Jamie's Hero and Villain of the Week #6

It is an incredibly beautiful unbelievably mild February Friday, which can only mean one thing:  it's true that as soon as you have decent snow boots and a shovel, the stupid groundhog will go shadow-blind and spring will come early.  Oh, and it's time to unveil Jamie's Hero and Villain of the Week!

Hero of the Week:  Amazon Kindle

This nifty light-weight device allows me to carry thousands of books with me anywhere I go!  I love to read, and I love variety, so this is awesome.  Since the battery can run for a month without being charged, I don't have to worry about remembering a power cord or sitting in proximity to an outlet when I go on vacation or house/dog-sit for the weekend.  It's also easy to read in bright sunlight, so it's perfect for leisurely outdoor reading on a day like today.  And since there are no pages, I don't have to get annoyed at the breeze for trying to turn the pages before I'm ready.  I hate it when the wind reads faster than me!  Another huge plus is access to thousands of free e-books, ranging from classics to new and self-published authors.  True, a lot of the free e-books totally suck, but at least I have the opportunity to discover new voices.  

Villain of the Week:  Amazon Kindle

That's right--the Kindle is the week's villain too!  The reason for my ambivalence is a piece of very sad news I learned this week:  Borders is filing for bankruptcy and closing 1/3 of their stores, including my local branch.  I'm very distressed by this development because I love browsing in Borders, and their coffee is better than Books-A-Million's.  I love walking through the rows of bookshelves, visiting the brightly-colored children's section, and examining all of the random/cool/just plain odd gifts they offer.  Since the growing popularity of e-readers, especially the Kindle,  is a huge factor in the decline of the physical book store, I have no choice but to label it a villain.  (I do realize that I could also blame the economy, but my daily New Yorker cartoon calendar does that every day.  It's just too depressing now.)

That's all I have for this week!  Enjoy the sunshine and the weekend!