X-Ray is your Kindle’s best-kept secret

As soon as a bookworm, all the time a bookworm. In case you’re the identical, then you already know the ache of selecting between rereading an outdated favourite novel, beginning a brand new sequence, or going to the bookstore to stack one other title atop the TBR pile. At one level or one other, you have absolutely picked up a couple of story at a time and tried to do a tandem read, which will get complicated quick should you’re mixing up one fantasy world with one other. Iron may kill fairies in Terrasen, however it does not do squat in Prythian.

Generally, you go weeks (or months… and even years) with out ending a guide, and if you lastly choose it again up, you are utterly misplaced. You flip open to a chapter stuffed with characters you barely keep in mind. Are they brothers, or simply finest associates? Who’s that facet character, and the place did she come from?

Or possibly you are totally immersed within the sequence, however there are simply so many characters that maintaining observe feels unattainable. Sticky notes between pages will help, however should you’re studying on a Kindle or different e-reader, you’ll be able to’t precisely wedge Publish-its between digital pages. Luckily, there is a sensible characteristic that handles all of that for you — maintaining characters organized and simple to reference: X-Ray.

What’s X-Ray on Kindle e-readers?

Seeing between the traces

X-Ray is a reference device constructed proper into your Kindle. It allows you to faucet on the identify of a personality or place and immediately get contextual info on them. It even works with obscurer phrases particular to that guide.

Generally, relying on the guide, there’ll even be hyperlinks to Goodreads, Wikipedia, or one other exterior supply that may present extra of an index on whichever time period you select. Nevertheless, some customers point out that some books’ X-Ray characteristic have subsequent to no info whereas others function a whole index in and of itself.

As for the non-hyperlinked sources, you’ll be able to even entry them with out an web connection, corresponding to on airplane mode or out and about with out Wi-Fi. The knowledge is saved throughout the e-book itself, and authors may even go in and add, edit, or just allow X-Ray entries for his or her Kindle e-books by way of Amazon Direct Publishing.

Among the issues a guide’s X-Ray will present embody:

• Biographies
• Associated passages
• Further context
• Notes that the writer added themselves

How you can entry an e-book’s X-Ray

It is slightly hidden

Identical to most of Kindle’s settings and options, X-Ray is straightforward to make use of and comparatively intuitive to search out. Nevertheless, in contrast to altering the font dimension and margin sizes, X-Ray is in a unique menu. Here is how you can discover it:

1. Begin throughout the guide you are at present studying. Faucet the high of the web page to tug up the highest menu.
2. Faucet the stop-light menu within the higher right-hand nook.
3. Faucet X-Ray.

Relying in your guide, sure tabs will seem on the high. For instance: Notable clips, Individuals, Phrases, and Photos populated for the prequel to Throne of Glass, known as Murderer’s Blade, by Sarah J Maas. This explicit guide is principally a group of tales in varied locations, so it seems like there are dozens of characters to maintain observe of always, so I believed it excellent to make use of it to showcase the X-Ray characteristic.

The Notable clips part contains precisely that — X-Ray pulls varied sentences and paragraphs from throughout the guide which can be vital to the story or foremost characters themselves. You should utilize the tiny arrows on the left and proper sides of the display to toggle by way of them, and above the quote itself, there’s a progress bar that tells you the situation of every of the quotes, in addition to the chapter or part identify.

Underneath Individuals, you will first see the point out of characters in your present web page. Then, you’ll be able to scroll right down to see different characters within the guide, in addition to every of their mentions. The primary character of Murderer’s Blade, Celaena Sardothien, was talked about 1,081 instances. After I clicked her identify, I received entry to tabs that confirmed me her particular person notable clips, in addition to all mentions of her identify on the whole. For a foremost character, this might not be as useful. Nevertheless, for a personality talked about solely a couple of times originally who makes a shock look on the finish, this characteristic is extremely helpful.

Phrases is extra hit-or-miss, however for sequence that characteristic totally different varieties of individuals and/or magic methods, just like the Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo, it is further helpful. Lastly, Photos is one other part that can both be useful or not — some books solely have a picture for the quilt of the guide itself. Nevertheless, in case your guide includes a map originally or finish, X-Ray is an effective way to rapidly reference it should you’re attempting to get a lay of the land — it positively helped me after I tried to know the logistics of Sam and Frodo’s journey to Mordor.