I can't relate to any of this except possibly books that don't have the copy in the right place on the page so one can't see words on the end or beginning of a sentence.
I've never had that happen on the Kindle. I have come across places where whoever digitized the book screwed up and used a wrong word or something. But it's always easy to figure out what the correct word should have been from the context. This seems to be less and less of an occurrence as e-books garner more and more popularity.
Can one plug the Kindle into a cigarette lighter and charge or read as charging takes place?
Yes, and you can read while it's recharging from an AC outlet, too. With "normal" use (whatever the hell that is) a Kindle can go several weeks before needing recharging. I use mine a lot, often with the LED light on the case turned on which draws power from the Kindle, and every time I have to recharge it I can't remember the last time I recharged it. As opposed to an iPad which with constant use won't make it through a day.
What does the Kindle cost and where can I pick one up in person? I know I can get a Nook at Barnes and Noble but the Kindle???
Don't know the current prices. Just get on Amazon.com and you'll find all this information.
As to seeing one in person, I know that Best Buy usually has all the popular e-readers on display so you can compare them in person. That's where we bought ours.
In your general vicinity there are Best Buy stores in Bellingham, Burlington, Marysville and Everett. I would guess the Burlington store would be the closest to you.
So far as I know, Kindles are not discounted in price by anyone. Whether you buy it in a store or buy it directly from Amazon.com, the cost is the same.
They have several models these days. Personally, I recommend getting a wifi-cellular model instead of a wifi only model. Assuming things are the same today as when we bought ours a few years ago. the cellular model does not require an actual cellular account like with AT&T or anyone. It has an exclusive cellular "account" with Amazon.
So when you turn the cellular on, it will connect automatically with Amazon no matter where you are on the planet as long as there is a cellular signal. So you can get into Amazon's bookstore and search for books or browse around and if you find one you want you can download it right then. This cellular service is free no matter where you are on the globe, but of course all it connects to is Amazon.
We never use the wifi in our Kindles, only the cellular connection. We leave it off unless we actually want to look for or download a book since the cellular connection uses power.
You pay more for the wifi-cellular models but in our opinions it's worth it because you can connect to the bookstore from just about anywhere.
You can get on the internet with a Kindle e-reader but at least with the older ones it's probably the most clunky, slow, limited and worthless process on the planet. So we never bother with it. We have iPads and iPhones for that. The newer Kindles may be better in this respect, I don't know.
PS-- And Eric, if you do get a Kindle I will recommend your first book. Get "The Boys in the Boat." It's terrific.