Sony Reader WiFi: Want!

I've been trying to postpone my e-reader's inevitable demise, mostly because I'm a Sony fangirl but also because I'm not really head over heels for any of the other competition out there. Either it doesn't have a memory slot (something that probably isn't necessary but a feature I enjoy), it's backlit (hurts my eyes), and/or it's so expensive that I just can't bring myself to really get it (looking at you, iPad).

So in any case, I just discovered the newest Sony reader: the Sony Reader WiFi.

As you can see in the picture, it's a touch screen. I'm not entirely fond of touch screens (mostly because of fingerprints), but it is a pretty nice looking device. It also has a micro SD slot and you don't even have to rip off the back of the unit to insert it like you do in the Nook readers! It's also WiFi, which means that I'd be able to download books from the Sony storefront AND go through their library service, which seems like it'd make it way easier to get books from the library. (It looks to be a storefront for libraries, for lack of a better definition.) It seems like right now Sony has the easiest way to get library books, so if you know that you'll be doing a lot of e-reading through libraries, this is definitely an e-reader to check out.

Engadget has a really great and in-depth review (click here to see it) that has a ton of pictures, and it looks like the size of this unit is comparable to both the Kobos reader as well as to one of the Kindles. That's where I read about the library feature as well as a feature where you can draw/scribble/write/doodle in your e-reader.

What's really great about this is that I noticed that the price point is only $99. This makes it more expensive than the Kindle with ads, but close enough to where the leap up wouldn't be that much of a hardship- ESPECIALLY with the easy library option. I know that people have said that the ads aren't that intrusive on the Kindle, but I have a pretty big problem with spending $80+ on an e-reader that contains ads (there's more than one model with this feature). If I'm going to have ads popping up for as long as I own the product, shouldn't the selling price be lower? After all, Amazon is going to be making some major moolah from selling the ad space to various companies, especially when considering that even after they make $80 from your sale they'll be continuously getting new offers from companies interested in advertising on your reader. (A multi-million dollar advertising feature at the very least should make the most basic reader $50 to make it really worthwhile.)

I have to say, I'm leaning towards staying with Sony after reading about this. I was a bit worried that Sony was being too much of a stick in the mud about e-readers and not being competitive enough, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Catching up on my reading!

I have to admit, I've been a bad girl this month. Why am I saying that? Because I keep getting books before I've even whittled down my "to read" or "to review" piles. I've been better about my "to review" piles since I hate the idea of having to make people wait for me to get to their books, but my "to read" pile is pretty horrible. Let me put it to you this was: I usually keep a book or five in my car to read in case of emergency (hey, who hasn't found themselves in a dull situation & wished they kept a book handy to read?). I finally gave in & allowed my older sister to have all of the books I'd already read and/or didn't plan on reading any time soon. The end result? Let's just say that her dining room table was half covered with paperbacks & Temperance Brennan novels by the time we were done. My car was visibly faster when I drove home.

Now that's one of the good parts about paper books. You always know when the modest pile of books has turned into a paper tsunami that threatens to drown you in unread books. My e-reader?

That's 192 books on my ereader. I've only read about half of them. The rest are books that I got years ago, saying "It's OK if I don't read them immediately- I can just store them on my ereader". This month hasn't been much better, with me purchasing even more.

So yeah... I've got some heavy duty reading to do. Luckily I figure that if I keep up on my review reading, everything else sort of falls into place. Oh, and the Sony e-reader ROCKS.