Review of Stephen King's "Ur"

I know that I said I would read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" next... I am reading it, I promise. Let me tell you a brief little story first. 

I got a Kindle for my birthday, and I have previously mentioned my slight addiction to the device... well, nothing has changed. I love my Kindle. Addiction is the proper word. So, I have all these books on my Kindle and I wanted to read one. I chose a short one so I could justify finishing a book in a day or two before jumping back into P&P&Z. I remember when "Ur" came out, it was released only for the Kindle... and it was by Stephen King. Of course I had to check it out. 

Let me tell you a little bit about this book without giving too much away:
The idea is that an English professor gets called out for being behind the times and still loving books (with good reason! Books rock... but so does the Kindle). So, he buys a Kindle and, before they had different color Kindles, receives a pink one in the mail. There is a special setting in the Kindle that allows him to read books written by authors in parallel dimensions. So, in our little dimension, Ernest Hemingway died in 1961. In a different Ur, he may have died in 1964. During those extra years, he wrote other books. The English professor, Wesley, now has access to all the books that could have been written. Ur Local, Wesley discovers, allows him to read his local newspaper... but only future editions. Of course there are Paradox Laws that have to be followed. I mean, there are laws for everything these days. I will let you read this for yourself to find out what happens.

Now, let me tell you what I liked about this book:

• Stephen King just has the most original way with words. Each time I read one of his books, I am pleasantly surprised. 
• I love how he ties in things from his other books. Does he have a book that doesn't reference another in some way? I really don't know. I would have to read them all twice to make an educated guess. 
• It was short and fairly direct but still engaging.
• Speaking of the way he writes, I loved this sentence so much: "They moved to the door, the hems of their coats making loathsome liquid chuckling sounds." So awesome. 

What I didn't like about this book:

• It was a shameless advertisement for the Kindle. 
• There was one part in particular where he basically writes a mini instruction manual for the Kindle. 
• I feel that the Kindle plugging was just so ridiculous that it should be mentioned twice. I brushed it off as amusing, but I can see how it would get annoying fast. 

 So, those are my thoughts. I really enjoyed this book and was reminded how much I love Stephen King. I would recommend reading it if you have a Kindle because I don't think you can get it elsewhere.