Kindle Fire?

Alright, So I used to be greatly against e-readers because I prefer to have an actual book in my hands. But as the economy worsened and my precious Borders closed down *sniffle* I decided maybe an e-reader would be more convient in the long run. Plus, I'm going off to college next year so if I buy anymore books there won't be any room for me in a dorm and I also like all of the apps and Wi-Fi capability.


So for my 18th birthday (Nov. 29th, woot!), my parents decided to get me the new Kindle Fire (Nov. 15 release). I think it looks amazing, but I'm worried that it will strain my eyes really bad because it's not using E-Ink, it's using Vibrant Color LCD. So my question for all you out there is should I be worried about this? I am always on my laptop so I'm used to the bright screen and it doesn't really bother me, but I just want to see what other people have to say. So post your comments below & also check out the comparison of all the Kindle's from the Amazon website :)

Compare Kindles

Kindle	Kindle Touch Kindle Touch 3G	Kindle Keyboard Kindle Keyboard 3G	Kindle DX	Kindle Fire
$79.00	$99.00 $149.00	$99.00 $139.00	$379.00	$199.00
Connectivity
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi Free 3G + Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi Free 3G + Wi-Fi	Free 3G	Wi-Fi
Content
Millions of books, newspapers, magazines, games, and docs	Millions of books, newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, games, and docs	Millions of books, newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, games, and docs	Millions of books, newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, games, and docs	18 million movies, TV shows, apps, games, songs, books, newspapers, audiobooks, magazines, and docs
Web
Experimental browser	Experimental browser	Experimental browser	Experimental browser	Amazon Silk cloud-accelerated browser
Display
6" E Ink Pearl	6" E Ink Pearl	6" E Ink Pearl	9.7" E Ink Pearl	7" Vibrant Color IPS
Battery Life, Wireless Off
1 month	2 months	2 months	3 weeks	8 hours continuous reading or 7.5 hours video playback
On-device Storage
2GB for 1,400 books	4GB for 3,000 books	4GB for 3,500 books	4GB for 3,500 books	8GB for 80 apps plus either 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books
Cloud Storage
Free for all Amazon content	Free for all Amazon content	Free for all Amazon content	Free for all Amazon content	Free for all Amazon content
Dimensions
6.5" x 4.5" x 0.34"	6.8" x 4.7" x 0.40"	7.5" x 4.8" x 0.34"	10.4" x 7.2" x 0.38"	7.5" x 4.7" x 0.45"
Weight
5.98 ounces	7.5 ounces 7.8 ounces	8.5 ounces 8.7 ounces	18.9 ounces	14.6 ounces
Interface
5-way controller	multi-touch	keyboard	keyboard	multi-touch

The Iron King (Iron Fey #1) - Julie Kagawa

*Rating*: 4 out of 5 stars

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined. 

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home. When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change. But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart

So, I had bought this book, along with the second, long ago and didn't pick it up until a few days ago. I had been dying to read it, but always got distracted by other books. But after seeing all the hype about how amazing it was, and wanting to join in on the Team Puck or Team Ash debate, I finally picked it up. And I have to say, I wasn't disappointed.

I have to admit at first, I was a little indifferent. I wasn't bored necessarily, but I didn't really get into the book until after Meghan got into the Nevernever. After that, I was hooked. I enjoyed how they incorporated Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream into the story. While it has been sort of used before, I was okay with it because that is the only play by Shakespeare I've read so far that I actually liked, probably because of the faeries. I'm a big fan of "Fae". And even though most stories all revolve around the same subjects, such as a Summer & Winter Court who are always head butting against one another, I do believe that the author did a good job making the story her own.

Meghan Chase is a 16 year old girl whose younger half brother had been kidnapped by evil fey, and replaced by a changeling. Meghan, with her best friend Robbie (who turns out to be Robin Goodfellow AKA Puck fromMidsummer Night's Dream), travel to the Nevernever to rescue her brother. However, things are not as easy as Meghan would have liked them to be. The Nevernever is full of orges, giants, goblins, sirens, faeries, etc. Not exactly an ideal travel location if you ask me.

Along they encounter many who wished to do harm to Meghan, who was pretty defenseless without Puck. Which kind of bothered me. I mean, if I were in her shoes, I'd probably been even worse, but this isn't reality, and when I read, I kind of want to read about a heroine who can stand up for herself. But don't get me wrong, she's not a bad character at all. I like her and believe that as the books go on and she learns more about who she is, she'll become more independent.

But let's get on to the guys: Puck and Ash. So Puck is the best guy friend who has always been there for Meghan, no matter what. He's always very witty and charming. Ash, or should I say Prince Ash, is...not very nice. He's the cold, dark, mysterious guy that must girls instantly fall for, so some odd reason, so it's no surprise Meghan was one of those girls. He does, however, have his moments and you get to see that softer side that he keeps hidden from the rest of the world. When it comes to picking a team, well I'm not sure. I'm sort of on the fence, not sure who I like better. Personally, I'm leaning towards Puck. I always feel bad for the best friend whose secretly in love but the other person is too stupid *cough*Meghan*cough*, to see what's right in front of them.

I just have to add, that Grimalkin has to be one of my favorite characters. Maybe because he's a cat, and I just so happen to love cats, but he's funny; annoying, but amusing. I kind of see him as the Cheshire Cat from Alice In Wonderland.

So overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think it's a great start to a potentially great series and am starting the 2nd book right this minute! So if you haven't already read it, you should :)

Teaser Tuesday #5- The Iron King (Iron Fey #1) by Julie Kagawa

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share one or two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

~~~~~~~~My Teaser~~~~~~~~

“Touch her, and I'll freeze your testicles off and put 
them in a jar. Understand?” 






Thought this was a hilarious little quote by Ash. I don't remember the page number, unfortunately. 

Currently Reading...

Alright, so I may have planned on 'Tackling My Shelves' in order by shelf, but I have this overwhelming urge that I can't really explain to read a book about faeries, so, staying true to my goal I am still going to read The Last Sacrifice, which is next in line, but I'm also going to read The Iron King. Both books look so good, so how am I going to do this? Not a clue. I'm dying to find out what happens in The Last Sacrifice, but I've also been meaning to read The Iron King for quite some time now b/c I bought it maybe a year ago, and have heard such great reviews. So, I guess it's a good thing I can multi-task :D

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined. 

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has 
never quite fit in at school or at home. 


When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart

It all comes down to now.

Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate sacrifice.

The Queen is dead and the Moroi world will never be the same. 

Now, with Rose awaiting wrongful execution and Lissa in a deadly struggle for the royal throne, the girls find themselves forced to rely upon enemies and to question those they thought they could trust...

But what if true freedom means sacrificing the most important thing of all?

Each other.

Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5) - Richelle Mead

Rating: 5/5


Salvation has its price.
The words stunned Adrian for a moment, but he kept going. "You're lying. What you're describing is impossible. There's no way to save a Strigoi. When they're gone, they're gone. They're dead. Undead. Forever."

Robert's next words weren't directed at Adrian. They were spoken to me. "That which is dead doesn't always stay dead...."

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa Dragomir. It's graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives outside of the Academy’s cold iron gates to finally begin. But even with the intrigue and excitement of court life looming, Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri. He's out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance, and now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and she knows in her heart that he is hunting her. And if Rose won't join him, he won't rest until he's silenced her...forever.

But Rose can't forget what she learned on her journey—whispers of a magic too impossible and terrifying to comprehend. A magic inextricably tied to Lissa that could hold the answer to all of Rose's prayers, but not without devastating consequences. Now Rose will have to decide what—and who—matters most to her. In the end, is true love really worth the price?

Fall in love with Rose and Dimitri all over again in Spirit Bound, the eagerly awaited fifth novel in Richelle Mead's enthralling Vampire Academy series.


This book is going to be too hard to review without giving away too many spoilers, but I shall try my best.

Spirit Bounds begins back at Vladimir Academy. Its graduation time, but Rose can't celebrate yet. She has one more challenge to face, the Trials. It's mandatory for all future guardians to take and pass to graduation. Naturally, that shouldn't be a problem right? Rose has had her fair share of challenges and had overcome them all, so a silly little trial shouldn't be so bad right? Rose gets anxious before the trials, but its not becuase of the trial itself, it's because of what's going to happen after. She's always had this big idea that graduating means freedom, which I think it something all high schoolers, dhampir or not, expect. But she now realizes she doesn't get to be free because she'll be in charge of protecting someone else's life. But enough about that, let's get to Dimitri ;)

Dimitri. Well for all of you who read the first 4 books, you know he got turned into Strigoi. So, of course, Rose wants to save him. But is that even possible? Perhaps. But while she's trying to think of a way to do this, Dimitri is sending her these lovely little "love letters". In these letters, he says he's watching her and basically, once she's out of the safety of the academy, he'll kill her. Romantic huh? Yeah I think so too. But despite the death threats, she's still as determined as ever to save her true love, not stopping short of anything illegal and putting not only her life at risk, but the lives of the people she loves. I love Dimitri, but there were so many times during this book that I felt like slapping him across the face. I mean, I understand where he's coming from, but there was this one thing he said (which I won't tell you :P) towards the end of the book that REALLY made me mad. I do, however, wish that him and Rose get their happy ending.

Oh, by the way, she's still dating Adrian. I was never a big fan of him until this book. He was always so snarky and obnoxious...and he still kind of is...but he really cares for Rose and will do anything for her (even help bring back her un-dead ex), which I think is really sweet.

The end, wouldn't you know it, was a cliffhanger. It was really intense. I'm still a little baffled on what's going on. And I'm glad I have the Last Sacrifice sitting right here on my shelf so I can get to the bottom of it.

The Vampire Academy Series is one of my all time favorites, and Richelle Mead never leaves me disappointed (frustrated maybe), but never disappointed. This books was full of surprises, emotion, action packed, and more.

If you haven't read this series yet, you must! And if you stopped at Blood Promise like a lit of people I know, then pick up this book and give VA another try.

Teaser Tuesday #4- Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5) by Richelle Mead

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share one or two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

~~~~~~~~My Teaser~~~~~~~~

Nathan: "She doesn't matter." 

Rose - I bit my lip on that, repressing the urge to see if I could throw my china plate Frisbee style and hit him in the head. I decided against it. Not only would it ruin dinner, but the plate probably wouldn't get the lift I needed.

- Nathan Ivashkov and Rose Hathaway (Spirit Bound)

Good news! I'm almost done with this book (finally! :D) so expect a review, most likely tomorrow afternoon.