One of my errands this morning was a quick stop by a second-hand bookstore, the same one I’ve been visiting twice weekly for a month or so. Unfortunately, there don’t appear to be a lot of other readers in my town, because the selection hardly ever changes. The same picked over used books that didn’t interest me last week still don’t interest me this week.

So, I wound up running by Wal-Mart where I picked up three paperbacks for a whopping $24. Yes, I probably could have gone by the local library to see if they had copies, but they only stock hardcovers and I find those a bit too heavy for bedtime reading.

Which is why Kindle, Amazon’s new electronic reader, remains the #1 item on my Christmas Wish List. Yes, it’s pricey, but I want it anyway. I figure, if Santa Claus is buying, who cares about the cost, right? (Meanwhile, I fully realize my chances of actually getting one are as realistic as the fat man in red himself.)

Of course, I’ve since found an even better reason to want one: the Kindle currently allows readers to email themselves books in PDF format and, although the support is currently experimental, they plan to enhance it rather soon. So, instead of the $9.99 that Amazon is currently charging for each book, I could also use the Kindle with other ebook sites which offer recent titles at almost half the price.

Another advantage? Since they’re in digital format, no one would know if I was reading, say, electronic romance books instead of something intellectually meaty like War and Peace.

Frankly, that just makes the Kindle even more attractive as far as I’m concerned.