Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Another English classic I picked up this year  - 'Jane Eyre' is a novel by English writer 'Charlotte Brontë', published in 1847 under the pseudonym 'Currer Bell' to disguise the fact that the author was a woman.

An enduring love story and undisputed classic, 'Jane Eyre' is full of passion, mystery, tragedy, and most importantly a strong-willed beloved heroine.

it is ironic that at a time when the Charlotte felt compelled to hide her true identity, Jane Eyre provided a story of individualism for women.

This masterpiece introduces one of fiction's most memorable protagonists ie Jane. As a child, orphan Jane Eyre suffers under cruel guardians and harsh schooling, but her indomitable spirit shines through against the greatest odds. When she takes up a position as governess at Thornfield Hall, she meets and begins to fall in love with mysterious and brooding master of the house, Mr Rochester. The secrets of the house and from Mr Rochester's past are soon revealed causing a heartbreak for Jane. Her life takes few turns in the course and as they say takes a full circle at the end.

Though it falls under genre of romantic classic, the romance is very very suttle and deep without any explicitly. A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled me with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.

The classic has been adapted in many other forms like opera, film, theatre plays. The most recent film adaptation was released in 2011, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, and starred Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre and Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester.

The Second Lady

 'The second lady', written by famous American author Irving Wallace, is a fascinating USA-Russia cold war thriller.

When I read this book for the first time, I was in 9th or 10th standard and ofcourse I read the translated version back then.

The plot of the story was so intriguing that I had to look for original book when started reading English novels.

The story goes like this - To grab an inside information over a politically critical matter, KGB (Soviets intelligence agency) plots an unbelievable plan to replace the American First Lady with a look alike, a Russian actress with  strong resemblance who has been tweaked and trained to perfection over the period of three years.

The replacement happens as planned but un-foreseen hurdles keep cropping up in the secret mission.

We have to keep in mind that this book was released in 1980. The secret services of the time had been small force then. The internet, mobile phones were atleast fifteen years away from becoming mainstream reality. So the story has to be lived in the period it has been told.

This book has everything that a perfect novel demands - gripping plot, love, drama, action, entertainment.

Irving's writing style is not very tricky but the overall storyline and continuous twists keep readers hooked till the end. 

The nail biting and unusual climax left me absolutely stunned.

Certainly an entertaining and unput-down-able page turner read, wonder why it didn't get converted into movie or TV series.

#2023readinggoals

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

 Written by Alex Michaelides, this book was the Winner of 'Best Mystery & Thriller of 2019'. 

It was appearing on all online forums, social media channels  as well as leading book stores as 'a 'must-read'.

It is a psychological thriller - story of a woman's (Alicia) act of violence against her husband and her therapist (Theo) who is obsessed with uncovering her motive.

Alicia is caught after killing her husband and who has remained silent ever since.

The narration of story is split between these 2 leading characters, Alicia through her diary pages and Theo's POV.

The book is easy read, its not very fast paced but doesn't get boring either.

Though the plot is gripping, the twists and ultimate turn was not much convincing.

In my humble opinion, it is a bit over-hyped novel but certainly one time read if you are mystery lover.

Consequences series by Aleatha Romig

 Todays blog is about 'Consequences' novel series, set of 5 books, by American author Aleatha Romig.

This is a mixed-genre novel. It can be categorized as a psychological thriller, dark romance, mystery. 

It tells a story of battle between a protagonist and antagonist which plays out like a battle of wits and it starts as dark as well as disturbing one. In a nutshell,  it is a story of 'Stockholm syndrome' (Google it if you don't know what it is). 

Clair Nicholas  wakes up in a suite owned by Anthony "Tony" Rawlings, a charismatic manipulative powerful man. She is told she signed an agreement with Rawlings that if the money she owed him is not paid back, she would become his property, She had no way to pay him.

Tony tells Claire it's simple: Follow my rules, actions have consequences.

She is trapped in a very strange, abusive relationship with Tony. 

But it is not a typical alpha male dominating submissive lady kind of storyline at all.

The entire plot is quite original, completely unpredictable and intriguing. It's a full bundle of emotions thrill,  anger, sex, lies, obsession and a complete roller coaster ride through n through. 

When I started this series and managed to complete few chapters,  my immediate reaction was - what the Hell? I loathed Clair and hated Tony. During the course of first book itself I really considered giving it up and thought it's not my cup of tea to survive reading such a dark story.

As a woman the violence, brutality and humiliation Clair faces was thoroughly unsettling, infuriating for me.

But Aleatha Romig definitely knows how to keep her readers hooked!  

   
It took me from 2 weeks to 1 month to finish each one of the books. And I still don’t know how I managed to pull through this experience. I can only blame author's talent and my  curiosity. At the end, it was worth pondering how story started and where has it landed. 

So if you want to experience a novel that will stick with you for a long time,  go for this series. As they say, get yourself Aleatha'd.

किंडल

किंडल बद्दल आधी मी इंग्लिश मध्ये एक पोस्ट लिहिली होती. पण नंतर असं वाटलं कि लेख मराठीत लिहिला तर जास्त लोकांपर्यंत पोचेल , म्हणून हा खटाटोप . 

किंडल संदर्भात नेहमी मनात येणाऱ्या काही प्रश्नांची उत्तरं देण्याचा हा माझा प्रयत्न - 

* किंडल म्हणजे नक्की काय?

किंडल हे electronic पुस्तकं वाचण्यासाठी अमेझॉन कंपनी ने बनवलेलं एक खास device आहे, जे साधारण एका टॅब सारखं दिसतं .  किंडल च्या वापरातून तुम्ही पुस्तक / मासिक / वर्तमानपत्र वाचू , शोधू, खरेदी करू , download करू शकता . 

किंडल मध्ये खास तंत्र (ई - शाई ) वापरलय जे आपल्या स्मार्ट फोन / टॅब पेक्षा वेगळं आहे. त्यामुळे दोन फायदे होतात , एक कि किंडल ची बॅटरी खूप जास्त चालते (कित्येक आठवडे ) आणि दुसरं म्हणजे ह्या तंत्रा  मुळे डोळ्यांना त्रास होत नाही . 

* किंडल का खरेदी करावं  आणि वापरावं ?
जर तुम्ही हाडाचे वाचक असाल तर तुमच्या साठी किंडल अगदी योग्य आहे. आता 'हाडाचे वाचक ' म्हणजे काय तर - जर तुम्ही रोज काही ना काही, साधारण एक तास भर , वाचन करता . 

पण जर तुम्ही क्वचित वाचता - जस कि समजा कुणी काही सूचित केलं किंवा एखाद्या पुस्तकाबद्दल तुम्ही खूप ऐकलं  तरच तुम्ही वाचन करता - तर किंडल चा पूर्ण फायदा घेऊ शकणार नाही . 

* कागदी पुस्तकांच्या संग्रहा  पेक्षा किंडल चा काय फायदा आहे?

किंडल वापरण्याचा सर्वात मोठा फायदा म्हणजे जवळ जवळ अगणित पुस्तक तुम्ही ह्यात ठेऊ शकता आणि सोबत कुठेही  नेऊ शकता . 

समजा तुम्ही घरा बाहेर आहात , प्रवास करताय, विमानतळ / हॉटेल / डॉक्टर अश्या ठिकाणी तुमचा नंबर यायची वाट पाहताय,  किंवा तुम्हाला आजुबाजूला अंधार असतानाही वाचायचंय , मग अश्या वेळी कागदी पुस्तकांपेक्षा किंडल चा फायदा असतो.  

सध्या जे किंडल मिळतात , त्यांच्यात कमीत कमी ४ GB मेमरी असतेच. म्हणजे मोठ्यात मोठी पुस्तक ज्यांची फाईल साईझ १ MB असते , अशी करोडो पुस्तक ह्यात सामावू शकतात आणि हि सारी पुस्तकं तुम्ही एकत्र कुठेही घेऊन जाऊ शकता. 

मलाही कागदी पुस्तकं आवडतात , पण मुंबईतल्या घरांचं आकारमान पाहता , करोडो पुस्तकांसाठी राखीव जागा ठेवणं शक्य नाही . आणि नुसतं साठवणूक नाही तर त्यांची निगराणी राखणं , धुळीपासून संरक्षण , कव्हर बदलणं हे सुद्धा कठीण होत. 

* किंडल घेण्यापेक्षा मोबाईल वर फ्री किंडल अँप वापरलं तर? 

जर तुम्ही अनियमित वाचक असाल किंवा मोबाईल च्या प्रकाशाने तुम्हाला त्रास होत नाही , तर कदाचित किंडल  device विकत घेण्यापेक्षा किंडल अँप सोयीस्कर ठरेल . 

अँप वापरण्याचे महत्वाचे फायदे म्हणजे - १) अँप एकदम फुकट आहे . अर्थात पुस्तकं विकत घ्यावी लागतील ('फक्त फ्री पुस्तकं वाचायची' असं तुम्ही ठरवू शकता 😊 ), २) अँप तुमच्या फोन मध्ये असतं जो तुम्ही तस पण कायम सोबत बाळगता . 
किंडल हे छोटं आणि हलकं device आहे पण तरीही एक जादा गोष्ट चार्ज करणं आणि सोबत बाळगणं अपरिहार्य होत . 
अँप चा सर्वात मोठा तोटा म्हणजे , फोन चा प्रकाश. फोन आणि किंडल च प्रकाश तंत्र वेगळं आहे . कितीही नाही म्हटलं तरी फोन च्या प्रकाशाचा नकळत डोळ्यांवर परिणाम होतोच होतो. 
आजकाल तसही आपण सर्वच फोन पाहण्यात गरजेपेक्षा जास्त वेळ घालवतो , मग निदान वाचन करताना तरी अतिरिक्त त्रास नको डोळ्यांना . आणि जर तुम्ही पूर्ण सूर्य प्रकाशात वाचताय , जस की गच्ची वर / बीच वर , तर फोन वर पुस्तक वाचन कठीण होत. 

किंडल device कि किंडल अँप - ह्यात निवड करताना , आधी किंडल अँप वापरून पहा. १-२ पुस्तक किंवा २-३ आठवडे वाचून पहा कि वाचन अनुभव कसा आहे ते . मग किंडल घायचा कि नाही हे तुम्ही ठरवू शकता  

* किंडल वापरताना वायफाय किंवा इंटरनेट लागतं का ?

नाही . एकदा का पुस्तकं किंडल मध्ये संग्रहित झाली , जस कि आपल्या फोन मध्ये आपण फोटो संग्रहित करतो, कि पुस्तकं उघडायला आणि वाचायला इंटरनेट /वायफाय ची आवश्यकता नाही . नुसतं वाचन नाही तर तुम्ही अधोरेखित केलेले परिच्छेद , लिहिलेल्या टिप्पणी  हे सर्वही उपलब्ध राहातं . 

* किंडल चा डोळ्यांवर परिणाम होतो का ?

इ-शाई आणि LED प्रकाश ह्या तंत्रामुळे किंडल चा प्रकाश प्रचंड सौम्य असतो, जो डोळ्यांसाठी खूपच कमी त्रासदायक आहे. किंडल ओऍसिस मॉडेल मध्ये तर स्व-नियंत्रित प्रकाश योजना आहे ज्यामुळे सभोवतालच्या प्रकाश तीव्रते नुसार किंडल चा प्रकाश आपोआप बदलतो . 

* मला रात्री / झोपण्या आधी वाचायला आवडतं , मग किंडल उपयोगी आहे का?

खुप लोकांना झोपण्या आधी थोडं वाचन करायला आवडतं . कागदी पुस्तक वाचायचं असेल तर त्यासाठी दिवा चालू  ठेवणं आवश्यक होतं जे तुमच्या जोडीदाराला त्रासदायक वाटू शकतं . किंडल चा प्रकाश अतिशय सौम्य असतो आणि त्यामुळे आपण किंडल वाचनाचा दुसर्यांना त्रास होत नाही . 

* आता पर्यंत सर्व छानच , पण पैसे किती पडतात ?

किंडल ची खूप (३ प्राथमिक) मॉडेल बाजारात मिळतात, ज्यांची किंमत साधारण ८००० ते २२,००० रुपये ह्या रेंज मध्ये आहे . 

सर्वात उच्च प्रतीच्या मॉडेल मध्ये सुविधा हि चांगल्या आहेत जस कि ४G , म्हणजे तुम्ही फोन सारखं डेटा सिम कार्ड त्यात वापरू शकता . 
जर किंमत आणि सुविधा ह्यांचा ताळमेळ घालायचा असेल तर मधलं मॉडेल (उदा . किंडल पेपर व्हाईट ) योग्य ठरेल.  ह्या मॉडेल मध्ये सर्वसाधारण वापरात येणाऱ्या साऱ्या सुविधा आहेत आणि किंमतही योग्य आहे . (साधारण १२००० ते १३००० रुपये )

* आणि पुस्तकांच्या किमतीचं काय? त्यांचा किती खर्च येतो?

पुस्तकांच्या किमती मध्ये खूपच विभिन्नता असते. अमेझॉन वर लाखो पुस्तकं फुकट हि उपलब्ध आहेत . पण सुप्रसिद्ध लेखकांची किंवा प्रसिद्ध कादंबऱ्या , मुलांची पुस्तकं , स्व-मदत (सेल्फ-हेल्प ) अशी पुस्तकं साधारण ० ते ५०० रुपयात मिळतात. 

चांगली गोष्ट म्हणजे , दररोज अमेझॉन वर वेगवेगळी पुस्तकं , अतिशय नाम मात्र किमतीत उपलब्ध होतात. 

अमेझॉन च्या साईट वर तुम्हाला 'Deal of the day', 'Monthly deal', 'Lightening deal', 'Limited time deal' असे खूप पर्याय दिसतील . 

जर तुम्ही उत्सुक वाचक आणि त्याच सोबत संयमी असाल तर तुम्हाला हवी ती पुस्तकं खिशाला परवडणाऱ्या किमतीत कधी ना कधी  नक्कीच मिळतात . 
माझा स्वतःचा अनुभव -  मी गेली ६ वर्ष किंडल नियमित वापरतेय . मी जी काही पुस्तकं विकत घेतलीयत (इंग्लिश आणि मराठी), त्यातली बहुतेक मी प्रत्येकी १०० रुपयांपेक्षा कमी किमतीत घेतली आहेत.  आणि माझ्याकडे चांगल्या पुस्तकांचा बऱ्यापैकी संग्रह आहे ज्यांची कागदी पुस्तकांची  किंमत प्रत्येकी  २५० ते ५०० रुपये आहेत . 

बहुतांशी पुस्तकांच्या  किंडल कॉपी ची किंमत हि कागदी पुस्तकांच्या किमतीपेक्षा खूपच कमी असते, 

* पुस्तक विकत घेतल्यावर ते वेगवेगळ्या उपकरणांवर वापरता /वाचता येत का?

हो . तुम्ही तुमचा किंडल संग्रह ६ वेगवेगळ्या उपकरणांवर वापरू शकता, जस कि वेगवेगळे किंडल device , तुमचा कॉम्पुटर , फोन किंवा टॅब (किंडल अँप द्वारे )

* किंडल बिघडतो का? बिघडला तर दुरुस्ती साठी काय करायचं ?

किंडल ची दुरुस्ती केंद्र भारतात almost नाहीच आहेत . किंडल विकत घेताना १ वर्षाची warranty  असते . पण फोन च्या तुलनेत किंडल तसं खूपच कमी क्लिष्ट device आहे त्यामुळे सहजासहजी ते बिघडत नाही . तुम्ही किंडल सोबत जर चांगल्या प्रतीचं कव्हर घेतलं तर रोजच्या वापरात जी घाल-पाड होते त्यापासून नक्कीच संरक्षण होत . 

माझं किंडल मी गेली ६ वर्ष वापरतेय  आणि अजून एकदाही त्रास दिलेला नाही. 

त्यातूनही जर किंडल बिघडलंच, तरी  तुमचा विकत घेतलेला पुस्तक संग्रह अबाधित राहतो. तुमची पुस्तकं अमेझॉन खात्याशी संलंग्न असल्याने नवीन device वर ती तात्काळ उपलब्ध होतात आणि नव्याने खरेदी करावी लागत नाही. 

* किंडल चे अजून काय फायदे आहेत?

किंडल 'Goodreads' ह्या प्रचलित साईट शी जोडू शकता . ह्यामध्ये in-built  शब्दकोश आहे जो जुनी इंग्लिश पुस्तकं वाचताना खूप कामात येतो . 

* किंडल सारखे अजून काही वाचन उपकरणे आहेत का?
हो. बाजारात किंडल व्यतिरिक्त देखील पर्याय आहेत जस कि Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Clara HD, Nook. 

पण जसं बाकरवडी चितळ्यांची , तसंच इ -वाचन उपकरण म्हणजे किंडल असं समीकरण आहे 😄

* मग किंडल विकत घेणं ही फायदेशीर गुंतवणूक आहे का?

ह्याच उत्तर तुमच्या बजेट वर आणि तुम्ही किती वाचता यावर अवलंबून आहे . 

मी साधारण १०००० मध्ये किंडल घेतलं होत आणि ती माझी सर्वात चांगली गुंतवणूक ठरलीय. 

मग आता एवढा मोठा लेख वाचलाच आहे तर एखादं आवडीचं पुस्तकही वाचून पहा . 

" दिसामाजी काहीतरी वाचीत जावे " असं म्हटलंच आहे ना !

!!!happy reading !!!

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Book review

Today I am writing about novel 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by famous Afgan-Americal novelist Khaled Hosseini. His debut novel 'The Kite runner' is the one which is probably most famous and also has been adapted into a film with same name. 

Personally, 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' affected and left lasting effect on me than 'The kite runner', may be because the former is more feminine oriented. 

As an Indian, whenever we hear Afghanistan, we think of it as a dry country that is full of unreasonable religious extremist, gun-carrying bearded men traveling in jeeps and burqa-clad women. All of Khaled's books give a very good glimpse of how prosperous, nature-blessed and rich cultured this country was at once upon a time.

The story gets unfold on the background of era in Afghanistan when the Soviets took over in 1980s through post 9-11 Taliban control.

Mariam and Laila, who are protagonists of this story, are from different generations with no blood relation but their lives meet at the crossroads due to unfortunate turns dictated by their own fates. In a way, it mirrors and reflects back as a metaphor for their country's brutal and bruised history. Along with the story of their lives, you get an outline of socio-political situations that conquered this once beautiful country to devastated conditions. 

Khaled's narration is absolutely gripping, mesmerizing and builds a vivid picture which can be easily visualized throughout the book. 

Even if you may have heard/read about the oppression of women under the Taliban regime, it will still bring a real shock to get full measure of it through the eyes of Mariam and Laila.

Below are some quotes that I would like to mention here as they provoked my deep thoughts - 

"Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter. Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always."

“Marriage can wait. Education cannot...Because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated. No chance.”

“A man’s heart is a wretched, wretched thing, Mariam. It isn’t like a mother’s womb. It won’t bleed. It won’t stretch to make room for you.”

This novel is certainly not a fun read but a very deep, incredibly infuriating and emotionally challenging one. It weaves thirty years of turbulent Afghani history through an intensely powerful story of families, friendship and ultimately, hope.

Kindle - Reader's Companion in lockdown

After I posted my 'Gone with the wind' review, many people asked me that in the current lock-down situation, how am i getting hold of good books.
The answer to this is my dearest gadget 'Kindle', the e-reader.
So in order to answer the curious reader's questions, I have listed below some FAQs about Kindle.

• * What is Kindle?

'Kindle' is a special e-reader device, designed and marketed by Amazon. Kindle enables users to browse, buy, download and read the ebooks/newspapers/magazines.
It uses special technology of e-ink and LED back-light which is different than the technology used in smartphones/tablets. The battery life of Kindle is amazing and you can go on for many weeks on one full charge.

• * Why should you buy Kindle?

If you read lot of books, you are qualified to buy a kindle.
Now what qualifies as 'lot of' is open to interpretation. But if you read everyday for an hour or so, you have a valid case to go for kindle.
if you don't read quite as much or you pickup a book only if someone recommends you, you may not rip all benefits of owning a kindle.

• * What are the benefits of Kindle over having collection of paper books?

The most obvious reason for buying kindle is that you can carry nearly unlimited amount of books around in your pocket. If you tend to read outside, while traveling, while waiting in lobby/reception/lounge or read in the dark regularly, the Kindle gets upper hand over the paper book.
All of the current Kindle models have atleast 4 GB of storage space. With even large books often sizing under 1 MB of space, that’s an absolutely huge shelf space you get for your books and you can carry it all around with you wherever you go.
Honestly, as much as I love to have nice paper collection of books, with my tiny house in Mumbai, it is nearly impossible to spare decent size space for storing books. Also the simple maintenance like dusting, covering can also be tiresome.

• * Should you buy a Kindle device or just use the Free App?

If you are a lite reader, or the smartphone back-light doesn’t bother you, then Kindle app may suit you rather than buying expensive gadget.
Using it on your phone is not ideal, but it can certainly be done.

App has 2 major advantages - 1) app is absolutely free. Of course you still have to pay for the books that you download (unless you’re planning to read only the free stuff available). 2. app resides on the device that you already have ie your smartphone.
Kindle is small and light, but it’s still another device that you’ll have to charge and carry with you if you want to take it anywhere.

The biggest drawback of using the app, is the backlight on your phone. it’s just not as nice as the e-ink and LED lighting that Kindle provides. You can definitely read in the dark on your phone, but it is pretty harsh and will take a toll on your eyes.
Now a days, we all are already spending too many hours looking at a screen, and reading on one will not be preferred. Also reading on phone can be extremely difficult in direct sunlight.

Probably the best way to figure out if you should buy a Kindle is to try using the app first. Read couple of full books over the course of a 2-3 weeks to see how you like using the app on your phone or tablet, and if you think you’d prefer a Kindle, then you can decide about buying.

• * Do you need constant internet/wifi connection to use Kindle?

No. The books are downloaded on your device similar to how we have photos stored on phone. So no Wi-Fi or internet required in order to open already purchased and downloaded books . You can also turn pages, search for words and view all notes/marked paragraphs within each title without an Internet connection

• * Does kindle affect eye health?

The e-ink screen and built-in LEDs of the Kindle provide soft lighting that is very easy on your eyes without making it hard to read at night. The high-end models like Oasis have adaptive light sensors to automatically adjust to your current lighting.

• * If you are a night reader, should you buy Kindle?

Lot of us read at night before going to bed. Reading paper book would require night lamp to be kept on and that may be irritating/distracting for your partner. The LED light of Kindle is mild enough to not wake up or cause distraction.

• * All good so far, but how much does it cost?

Kindle is available in various models, ranging from approx 8000 INR till 22,000 INR.
The high-end models provide major feature of having compatibility with 4G, that means you can use data SIM in the device.
If you have to go economical, I will recommend to go with intermediate model (like Kindle Paperwhite) that provides decent amount of features along with affordability of around 12000-13000.

• * and how much does it cost to buy books?

The books price varies largely, starting with millions of free books to in thousands for rare books.
However, most of the common and famous self-help, novels, children's books range from 0 to 500 rupees each.
The good news is, every day, Amazon sells a wide range of top-tier novels and non-fiction books at knockdown prices.
When you browse Amazon for eBooks, you will stumble upon 'Deal of the day', 'Monthly deal', 'Lightening deal', 'Limited time deal' and many such.
If you keep close watch on the book you want to get hold of and have little patience, you will certainly break a pocket-friendly deal within days.
This is based on my own experience of using Kindle for 5 years. I personally have not bought any book for more than 120 rupees and I have decent collection of famous titles as well as authors.
In any case you will notice that almost always, Kindle edition price will be way lesser than paperback price.

• * After purchasing a book, can you copy/access them on multiple devices?

Yes. You can access your Kindle library on up to 6 devices, and these can be actual Kindles or PCs, tablets or smartphones running the Kindle app

• * what about aftersales service?

Regarding service centers, there are close to no service center for Kindle in India. So, you can trust kindle for one year as long as it is in warranty. After that, trust with 'All is well!!!'. But there is rarely any problem in e-readers because they are not very-complex devices as smartphones. Buy a good cover for your device and you can let go the worry of clumsy handling.
I have been using my device for 5 years now and never ever faced a slightest issue.
In case you really try hard and manage to damage your device, no worries about purchased contents. They are linked to your Amazon account and stored on Amazon cloud. So can be easily retrieved on new device using same account.

• * What more features Kindle has?

Apart from being great e-reader, it has many more features. It is integrated with 'Goodreads', in-built dictionary, 'most highligted passages' etc

• * Is Kindle only option in e-reader?

There are other e-readers available in the market like Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Clara HD, Nook etc.
But like 'Colgate' is synonym to tooth-paste, Kindle is to e-reader. :)

• * So is it worth making investment?

That’s going to depend largely on your budget and how much time you spend reading.
I spent around 10K on device few years back, it has been giving highest ROI since then.

If you have taken efforts to read such a long post, i reckon that you can try with reading a good book too.
So happy reading and remember - “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”