It’s that time of year when homeschoolers are making sure they have all their curriculum for the coming homeschool year. I know one of the items I would often overlook until later would be the reading books required for whatever English curriculum I was using. If you live in a big city, the library is a reliable source of books like Pride  & Prejustice, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, or A Tale of Two Cities, but with the growing numbers of homeschoolers, they are often already checked out…indefinitely.

Now you can download them, and it doesn’t cost a thing at Project Gutenburg. You can print them out, or simply read them on your computer. If you are really up with the times, you can download them into what is known as a ‘reader’.

Have you ever tried Amazon’s Kindle?

Readers like Amazon’s Kindle are becoming more popular, and even predicted to replace real books someday.  Books are like good friends and will never be replaced in MY house, although I would love to own one of those Kindles. So many times I see a book I want on Amazon that is less than half the price if I had a Kindle to download it to. It might take some getting used to, but I like the search option that you can use with it.

Anyone had experience with one? I did a quick search on which reader is the best, and it appears that the Kindle is cornering the market currently, being the easiest to use and adaptable to most downloads. Seems to be a favorite for college students, too. Saves big on textbooks.

As for finding the cheapest prices on a Kindle, save yourself some time and just buy it at Amazon NEW and get the free shipping and warranties. I’m the last one to recommend buying something new, but this is definitely an exception.  Everyone I searched claiming to have the cheapest price on a Kindle was either offering a re-conditioned one, or the shipping charge drove the price up over Amazon’s. Amazon is so reliable, and will back up their product without question. If you watch the used category and find a good one as it’s listed, you might find a good used one. If you buy it new, just be sure you are actually buying from Amazon…and not a seller on Amazon. BIG difference! You’ll see the Super Saver logo if it’s actually Amazon’s.

Find free downloads at  http://www.gutenberg.org