The Kindle Challenge

Two or three years ago, my brother got me a Kindle as a present. It was the basic e-reader, probably one of the first generations of the product. I read a decent amount, and I found that it was a great present. I could download several books at a time, and it was pretty small to take with me for the inevitable commuting delays I sometimes face.

But in the time I've had the Kindle, I've come to realize that I miss having certain types of books. For instance, books that have a lot of footnotes and/or photos are much better read in the physical form. Granted, I'm sure some of the latest innovations in e-readers have made it easier to bounce around a virtual book, but I've found that my current version is good for reading simple novels, but not other items.

Case in point? I recently finished "The Man Who Ate Everything" by Jeffrey Steingarten. I knew going into it the book was about food and the author had been the Vogue food critic for a long time. What I hadn't anticipated was a slew of recipes buried in the "pages." And with my basic Kindle, it was not a good delivery method. Without being able to bookmark (and this is a LONG read), I doubt I'll ever be able to find these again.

So if I can give you one piece of advice this holiday gift season, if you're buying for a cook, stick to the regular cookbooks. Happy shopping!