’m told to budget at least two weeks off from work for recovery but we’ll have to see how things go.

But the important thing for our purposes right now is this: how will this affect The Mad Reviewer?

In short, not at all.  I’m busy scheduling up posts now so that during my recovery period there will be a post every day.  (And that’s part of the reason why I haven’t been posting anything lately; I’ve been working ahead.)  I’ll have all of the usual Lazy Sunday posts and the discussion posts in addition to my reviews.  Depending on how my muse is feeling in the next week or so I might even have a rant or an article for you guys.  The only thing that will be different is that I won’t be responding to comments super quickly.  I will try to get to all of them eventually but just know that if I don’t reply it’s not because I’m ignoring you deliberately or don’t value your comment; it’s just that it slipped through the cracks.

So thank you for your understanding and August will most definitely be back to normal (until I move to the city at the end of August)!