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Open Thread for Readers for March 2019

Do you have a book you just can’t help talking about? Frustrated with a gadget that isn’t working the way you think it should? Have you found a buried treasure? Get a new gadget, and want to share?  Or, do you just want to chat about stuff in general?

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Carmen Webster Buxton March 3, 2019 um 4:50 pm

Is anyone else out there a fan of the X-Ray feature, available on some Kindle books (when read on a Kindle or a Kindle app that supports this feature)? I love X-Ray and I am annoyed tat a lot of publishers aren’t on board with it. There is some setup required on each book at the publisher end and a lot of them don’t seem to care about it.

If you’re not familiar with it, this feature lets you highlight a character’s name (or on some cases, place names or terms) and a box pops up with an explanation of who that character is. It works without needing to be online when reading, too. I have no clue if the info is embedded in the AZW file or if it’s a related invisible file that’s downloaded with the book, but I know it works when airplane mode is on. Very handy!

Nate Hoffelder March 3, 2019 um 7:12 pm

I like the concept but I don’t care whether it ever really takes hold on the Kindle platform (it’s too static).

When i want to do a deep dive on some book I’m reading, I google it and get lost in Tumblr, blog posts, meme wikis, etc. They have like ten times the content of a Kindle X-Ray, with fans adding more detail everyday.

That os so much better than an X-Ray.

Carmen Webster Buxton March 3, 2019 um 7:33 pm

Sounds like two different functions! I use X-Ray mostly for when I can’t remember who a character is. It’s great for epic sagas where a minor character is in the first three chapters, disappears, and then comes back 12 chapters later and I can’t remember who he/she is. It’s also good if my reading is interrupted and I’ve not been able to get back to the book for several days. In my own books, I use X-Ray to define any made up words, especially alien words that don’t translate well. It’s like having a glossary that functions like the Kindle dictionaries do.


Steve H. March 3, 2019 um 6:03 pm

I agree X-Ray is a good feature. I don’t think it works if you download manually in airplane mode though.

Carmen Webster Buxton March 3, 2019 um 7:35 pm

I wonder if that relates to my question about whether the X-Ray info was in a separate file? It sounds like it might be if it has to be downloaded directly for the function to work.


Steve H. March 3, 2019 um 6:25 pm

Ways to find discount e books for Kindle:
-subscribe to discount offers like Bookbub and Book Gorilla
– Lookup books in the Kindle store by category. Sprinkled within the top books there are usually some heavily discounted titles, sometimes entry priced, that might not easily be noticed by other means. The Kindle tablets show more results in fewer steps than e readers.

Nate…try an article on these and other ways to find cheap reads please.


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