I had writer’s block again. This is why I was afraid to launch my blog because I am afraid of a time when I simply cannot find anything to write about. I especially wanted to fit in a blog post this week since I’m about to head to Delaware for a little extended weekend trip to visit some family.
I was hoping to discuss the new Fall Television line up but I’m waiting for all the new shoes to debut. Did you watch NCIS this week? Oh my word it was GOOD! I hope the rest of the season keeps up the momentum and I’m glad they did not drag out that photo mole for the darn season, but one question remains – what happened and where is EJ Barrett? Poor Tony, I mean he really has a habit of picking horrible women – and Kate’s sister, the Doctor, was eager to point that out. Moving along this post is not about my television junkie habits. I would like to discuss the new Kindle Overdrive Lending program.
I know Kindle owners all over the United States and world have been waiting for e-lending to launch on Amazon’s e-reader platform. This week the email came out and select libraries across the country launched the Overdrive system to support the Kindle. Overdrive has been out for over a year supporting audio and other e-books on devices such as the iPad and Barnes and Noble’s Nook. I remember when I was shopping for my first e-reader only a few short months ago and I was dead set on the Nook. It was touch screen, more “high tech,” it allowed for apps and it supported multiple book formats over the Kindle. The Kindle seemed like a grandmother to me – the first one on the block to move in. However, three generations later the Kindle still seems the e-reader to beat and on the top. Whereas bookstores like Borders and Waldenbooks have been shutting their doors - Amazon doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Why not get a Kindle because even the strong dominant bookseller of Barnes and Nobles doesn’t seem confident in this economy? The Kindle also appealed to me because I was about to venture on an international adventure to South America where I would spend 6 days in Brazil. The Kindle seemed most appeasing over regular books because I could as many as I wanted and the weight in my suitcase, carry on and purse would remain the same not to mention there would be no ripped or torn pages and no sun glare. When I went to Barnes and Noble to take a look at the Nook I was rather annoyed that the sales people would not leave me alone in peace to play with the e-reader and decide if I liked the touch screen/button navigation and the touch screen page turns. It seemed to me like every 3 minutes a Barnes and Nobles employee was bombarding me to answer my questions or to persuade me to wait a month until the “newest” model came out.
Ultimately despite my first instincts I decided to go with the Kindle – my mom had one for over a year and loved it. The Target salesman was very nice and was very knowledgeable about my questions and was not pushy like the Barnes and Noble employees. My mom and I found out that we could be on the same account and share books with each other that we purchased instead of the “book loan” option which only allows you to share a book one time with each person and you only have 14 days to read it. It was not our ideal situation since my mom and I are quite the readers and often like the same genres. Needless to say, e-lending is now available for the Kindle at select libraries all across the country – see your local public library’s page or reference desk for more information.
Today, I had my first experience with the e-lending, it was not an easy one. The directions were not very clear on Amazon’s website and without a customer service number options are limited for help. I called my local library and it seemed even my local librarian was confused and informed me that e-lending for the Kindle would not be available until November but when l logged into the Overdrive website there were options available for the Kindle. What I could not find was how to download the books onto the Kindle. I wish they would make it easier because you have to add the book to the cart, proceed to the checkout, confirm again and then use your amazon account to confirm and put it on your Kindle. Does it really have to be that complicated? I wish that amazon would have their own subscription service to lend e-books for free. And my friends it is coming for the future but only if you have an Amazon Prime subscription. That really is my only complaint about the program is that it really needs a simpler process for the downloads.
Some quick tips about e-lending via Overdrive: Just because the book is available on the website doesn’t mean you’ll be able to borrow it – just like the regular library they only have so many copies so you’ll have to wait until it is available by putting a hold on it. Right now, my public library Overdrive system only has 150 selections to choose from – it shares with the other libraries in the region to save costs but that limits availability. My hope and prediction is that now with e-book lending the e-reader format will become even more popular making the public libraries offer more choices on the program.
Thank you Kindle & Overdrive, I’m excited to read again!
Lots of Love & Happy Reading,
Ḉherie
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