Light My Kindle

While the Kindle itself is sold out (estimated ship date is 11 to 13 weeks, placing delivery in mid-February to early March), there are plenty of Kindle-related items you can get the avid reader in your life. If they don’t yet have the Kindle, you can buy them an Amazon.com Gift Card for the purchase price of a Kindle ($359 plus shipping). You could also include a little extra for them to use to purchase their first Kindle books.

If the reader in your life already has a Kindle, you could still get them an Amazon.com Gift Card. For Kindle users, an Amazon gift card is a convenient way to pay for books. Once they enter the amount of the gift card into their Amazon account and set it as the default method of payment, any book they buy from the Kindle will be paid for with the gift card.

There are lots of cases available for the Kindle (such as the SFBags Kindle Case or the extremely popular M-Edge Leather Kindle Case, pictured) as well as decorative and protective skins for the Kindle. Some are intended to protect the Kindle - those are usually made of silicone. Others are intended to add personality, much like a cell phone skin.

There are also stands available for the Kindle that will allow the reader to read hands-free. These are useful for readers using the Kindle for reference - such as college students or people reading recipe books on the Kindle - and for people who like to read while eating, knitting or doing another activities that would prevent them from holding the Kindle.

Another useful gift for a Kindle owner - and an affordable one, at that - is a booklight. The Kindle doesn’t have a backlight like most cell phones and computers do, so reading in the dark is impossible without an external light source. While I haven’t tried it myself, the Mighty Bright booklight gets excellent reviews from Kindle owners. There are also plenty of other lights available.

Another thoughtful gift for the reader in your life is a gift certificate to Audible.com. Audible.com is an online store for downloadable audio books. Kindle owners can put the audio books on their device and listen to them with a standard pair of headphones. Audible.com gift certificates are available in denominations from $10 to $250, and a single audio book costs about the same as a Kindle edition of a book.

If you’re truly desperate to get someone a Kindle, there are some available on eBay for as much as $1,000.

I hope this guide to Kindle gifts was helpful. As always, feel free to email me with any Kindle questions at cj@lightmykindle.com.

Other Posts of Interest:

• Amazon Kindle the Most Wished For Item in Electronics
• Kindle Basics #7: Find Out How Much Space is Left on Your Kindle
• Sony E-Reader Being Sold at Target
• Save $100 on a Kindle
• My Betrayal of Barnes & Noble