The Kindle2 cover is even less bulky, fitting more naturally in my hand.

The 16 levels of gray scale make the screen clearer. While I do miss color pictures, the new Kindle application for iPhone and iPod Touch can provide my fix. Syncing the application and the Kindle so that I can start and stop reading on either device? Well done, Amazon.

I was especially happy to see that those silly little dots were gone at the bottom of the screen, which were supposed to let me know how far along I was in the book. While Kindle2 still has a status bar, the addition of a number to tell me what percentage of the text I’m through helps me keep track of the progress of a story.

Buying books and periodicals is simple and quick — maybe a little too simple and quick for impulse readers like me. And including access to Wikipedia and the New Oxford American Dictionary makes me a happy little nerd.

The selection of books available still leaves a lot to be desired, though. And Google’s announcement last week that it’s delivering 500,000 free e-books for the Sony reader must have hurt a bit. Don’t get me wrong, Kindle’s 245,000 titles, mostly new and popular, are nothing to sneeze at; but all those free texts Sony is offering, many of them old classics? That would have been a nice addition.

Nonetheless, your e-books are getting cheaper, and the editing is greatly improved, though there were still a few repeated lines that shouldn’t have gotten past your editors.

I’m still not entirely happy with no touch screen, but maybe the e-ink technology isn’t compatible. I’ll buy that, for now.

But at $359, would it have killed you to include a reading light? Bottom line, this won’t be replacing my bookshelf any time soon.

Call me old-fashioned, but I like the book in my hand, and I know I’ll actually find all the titles I’m looking for in their original form. But as a travel companion, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather bring to work or play.

(Photo by lusi on stockxchng)