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

As soon as a bookworm, all the time a bookworm. If you happen to’re the identical, then the ache of selecting between rereading an outdated favourite novel, beginning a brand new collection, or going to the bookstore to stack one other title atop the TBR pile.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 have certainly picked up multiple 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, nevertheless it would not do squat in Prythian.

Generally, you go weeks (or months… and even years) with out ending a ebook, and whenever 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 absolutely immersed within the collection, however there are simply so many characters that retaining monitor feels inconceivable. Sticky notes between pages may also help, however should you’re studying on a Kindle or different e-reader, you possibly can’t precisely wedge Put up-its between digital pages. Thankfully, there is a sensible characteristic that handles all of that for you — retaining characters organized and simple to reference: X-Ray.

What’s X-Ray on Kindle e-readers?

Seeing between the strains

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

Generally, relying on the ebook, 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 possibly can even entry them with out an web connection, resembling 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 via Amazon Direct Publishing.

A few of the issues a ebook’s X-Ray will present embrace:

• Biographies
• Associated passages
• Additional context
• Notes that the creator added themselves

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

It is a 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. This is how one can discover it:

1. Begin throughout the ebook you are presently studying. Faucet the prime 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 ebook, sure tabs will seem on the prime. For instance: Notable clips, Individuals, Phrases, and Pictures populated for the prequel to Throne of Glass, referred to as Murderer’s Blade, by Sarah J Maas. This explicit ebook is principally a set of tales in varied locations, so it looks like there are dozens of characters to maintain monitor of always, so I assumed it excellent to make use of it to showcase the X-Ray characteristic.

The Notable clips part consists of precisely that — X-Ray pulls varied sentences and paragraphs from throughout the ebook which might be necessary to the story or predominant characters themselves. You should utilize the tiny arrows on the left and proper sides of the display to toggle via them, and above the quote itself, there’s a progress bar that tells you the placement of every of the quotes, in addition to the chapter or part title.

Underneath Individuals, you will first see the point out of characters in your present web page. Then, you possibly can scroll right down to see different characters within the ebook, in addition to every of their mentions. The primary character of Murderer’s Blade, Celaena Sardothien, was talked about 1,081 instances. Once I clicked her title, I bought entry to tabs that confirmed me her particular person notable clips, in addition to all mentions of her title generally. For a predominant character, this is probably not as useful. Nevertheless, for a personality talked about solely a couple of times at first who makes a shock look on the finish, this characteristic is extremely helpful.

Phrases is extra hit-or-miss, however for collection that characteristic totally different varieties of individuals and/or magic programs, just like the Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo, it is additional helpful. Lastly, Pictures is one other part that can both be useful or not — some books solely have a picture for the duvet of the ebook itself. Nevertheless, in case your ebook contains a map at first or finish, X-Ray is an effective way to rapidly reference it should you’re making an attempt to get a lay of the land — it undoubtedly helped me after I tried to grasp the logistics of Sam and Frodo’s journey to Mordor.