Even before there was Fire, there was sync. Or as Amazon calls it: Whispersync. (As opposed to, what, noisy sync?) Whatever its name, this service is incredibly handy. It works like this: Amazon’s super-smart servers make sure that you’re always in the same reading location, regardless of what hardware you’re holding. Start reading at sunrise on your BlackBerry, switch over to your Fire during the bus ride, and then sneak in a few pages at work on your Dell laptop.

Behind the scenes, Amazon automatically coordinates your reading location, any notes you make, and any highlights and bookmarks you add. Each device in your fleet needs an Internet connection—not to mention a copy of the book. To make the latter happen, web browse over to Amazon’s Manage Your Kindle page (Amazon.com→Your Account→Manage Your Kindle; http://amzn.to/kfmm113) and, from the Actions menu next to any title you’ve purchased, pick from the “Deliver to my…” list. Next time you launch a Kindle app, the synched copy downloads. (The Fire, as well as the other Kindle devices that Amazon makes, often requires one further nudge: a trip to the Sync button, found on the Fire by visiting Status Bar→Settings.)