Welcome apswartz. As an owner of the Kindle (1), I can tell you that you're in for a treat when your K2 arrives. Spend a little time prowling around here in the forums. The collective wisdom is in the Wiki. And, there's a growing library of classics for you to download and read.
With your Kindle, you'll find that the
MobiPocket Download Guide is an excellent tool. You can download to your PC and send to your Kindle via the USB cable or you can use the browser function in the Kindle to download it directly over the Whispernet. Once it's on your Kindle, you can update it or use its links to download books from the MobileRead library. I keep a copy on my Kindle just to read the book descriptions.