I have a birthday coming up. Just saying.

In anticipation of a lot of airport and plane time for the trip last weekend, I wanted to borrow a book to read. One of the books that I've heard is a "must read" for someone in my job is Daniel Goleman's "Ecological Intelligence". He's the guy who wrote "Emotional Intelligence" and I suspected this new book was just a search/replace of emotional for ecological.

I know that a lot of people in my office have read it, or at least skimmed it, and so I started asking around for a copy that I could borrow.

"Have you read Ecological Intelligence?"

"Yeah - a good read. You should check it out."

"Could I borrow it?"

"Oh. It's on my Kindle."

"Oh. I see. I don't have a Kindle. Hmm."

This happened several times just like that. Until:

"Have you read Ecological Intelligence?"

"Yeah - a good read. You should check it out."

"Could I borrow it?"

"Yes. It's on my Kindle. Let me get it for you."

"What? You're lending me your Kindle?"

"Yeah."

"Whoa - are you sure?"

"Yeah. Just give it back when you're done."

So I got to use a Kindle for the weekend and, I must admit, I am completely addicted. There are a few things I don't love - like you can't flip quickly through the pages to see how far to the end of the chapter or to the next neat graphic and you can't use your to do list as a bookmark. It also isn't as good a coaster on the coffee table. But all told, I think it is kind of a magic thing and I really like it. (Would it be awkward to admit that if I had one I think I would have a really hard time lending it out?)

Oh - and Ecological Intelligence is very much worth a quick read except that it is one of those books that makes you think about many scary things that would be much more comfortable not to think about. Even so - you should read it.