E-book readers such as Kindle and iPad are not that hard to use. They are designed in a way that almost anyone can use them. Of course, not everyone finds using these devices easy. Knowing a few tips and tricks to get more out of these devices never hurts either. If you are a proud iPad or Kindle owner and want to learn a few tips and tricks, these e-reader guides are worth a look:

iPad For Dummies: the title of this book may not be that tempting, but this book does cover a lot of things on iPad. It shows you how to get the most out of your iPad (reading, playing with apps, …).

Kindle DX For Dummies: a practical book that shows you how to use your Kindle DX, create content for it, access e-mail, use its Internet connection, and do all kinds of other things with it.

Kindle Shortcuts: a handy e-book that covers a lot of Kindle-related information. It shows you how to get more out of your Kindle and lets you know where to get content for your device. May not be for advanced Kindle users though.

Have you ever wished you could read some of those top foreign works but do not have the time to pick up a new language? There are many among us who only read books that are in our very own language. It never hurts to read works from other countries to get familiar with other cultures. That’s where AmazonCrossing comes into play. It’s a new program launched by Amazon that aims to bring rising new works from other cultures to the English-speaking audience. Amazon is expected to use its customer feedback and interactions on its foreign-language sites to identify top works and translate them to English. You can think of it as the international edition of Amazon Encore.

At Amazon.com, we’re fortunate to have customers who have introduced us to outstanding works from other countries and cultures, and we want to share these books with our English-speaking customers. With this in mind, we’re proud to announce AmazonCrossing, which will introduce readers to emerging and established authors from around the world with translations of foreign language books, making award-winning and bestselling books accessible to many readers for the first time.

The King of Kahel by Tierno Monénembo is the first foreign book that will be making its debut in Kindle store as a part of this program. It will be available in paperback and Kindle format.

We have heard about the concept of book 2.0 for years now. The good old books that most of us have grown up with are anything but interactive. While that wouldn’t be a problem all by itself, there are certain situations where an interactive book can provide more value to its readers than a regular book. Take kids books for example. Wouldn’t it be nice if kids could interact with their books to have more fun and learn things more effectively? The future is all about book 2.0. We are talking about interactive, dynamic content and even videos getting packaged with e-books. It’s no secret that Amazon Kindle and other top e-Readers are currently incapable of handling such dynamic content. The focus of those devices is to provide a better reading experience to their users and not necessarily handle dynamic content. Apple plans to change all that with the iPad. The iBooks is going to be unlike any other e-book store on the market. As publishers have suggested in the past, many dynamic books are expected to make their way to the store, giving iPad owners plenty of titles to choose from.

A few months ago, I wrote a post about how Amazon Kindle would level the playing field and allow more people to get their work published and reach a wider set of audience. At the same time, I concluded that we need to take the good with the bad. After all, if you allow everyone to bring their work to the Kindle platform, you are going to get a few very good books, lots of mediocre ones, and a few terrible ones. But shouldn’t Amazon at least check to see what’s being sold for the Kindle?

Take a look at the above book. The purpose of the book is to show you why you should buy a Kindle (instead of a Sony Reader). But here is the thing. Why would you want to buy such a book when you need a Kindle to read it? I am all for books that provide some value, but the above book should be a post on a blog and not a book in the Kindle store. It’s exciting to see Amazon allow everyone to get their work out in front of the community of Kindle owners. But Amazon has a responsibility to protect the interest of its customers. I am sure most Kindle owners are smart enough to ignore these books, but it’s very discouraging to see folks abuse the system and try to make quick bucks by selling junk for the Kindle platform (and if you think this is bad, wait till you see the support website for this book).

There is a good chance that Amazon will continue to allow folks to publish junk for the Kindle. And I am sure most Kindle owners will see through these works and won’t fall for them. But wouldn’t it be nice if Amazon took some time to clean up its Kindle store?

Your take: should Amazon take action and ban junk books and their authors?

One of the complaints that I get from people who either own Kindle or plan to buy one is their need to have real books in their hands as well. People tell me that they use their Kindles all the time but having the paper version of their favorite books allows them more flexibility to read them whenever, wherever. You can take your Kindle almost anywhere these days. Obviously it’s very portable and the battery lasts for a considerable amount of time. But sometimes you may be in the mood to read the real book. Maybe you just want to share your paper book with someone or you just want proudly display it in your library. Whatever the case, Amazon has a great opportunity to make more money by providing combo book deals to its customers.

Wouldn’t it be fun if you could add both paper and Kindle editions of a book to your shopping cart and save money on your combo deal? This is not for everyone. I am sure a few of you rather save money and just get the Kindle edition. I also know a lot of Kindle purists who refuse to touch a paper book ever again. In reality, the demand for combo deals will be there regardless of what you think of paper books. And if your Kindle purchase helps you qualify for free shipping over $25, that would be even better, wouldn’t it?

What do you think?