"John W." <worthj1970@gmail.com> wrote:
> A couple of questions about the Amazon Kindle. First, are there any
> Japanese language books available from Amazon in the US? I searched,
> but I didn't see a way to search by the language of the book; and if
> there are books, are there any rendering issues on the US-sold Kindle?
> Second, does anyone here belong to Amazon Prime? Not sure if it's
> really worth it or not; we don't typically buy new books, but get from
> the library (or a used book store, sometimes), so the ability to
> borrow is nice, especially since my library system doesn't offer e-
> books in kindle format.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> John W

Can't speak to Kindle questions but would recommend trying to get Amazon to
offer you a one-month trial Amazon Prime subscription, which they
periodically do when they see you returning for shopping visits. 

The trial deal is particularly worthwhile if you avail yourself of the
offer during a month you know you'll be doing a fair amount of shopping --
of course it doesn't have to be limited to books...it can include a wide
variety of merchandise that all comes with free two-day shipping, and you
can just cancel before the 30 days are up, no questions asked, and your
credit card won't be charged. 

I've done the free trial/cancellation deal once before (OK, so I'm cheap if
it's ny already obvious), last summer, and have been reoffered the
one-month free trial on at least a couple of occasions since, including
last week as I was doing some holiday shopping. But take note: You don't
always see the free trial offer when visiting Amazon, as much of the
shopping experience on their site is seemingly controlled and run by
sophisticated, manipulative marketing bots that use fuzzy logic to observe
and act upon your shopping habits.
-- 
Peace, Steve