Fire Kid's Edition Review

I was not paid for this review or reimbursed/rewarded in any way. I am just sharing my opinion about a product I have purchased.

I bought a Kindle Fire Kid's edition for, Nadia, my 9 year old daughter.  This was purchased to replace the Nabi that was broken and unable to be replaced due to the fact that the serial number sticker wore off. My absolute favorite thing about this Fire is that there is a 2 year no questions asked replacement policy.  That means I wouldn't have had to explain any insane way my child may break it. Like the time one of them peed on a tablet... don't ask. Chalk that one up to the dangers of potty training.

I love how easy it was to set up controls to make my child read before being allowed to play. Not that she needs to be forced to read, but some days she needs the nudge to get her reading time done before playing. The parental controls can limit screen time hours as well. As a parent you can also set bed and wake times, leaving the tablet unusable after hours. You can set two different limit settings for weekdays and weekends.

I will be signing up for the Amazon Free Time Unlimited access to continue after our one year of free Amazon Free Time service is up. The access to kids books and videos, just kid's content, is worth the small cost to me. (Less than I pay for Netflix)

At only $99 (when I purchased) this tablet was much cheaper than an Ipad. It has much better kid mode function than the Ipad as well.  Now I can have my Ipad back, just as soon as I get the other two Fire Kid's Editions for my youngest children as well.

Free Romance E-book Dec 13-14 only!

Where She Belongs by Lisa Vandiver
Available December 13-14 for FREE by this delightful Author.
I was blessed to get to know this author through the Deadly Reads facebook page and website; Thanks to the wonderful month long event getting to know their authors as well as winning free books.  I myself have managed to win 3 times answering trivia.  (I'm trying to share it here as I am feeling guilty for winning so much already)  Join the fun at Deadly Reads Facebook page.   With new authors every week this month the fun times keep coming.

In the mean time curl up with a good book.  Even better this one is FREE. (my favorite 4 letter word)

Hurry now don't miss out!

Justina must choose between the love of two men.  With secrets that could destroy her as they are revealed, would she find Where She Belongs?  

Who would choose the dangerously sexy son of the Mafia kingpin Nick or the infuriatingly arrogant Mathew?

Free E-Reader books

Since my parents gave me a Kindle Fire I have found myself reading more in my free time. I have gone almost a full week without television. To be honest I watch all my TV shows over the weekend when I stay up late cuddling with wonderful husband.
Being a fast reader I go through books constantly.   I once thought I didn't have the time to read anymore once I had my children. Not true. I just didn't have time to look for the last page I was reading every.. single.. time.. I go to pick the book up because my kids "helpfully" moved the bookmark.. or worse.. destroyed or desecrated the book in some way.

I have yet to pay for a book to read for my kindle. With Amazon's Top 100 free books list you can always find something to add to your e-reader library.

I have even joined an E-reader book club on Facebook.  We choose a book once a month and after reading it, we get to discuss it.  It has made me step out of my usual reading choices.
It may not be face to face interaction but it is some intellectual mommy time.

Of course, you can converse with me about anything other than bodily functions and I'm a happy camper.

A Kindle is on my Wishlist

I always known I loved books, I just never realized how much of a voracious reader I am.  In our most recent move I had over 400 books that were just mine.  This wouldn't be a problem if I could re-read them again. Once I have read a book it is hard for me to pick it back up and not remember the entire plot.  ::sigh:: Some days I forget what an oven is called but I can still remember the entire plot to over 400 books.  Selective memory.  I don't need to remember what an oven is called to use it every day.

My mom recently let me borrow her Kindle to read the Hunger Games Trilogy. (I finished all 3 on Mother's Day)  After I was finished reading it myself, I started the books over and read them with my husband.  It became our time together everyday to reconnect and talk.  It works this way:  I read the book, he listens and then we discuss it together.  This is not the first book we have done this with, but it has been a long time since we have read together.  We didn't notice how much we missed doing this until we started it up again and missed a day or two of reading.

While reading the trilogy with my husband I read other books as well.  In the almost 3 weeks I have had the Kindle I have read at least 34 books.(these are just the ones I have downloaded to my Mom's Kindle)  Most days I am reading more than one book at a time.  Between the two I read for my own personal enjoyment, the one I read with my husband and the current chapter book I am reading with my older kids; I am usually reading around 4-6 books a day.

Morgan is just like me.  She loves to read.  In fact, she has one of the highest Accelerated Reading scores in her school. (they get points for reading books.. where was this when I was in school?) She recently complained that she rarely gets time to read on the Kindle.  I use it as a reward not only for myself but for the older girls when household chores get done.  (one of many rewards they get to choose from; computer time, movies, kindle, crafts and more)  I pointedly asked Morgan how many books she reads in a month.  She held up her slim chapter novel (less than 200 pages) and defiantly said I am almost done with this book, I started it only this morning.  I couldn't hold in my chuckle when she asked me how many books I read.  I let them guess, none got even close.  When I told them how many, Morgan doubted I read them and I told her the plot when she named off different titles.

Where do I get all my books from?  I don't pay for them that's for sure!  Amazon has a list of top 100 books.  They also have a list of top 100 FREE books.  This is not all the free books just the top one hundred.  My search for free books started at Pixel of Ink and snowballed from there.  After almost giving my dad a heart attack when he saw the HUGE amount of books I downloaded. lol Sorry Dad. I let quickly reassured my parents they were all free. I don't need to pay for books when there are so many awesome books that are offered free all the time.  Check back on Amazon often, the free books change all the time.

Do you have a favorite E-reader?  I'm trying to save up for one of my own so I can stop harassing my parents with my constant emails of free book download notifications from Amazon. lol

A Reader's Confession

It's time I confessed.  I have something to admit.  I don't readily admit this to many people.  My guilty pleasure is reading romance novels.  Yeah, you read that right.  Romance novels.. with kissing.. Ewww.

My husband loves to mock me for my reading selections.  He calls them my dirty books.  I think that there are times he may be jealous of my books.  To be fair there are so many more books than him.  I think they even out weigh him. With over 200 paperback novels..  Not all of the books are romance novels though.  I do have murder mystery, sci-fi and a few others peppered in there.

I recently attempted to purge my book collection before we moved.  I did not want to have to listen to anyone complaining, Ugh.. another box of books.
I am a little sensitive about my collection of books.  It's better than my husband's collection of Star Wars toys.. still in the packages.. so he can look at them but NO TOUCHING!  ::eyeroll::

I did try purging my books, it didn't work out well.  Our yard sale got blown away in a nasty storm.  Maybe now that we have moved I can have a better yard sale.  I really need to get myself an e-reader.  Do they make one that is impossible to break, that can possibly withstand an attempt at being flushed in the toilet (the camera survived) and easy to read in bright light.  At least until I get my son's out of the toddler destruction years.

I recently took a reading test to see how fast I could read.  I got 469 words a minute.  At that pace I can read War and Peace in just over 20 hours.  Click the e-reader below to test your own reading speed.

Source: Staples eReader Department