I love my Kindle Fire so much

Ever since I received my Kindle Fire, Full Color 7″ Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi , I have been using it like crazy.

I got it for my first year anniversary. I was not too sure at first if I would use it often. Confession: I have a lot of electronics that I don’t use that much even though I thought I needed them. Concerning the Kindle Fire, I thought it would be a novel toy that I take on trips to prevent boredom while travelling.

That did not happen.

The Kindle Fire is so easy to use and has a decent battery life. The wireless picks up well every time I am in an area with signal. I am able to download books and navigate the Internet quickly. I went to the AppStore and downloaded some games also.

Hardware wise, the only drawback for me is that the Kindle Fire does not come with a computer cable. I know that is a minor thing, but if I did not have wireless at home, I would be out of luck until I bought a cable. I think Amazon should include a computer cable instead of a plug in charger. Since wi-fi was not an issue for me, I can download books from Amazon straight to my Kindle Fire. {imagine me doing my happy dance}

I download books from Smashwords.com to my computer and email them to my Kindle Fire documents address. I think that is a handy little feature. As part of managing my Kindle through Amazon, I set up my email address for the wireless transfer. I also use the “Manage my Kindle” tab to manage my Kindle data in the Amazon digital cloud. Whatever is stored in the digital cloud can only be accessed when I have wi-fi connection. Any books that I am reading, I keep on my Kindle and when I am finished I delete from my device but leave in the cloud.

This is an e-reader on steroids. I has a great screen for color books, movies, blogs, or just web browsing. I watched movies for free using Amazon Prime Instant Video. I wish I could have downloaded the video to my device for watching later but I had to be connected to wireless in order to watch the movie. Other than that, the quality was good like I was watching tv. You have to have the $80 per year Amazon Prime subscription to enjoy this feature. That was no biggie for me because what I save on shipping costs through Prime is worth the membership.

If you buy a Kindle Fire, it is important to also sign up for a blog or email subscription that features daily spotlight on free or discounted books and apps. Amazon also sends emails of daily deals. Usually the books are deeply discounted for the day. I have bought a lot of books that I might not have otherwise purchased because they would have been out of my price range.

Overall: Kindle Fire is worth the price. It may not have all the functionality of an iPad (most notably no camera) but it has everything that I need at a fraction of the price. If you are thinking about getting an e-reader, I think this is the best option.

Free books can be a crap shoot

Aug29

Free Books may be a good read or a waste of time

Here are three books that I got for free and had three different reactions. Just because a book is free does not mean it is going to be cheesy, but it is definitely a chance. I have found that some books are free for the author to introduce you to their characters and sample their writing style. Other books are free because the author just decided to publish a book. They might not have edited their book or have a decent story line. But at least they can say that they have published a book!

GOOD (not really to me but you might like it): Love Me (Contemporary Romance) (Take Me) – Bella Andre

When I read this, I was not very impressed with the story. The romance seemed too contrived and I did not find the characters likable. I know that I am the first to admit that romance novels should be viewed as “contemporary fairy tales”, but even with that being said, I still cannot figure out how these characters found love. The emphasis of a romance novel should be on the fact that the characters are able to fall in love or profess their love for one another. In this book, it seems that there was too much lust confused with love. Maybe if the author developed the characters some more, it would be involve the reader more emotionally in order to understand how the characters fall in love with each other.

BETTER: The St James Sisters – Leen Elle (downloaded from Smashwords not Amazon)

There are too many sisters and not enough time to develop the story for each one of them. This book would have you believe that if a young girl spends a considerable time with any one guy, they will fall for each other. And they will be so in love that they will be willing to overcome all odds to be together.

When I chose this book, I thought the story was going to focus on one sister’s story. As you probably know from my post about Dakota Home, I don’t like it when an author tries to cram too many stories into one book.

The book was mediocre to me, but not terrible. If you are looking for something for free, check it out.

BEST: The Billionaire Wins the Game (Billionaire Bachelors – Book One)– Melody Anne

When it comes to romance novels, it is always great when there is limitless amounts of money involved. That being said, this was a sweet story even if it followed a very predictable storyline.

Super rich man and his secretary fall for each other. Sparks are ignited, but her insecurities make her think that he would not seriously consider loving her. Plus, she feels that this is a good job and she does not want mess it up by sleeping with her boss. She could put behind her the fact that she had one indiscretion, if it was not for the fact that she got pregnant. That led to a whole another set of problems. He is the consummate bachelor but knows how to face up to his responsibility. Each person had to confront their reservations about what will make the relationship work. In the end, I was rooting for both of them.

This story was fun and the characters provided me with some laugh-out-loud moments.

I am going to find the rest of Melody Anne’s books and read them. I loved this story so much. I have re-read parts of it just when I wanted to feel warm and fuzzy.

Villa Alena Moscato D’Asti

Aug28

I am not a wine connoisseur so I can’t explain to why my taste buds like this sparkling wine so much.
But trust me when I say it is DELICIOUS and bubbly. And it is cheap because it is sold at Trader Joe’s . I bought it because I was having a party and was going to mix it in the punch.
I always thought that cheap wine was supposed to taste like rot gut, but this is smooth and full of flavor. Once I tasted it, I decided this wine should be served on its own in glasses. There was no wine punch. Just plain punch and Villa Alena Moscato D’Asti.

I am going to buy some more so that I can enjoy the whole bottle myself.
Served Villa Alena Moscato D’Asti chilled with a plate of strawberries is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

If you are interested, at http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Wine-Connoisseur there are steps to becoming a wine connoisseur.

Steps (with my comments in parenthesis showing why I probably will never be a wine connoisseur)
1 Get information from the experts (I know I am supposed to trust the experts, but what if their taste buds like different flavors than mine?)

2Go to a wine shop and ask the staff for recommendations. Look for bottles of wine with write-ups near them, award citations and high magazine ratings. (Once again, I know I am supposed to trust their recommendations, but what if their taste buds like different flavors than mine?)

3Attend a local wine tasting or a wine appreciation class. (I have attended a local wine tasting before. My impression was, "Eh, no real standouts." But other people were, "OMG, this is awesome." I felt like missed something everyone else got. Are my standards too high that nothing met it OR are they too low and not even registering what they are supposed to? A serious conundrum.)

4Join a wine group. (Many times these groups are filled with pretentious people who usually get on my nerves)

5Visit a winery. You’ll learn how wine is made, see how the grapes are grown and be taught the proper procedure for drinking wine.(Did this in Napa. The "proper procedure" for drinking wine does not suit me. I feel like some of the flavors I am supposed to be noticing are being lost. Possibly my taste buds are not refined enough.)

6Buy wines that match the taste of the food you’re serving. (Did this before but cannot really tell what I am supposed to get out of that)

7Don’t just stick to traditional reds and whites. Try sparkling wines, ice wines and dessert wines as well. (I do try this. I like moscato, reisling, and sparkling wine. I need to find an ice wine to try.)

8Learn about different grape varieties. (Good idea, but I don’t have a good memory)

9Subscribe to online wine newsletters. (I might do this)

10Look for a wine school in your area. (I live in the country so there are no wine schools in area)

11Have an informal tasting either at a friend’s house. (This is a good idea that I plan to try one day. Don’t see how this will help me become a wine connoisseur, but seems like fun)

12Make wine inexpensively at home. (This could happen. Hubby planted several grapevines that look to produce in the coming years.)

The title should be “Convincing Clay to learn how to trust”

Aug15

Hailey Lambert needs a job so she can settle down. She does not know what she is getting into when she goes to the job interview for the business manager position at Clay Cardell’s ranch. Her mouthiness gets the best of her on more than one occasion, but that is not necessarily a bad thing considering Clay Cardell orneriness.

Clay does a good job trying to keep up his guard around Hailey because he has learned from experience that the people who are supposed to love you most often leave with a great deal of hurt and pain. Plus most women have an agenda to get what they want. Once the get it, they are done. No matter what Hailey did, he had to be put it all into context since she was foremost a woman.

As the reader finds out, the book gives some of the history that made Clay into the sad, lonely person he is the way he is. Constant emotional abuse is bound to leave lasting scars. Trouble is that those scars make it difficult for the person coming with true love to be accepted. So many times when Hailey would make progress, something would happen to plant another seed of doubt in Clay’s mind and have him questioning her motives all over again.

This story is about trust, patience, and the ability of love to heal invisible wounds. These are two imperfect, dysfunctional people who have enough in common with their core beliefs to make the relationship work. In the end, it is good for the both of them that Hailey did not give up on Clay because that would have made them both miserable. They were two of kind that were meant to be together.

That being said, this book is SUPER long. I read on my Kindle so I have no concept of book lengths these days. When I read a regular book, I average 100 pages a hour. I don’t know if that is speed reading but that is my average. When I started reading, Amazon said this book is about 400 pages. So I am thinking this would be about 4 hours of reading time. I ended up finishing 6+ hours later so I would estimate that the page count would be close to 600 pages. Unfortunately for me, I was reading this book on a work night and by the time the book got really interesting I should have been going to bed. It has always been hard for me to put a book down so close to the end, so I kept reading until I finished (late nights and early morning don’t mix well). So keep this in mind! It is best to read this on a Saturday afternoon if you are like me and want to read the whole book in one sitting.

If you like Western romances, I suggest reserving the afternoon to read Taming Clay

***Additional side note*** there are quite a few f-b0mbs in this book, if strong language offends you. These are cowboys and cowgirls whose language can be coarse. Not everything will be “Aw shucks” and “Darn it”

He is a cutie in a coma

Aug6

Sleeping Handsome – Jean Haus

This the story of a young, rich girl (Paige) with so many insecurities regarding her social status that she uses her money to keep fake friends. But when her supposed friend throws her under the bus metaphorically for cheating at school, she is forced to deal with the duplicitous nature of her friend.

As part of her punishment, she has to read to a young boy who is in a coma. This task becomes more interesting when she finds his journal.His journal of unfettered thoughts provide a window into his view of life and the issues that affect him.

Her conversation with him, through responses to his journal entries, is equally uncensored because he cannot hear her since he is in a coma. While the reading is thought to be therapeutic for him because it stimulates his brain activity, it helps her to develop and mature emotionally to have healthier relationships with the people who are most important in her life.

The story was short and sweet. I liked the way that it ended. This is a good read for a young adult because it emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself. Only then will a person be able to be happy.