So no update in a while since the semester is in full swing.
I was able to finish The Story of Edgar Sawtelle on the Kindle. I found the experience about the same as reading a book. The awkwardness of holding a 1000 page tome was equal to holding a device that kept flipping forward a page based on the placement of the buttons. So it's a tie between the p-book and the e-book reader. The look on the screen was about the same as on a printed page. No feeling of fatigue like reading off a computer screen. It's pretty much the same experience between both types of books. I'll say this, the Kindle's dictionary was one of those extra bonuses I looked forward to, but I found it lacking. Edgar Sawtelle has several sections in the book that focus on etymology, and the built-in dictionary failed to define several of the words. Again I find the two types equal since the slim advantage of having a built-in dictionary is offset by the frustration of spending the time looking up words that aren't available and still having to go to another dictionary.
So my reading experience on the Kindle was pretty much the same as reading a printed book. That makes the Kindle=fail. For $450 $359 (ed: see correction to price in comments below) plus the cost of books, the Kindle needs to offer more. Is the fact that you don't have to physically carry around books worth $450? Other than the benefit of not having to haul physical books, I don't see any compelling reason to use a Kindle.