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

As soon as a bookworm, at all times a bookworm. When you’re the identical, then you understand the ache of selecting between rereading an outdated favourite novel, beginning a brand new collection, or going to the bookstore to stack one other title atop the TBR pile. At one level or one other, you’ve got certainly picked up a couple of story at a time and tried to do a tandem read, which will get complicated quick for those who’re mixing up one fantasy world with one other. Iron may kill fairies in Terrasen, nevertheless it does not do squat in Prythian.

Typically, you go weeks (or months… and even years) with out ending a e book, and whenever you lastly choose it again up, you are fully misplaced. You flip open to a chapter full of characters you barely keep in mind. Are they brothers, or simply finest pals? Who’s that aspect character, and the place did she come from?

Or perhaps you are absolutely immersed within the collection, however there are simply so many characters that holding observe feels unimaginable. Sticky notes between pages may also help, however for those who’re studying on a Kindle or different e-reader, you’ll be able to’t precisely wedge Put up-its between digital pages. Happily, there is a sensible function that handles all of that for you — holding characters organized and straightforward to reference: X-Ray.

What’s X-Ray on Kindle e-readers?

Seeing between the strains

X-Ray is a reference instrument constructed proper into your Kindle. It helps 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 e book.

Typically, relying on the e book, 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 function 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, similar to on airplane mode or out and about with out Wi-Fi. The data 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.

A number of the issues a e book’s X-Ray will present embody:

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

The right way to entry an e-book’s X-Ray

It is a little bit hidden

Identical to most of Kindle’s settings and options, X-Ray is simple to make use of and comparatively intuitive to seek out. Nevertheless, in contrast to altering the font measurement and margin sizes, X-Ray is in a distinct menu. Here is easy methods to discover it:

1. Begin throughout the e book you are presently 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 e book, sure tabs will seem on the high. For instance: Notable clips, Folks, Phrases, and Pictures populated for the prequel to Throne of Glass, referred to as Murderer’s Blade, by Sarah J Maas. This specific e book 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 good to make use of it to showcase the X-Ray function.

The Notable clips part contains precisely that — X-Ray pulls varied sentences and paragraphs from throughout the e book which can be vital to the story or fundamental 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.

Below Folks, you may first see the point out of characters in your present web page. Then, you’ll be able to scroll all the way down to see different characters within the e book, in addition to every of their mentions. The principle character of Murderer’s Blade, Celaena Sardothien, was talked about 1,081 occasions. After I clicked her identify, I bought entry to tabs that confirmed me her particular person notable clips, in addition to all mentions of her identify typically. For a fundamental character, this might not be as useful. Nevertheless, for a personality talked about solely a couple of times at the start who makes a shock look on the finish, this function is extremely helpful.

Phrases is extra hit-or-miss, however for collection that function completely different sorts of individuals and/or magic techniques, just like the Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo, it is further helpful. Lastly, Pictures is one other part that may both be useful or not — some books solely have a picture for the duvet of the e book itself. Nevertheless, in case your e book incorporates a map at the start or finish, X-Ray is an effective way to shortly reference it for those who’re attempting to get a lay of the land — it undoubtedly helped me once I tried to know the logistics of Sam and Frodo’s journey to Mordor.