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[ladysprite]

I never thought I would do this. When I first noticed the trend, I was honestly fairly outspoken against it. It just seemed wrong, and something that I would never want to do. Then slowly, over the last year or two, it started slowly creeping in my mind, first to 'if I ever choose to do this,' and then eventually to 'when I ultimately break down and do this.' And last week I finally broke down and gave in to the inevitable.

I bought a Nook.

It's mostly coffeeem's fault. She's the driving force behind The Shadow Unit, an online collaborative urban fantasy/horror storytelling group that I would love if I could only make myself read it - I just hate reading anything longer than a page or two on my computer. A couple of weeks ago she announced that they'd be selling the entire first season of Shadow Unit.... but only as an e-book.

That was enough to convince me. Well, that and the thought of never having to try to stuff another 987-page Robert Jordan paperback into my purse. And never having to pack an entire backpack of books when I go away for a week. Okay, I admit that there are up-sides to e-books. Even if they'll never be quite as emotionally fulfilling and comforting as real books.

I got a Nook because... well, honestly, because umbran did the research and said it was probably a closer match to what I wanted than anything else. And I went with the black and white version, since as far as I can tell the Nook Color just meant spending an extra $100 for a toy that could do exactly the same things my Ipod already does. Also, what I ultimately wanted was a way to read books, and for me, the e-paper of the black and white Nook is easier and more pleasant to read.

I admit that I spent the entire ride home from Barnes & Noble apologizing to the paperback book in my purse, and I've been alternating between excitedly playing with my new toy and dawdling finishing the last couple of books I was reading, but I've finally started actually reading on this thing and.... I like it. I feel vaguely guilty about it, but it's pretty darn cool.

Also, the Baen Free Library rocks my world, as does Project Gutenberg. It'll take some time for me to build up the rest of my virtual library, and to figure out all the bells and whistles and the best ways to take advantage of the gizmo, but as a start, they make this a lot more pleasant and easy, and a lot less of an enormous cash sink....

Comments

[laurion]

I agree, the Nook b/w is probably the right unit. It's what I was considering before work picked me up an iPad. I find that I read more than I did before, because it's easy to carry it around, and read a few pages here and there when I have a few moments of downtime. Plus, when I go on vacation I can carry a lot more books, a lot more conveniently. I do miss the feel and smell of a paperback sometimes though.