The Kindle’s most underrated function is my new secret weapon

I’ve had a Kindle since 2011. Within the 14 years since, I’ve learn 1000’s of tales by way of the E Ink pill and indulged in each style — from younger grownup dystopias to World Conflict II spy novellas. Whereas I principally stick with science fiction and romantasies these days, my Kindle Library is stuffed to the digital brim with my favourite e-books.

As a voracious reader who usually has a number of titles open directly, I do a reasonably good job of maintaining all my fictional characters and their respective worlds separate. Nevertheless, as an editor who juggles freelance work along with her personal inventive writing, typically my studying behavior falls by the wayside, and my present reads should go on pause. After I lastly click on again into them, I typically get confused and expertise one thing alongside the strains of Jack Sparrow stepping onto the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.

Whereas I am not writing that off as a possible avenue for a improbable space-pirate crossover, I really want to know what is going on on in my guide if I am studying to chill out or benefit from the story. Positive, I might open my cellphone or laptop computer and get a fast reminder, however that simply opens the door to doomscrolling on Instagram or TikTok. There is a motive individuals love e-readers: distraction-free leisure.

Fortunately, there is a hidden function solely two faucets away that may get you up to the mark with out even leaving your guide. It is referred to as X-Ray, and I believe it is essentially the most underrated Kindle feature.

What’s Kindle X-Ray?

And the place you will discover it

X-Ray is a reference device inside your e-book that permits you to “see by” the story by mapping out each character, place, and noteworthy idea. It gives readers deeper insights, related passages, and typically even exterior context from sources like Wikipedia. It is accessible on most books you purchase by Amazon, as metadata is pulled from the guide itself — however some authors additionally add additional data to X-Ray manually.

The X-Ray device is not new. In truth, Amazon rolled out the function again in 2011. Nevertheless, most customers nonetheless do not reap the benefits of it, in the event that they even realize it exists in any respect. To seek out X-Ray, full the next steps:

1. Faucet the highest of the web page to open the menu.
2. Faucet the three dots on the far proper.
3. Choose X-Ray.

There are 4 tabs inside X-Ray: Notable Clips, Individuals, Phrases, and Photographs. Notable Clips is a curated assortment of essential passages that Amazon and publishers flag as notably important. It reveals brief excerpts of memorable quotes, character introductions, turning factors, and well-liked highlights from different readers. It is principally the guide’s “best hits” reel in the case of excerpts.

The Individuals tab is basically a catalog of each character talked about within the textual content. This one’s particularly helpful if you happen to’re attempting to recollect a love curiosity, an enemy, or just which narrator you are following in that chapter. It first reveals the characters on the present web page, however scrolling down reveals each character within the guide, their first or most memorable excerpts, and what number of occasions they’re talked about all through.

Phrases acts as a glossary of ideas, places, occasions, or concepts that seem inside the textual content. It supplies definitions, descriptions, and related quotes. As somebody who reads principally fantasy and sci-fi, I take advantage of this part essentially the most. When you’ve ever learn (or needed to learn) Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, I extremely suggest doing so on Kindle. I devoured that guide in a single sitting and was nonetheless confused by the handfuls of locations, kinds of magic, and political alliances in that world.

Photographs is pretty self-explanatory: a visible index of each illustration, map, or photograph embedded within the e-book. A lot of the books I learn function solely two photographs — the quilt artwork and the map in the beginning — however X-Ray makes referencing them easy. After I learn A Court docket of Mist and Fury, I used to be consistently flipping again to the map of Prythian to see the place my favourite characters have been teleporting to and from.

If you use X-Ray, you remove all of the confusion, page-flipping (or tapping), and psychological gymnastics it takes to select up the place you left off — or to remain oriented in a fancy story.

X-Ray shouldn’t be an AI abstract

However it did one thing comparable means earlier than it was cool

When you seek for something on-line as of late, likelihood is you will run into a fast TL;DR AI abstract. Left and proper, we’re being bombarded with machine-written blurbs that cease our analysis in its tracks with lazy roundups. X-Ray shouldn’t be that — and it by no means has been. It gives a deeper, extra considerate technique to have interaction with a narrative by jogging your reminiscence as a substitute of pondering for you.

Kindle might simply fall down the AI rabbit gap, but it surely is aware of its viewers. Anybody who calls themselves a reader is in it for the love of the sport, not an AI shortcut. We need to learn and really feel extra — not simply skim a soulless gist and transfer on.

One of the best occasions to make use of X-Ray

I by no means need to learn with out it once more

Studying is my favourite pastime. After a few a long time of required studying, I am blissful to say that 80% of the time now, I am studying purely for enjoyment. Whereas I used to like selecting aside The Return of the King for my JRR Tolkien seminar in school, as of late, if I am unable to bear in mind Éomer’s total arc, I simply open X-Ray for a fast reminder so I can preserve my studying momentum going.

Fantasy and science fiction tales are solely pretty much as good as their world-building — however that additionally means remembering varied magic methods (and their limitations), fictional cities and cities (typically even planets), villains, henchmen, allies, and forgotten aspect characters who reappear for a full-circle second on the finish of an eight-book saga.

The clearest instance I can consider is the Throne of Glass sequence by Sarah J Maas — it is a hill I will die on in the case of character arcs and world-building. However inside these eight books, Maas would not overlook a single character. If you wish to really feel the complete emotion of her storytelling, you may’t both. So when a beloved aspect character briefly talked about within the first guide makes his comeback 4,500 pages later, it is form of an enormous deal — however one which’s simple to overlook.