ELECTRONIC READERS KINDLE NO HEAT in my heart and mind—at least so far. Although screens are slowly but inexorably moving in on Things Between Covers, I am a conservative (okay, reactionary) devotee of the printed, bound, turnable, graspable, ineffable book. A Kindle would be eminently practical for me, since I often spend months at a time in non-English-speaking countries, and yet, reading on a screen seems to me a shadow of the real thing. A friend has promised to entrust her Kindle to me for a brief period (she cannot tolerate a long separation from Her Precious), and I will report back. Meanwhile, despite plenty of historical perspective—I know that people once felt the same about pens vs. typewriters, hand-sewn garments vs. machine-made, big, blocky black dial phones vs. smart, tiny ones—I’m a holdout. (Update: I just learned that the Kindle’s price is going down to $189. I’m weakening.)