Amazon Fire

I'm planning on picking this one up as a last minute gift for someone who probably will be only using it for browsing and reading E-books (*cough* downloaded textbooks *cough*). Has anyone used it extensively? If so, do you find that this is a decent compromise for a e-book reader? Or are there any other tabs you would suggest in a similar price range? I would've loved to pick up a Nexus 7 but that thing is $100+ :|

<Sorry about the new thread, I remember suggesting this same tablet to someone else on another "cheap android tablet" thread..but I needed some last minute suggestions>

Edit: i'm pretty sure this will be rooted out/whatever it is the cool kids do - so the lack of a Google playstore isn't that big a worry.