Kindle + Library = Revolution

Yes, we like books.

Yes, we moved to rural Africa (again).

So, what does one do in that setting?

Well, really there are several options.  One can fill a container with books that you got free at a rockin' venue in Baltimore, called the Baltimore Book Thing.  You can also load your Kindle with every free book (published before 1923) that you've ever wanted to read.  Lastly, you can raid the personal library of every anglophone family you encounter.

And we have done all those things.

Yet, there are a few holes.  We like to read some more obscure books, hard to find at cast-off library sales.  And then there are new books.

And then the eBook world met up with the public library world.  All you need is a library card, and you can download library books from the comfort of your own home.  Even if your home is in Burundi.

And part of the beauty of this is that Kindle books are amazingly small, usually less than 500kb, making them downloadable even with really slow connections.  Suddenly new books by favorite authors are available to us.  The latest Newbery winners are available to us.  In short, we have shifted from "what is around to read?" to "what would we like to read?"  Whoa.