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Which kindle is the best?

Answer: None of the above.

Back when the Kindle came out in 2007, it cost $400 and I didn’t think anyone would want one. But these days, a Kindle starts at $79 and is highly affordable. There are also more options to choose from.

If you’ve been buying e-books from Amazon, then you’re pretty much locked into their ecosystem. You may be wondering if it’s worth upgrading to one of the new kindles. Or perhaps you’re thinking about exchanging your crap Christmas present for one. Either way, let me tell you straight up: The best kindle is what is now known as the Kindle Keyboard 3G. Yes, that’s the Kindle 3 that came out over a year ago. Why? Well, let me tell you why the other ones suck:

Kindle: Without a physical keyboard, searching the store or browsing through books has become a major hassle.

Kindle Touch / Kindle Touch 3G: The bezel is far too small to grip comfortably. And without the extra space at the bottom, accidental page turns are frustrating.

Kindle Fire: No e-ink! You can’t read books in sunlight and the LCD screen is harder on the eyes. The Fire fails as a dedicated e-book reader.

With e-ink, a wider bezel, a physical keyboard, and physical hard keys for page turns, the Kindle Keyboard 3G is by far the best kindle you can buy today.

Game of Thrones review

You may be wondering if I’m talking about the book or the HBO series. Well, I read the book first, so the TV show paled in comparison, as is usually the case. I was optimistic at first, mostly because of the glowing reviews and comparisons to Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson undoubtedly won the hearts of purists and lovingly captured the spirit of the books. Unfortunately, the Game of Thrones TV series falls short of this benchmark. It’s not terrible, but not awesome either, the way LOTR inspired awe.

The screenwriters obviously took great delight in exaggerating and extrapolating on certain scenes and themes in the novel. It seems like there is some sort of mandate at HBO to maximize on vulgarity and shock value. I’m sure some people get a kick out of this, but if you’ve read the book first, it all seems so unnecessary.

As for the book, I can only say that it’s rooted in political intrigue without being mired down in politics. The characters are well fleshed out, but nothing genre-bending. I like long epic stories with many interwoven plot lines, and this exactly is what you get here. Perhaps my only real complaint is that the few brief battle scenes are often told through second-hand accounts instead of diving first-hand into the action.

I’ve just finished reading Clash of Kings as well, and there is a lot to enjoy so far in the Song of Ice and Fire series. I can’t say I’m looking forward to a mangling of this excellent second book on TV though. Not that I won’t watch it anyway.