Stop Touching Things

"Miss! you can't touch the artwork..."
"He means you, too, G-ma"
"Bahhhh"

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

You'll find me in the Inglenook


You know,  I don't really have a fireplace to curl up by, but that's not going to keep me away from my inglenook. That's because I've named my new birthday present Ingle. 

I debated for weeks on whether to go for the Nook by Barnes and Noble or the Kindle by Amazon. They both have great features listed on the the website, and When I went to Target to pick up the Kindle, it felt good in my hand. At least I think so, I had to brace myself against the floor and pull to release the anti theft cord thingy enough so I could actually get a damn look at the thing.  Then they didn't actually have a working one so you could play with it outside of the demo. I was disappointed in that, but after picking up the Nook, I still liked the feel of the Kindle better. I was already to buy the Kindle, too. 

That is until, the Czarina of Saarisburg informed me, "I'm getting a Nook!"  Her reasons were that she could check out library books on a Nook.  You can also share books (for a limited time) that you buy with your friend on a Nook.  That had me sold. To me part of the joy of reading is passing the book along to someone else to enjoy!

The two of us hatched up a great plan, my nephew's school sells Gift Certificates for Scrip (it's complicated, but its a fundraiser basically) and we could get B&N gift cards. YES! Let's gently maim two birds with one lightly padded rock!  We waltz into the school office with cash in hand, enough for two Nooks and ask for the GC. One problem... they only have 2 - $25 left and the rest are all $10s..... 24 gift cards later we waltz (RUN more likely) home to order them online! 

Kylie gets home first and tries it out! She calls in a panic! We can only use 3 cards at a time online! Drat! A few phone calls later and a last minute late night run to Mankato (an hour away) we have our Nooks in hand. The gal told Kylie "We take what ever you have to pay us with and we have plenty of them in stock, so if you came into the store you can walk out with it Today. We close at 9."

We giggled as I had to run each and every GC myself in their card reader, but every single one was accepted.  

I wasn't sure when I got home how I would like reading from an eReader. I was used to buying books at library book sales and garage sales. We passed around books like we passed the pepper at dinner.  After I got used to the ins and outs, and finding out you could name the thing (mine is Ingle) I have read more in the last month than I have in the last 6 months. The book is always there, it always fits in my purse, and I always remember what the cover looks like. If I finish the book and want to read the sequel, I download it and keep reading, no looking at the library, or the poor excuse for book selection we have in town. 

My thoughts, so far so good. I'd like to see a few improvements in the speed of page turning, and the web browser is pretty much useless. It takes so long for the screen to respond you could running the local library, use their free computers, and get the information you need by the time you are done typingi in the web address.... but that's what I have a lap top for. This thing is for reading books, and in that respect, I am pleased with it!

Plus now I can show it off in book club.