If you let your batteries get to about 30% then let them fully charge, they will perform and last longer. I do that with my cell phone and laptops too. All batteries are really lasting a lot longer that way. Has something to do with battery charge memory.
That's not the case with the Lithium Ion batteries in modern cell phones and all Kindles. They live longest when they are kept at or near a full charge as often as possible. Every significant discharge lowers the lifetime of the cells.
Old Nickel Cadmium rechargables, and to a very limited extent the Nickel Metal Hydride that replaced them, have a memory effect that reduces their usable capacity after repeated shallow-cycling. NiCds really needed to be fairly well discharged as often as feasible (every cycle if possible); NiMHs need it every 20 cycles or so. LIs have no memory effect whatsoever. However, some devices maintain their own calibration of the battery's capacity, and can be fooled into thinking the battery holds less charge than it does by repeat short-cycling. This does not actually reduce runtime, but it does make the battery meter less accurate. This effect is called "digital memory". Such devices may require an occasional deep discharge to recalibrate the meter (perhaps every 50 cycles or so, but would vary by device). My own K1 charging pattern is so erratic that I do not know if it is affected by this phenomenon.
Back to the original question, my K1 is 9 months old and still works as good as new. I did buy a spare battery, charged it and dropped it in a drawer, but have not noticed any diminishing in the performance of the original one. It still lasts a good week/3 books between charges with WN off (verified last week on vacation), and 3-4 days/half a book with WN on.
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