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| Photo credit: Yes, I'm a fabulous photographer |
A few months ago I wrote a slightly hyper post possibly influenced by a sugar rush
explaining why I didn't yet have an e-reader.
For those of you who didn't read it (or else
don't click that pretty blue link up there), I came to the conclusion that the
e-reader I wanted was out of budget, but we would see how I felt around
Christmas.
WELL. As some of you most astute readers
probably noticed, I did indeed write those summarizing sentences in the past
tense there is indeed a reason for that.
I received a gift, you see. An e-reader gift.
Specifically, a NOOK gift (the e-ink Simple Touch variety). So for those of you
who still swear completely by print books, I suppose I've joined the dark side.
And I'm not apologetic.
Firstly, I still love print books and just
because I'm officially the owner of an e-reader and, naturally, a few e-books,
doesn't mean I won't continue to buy print books. I will— in fact, that hardest
part I've found is now deciding which books to buy for my NOOK and which to buy
for my bookshelf. It's a much more difficult decision than you might think, but
I digress.
Secondly, I have discovered that owning a NOOK
(or any e-reader for that matter) is a dangerous thing for writers and readers
alike. For anyone who's friends with me on Goodreads, you've probably noticed
that in the past couple of days I've added about a bazillion books to my TBR
pile (ok, I exaggerate— I've added a little less than ten in four days, but
STILL). The reason for this is indeed my NOOK.
You see, having an e-reader is basically like
having a bookstore on your lap. If you see a book that interests you online,
you can whip out your e-reader and read a sizable sample. If you're bored and
flipping through covers on the online bookstore on your e-reader and see
something that interests you— download a sample and read it. One of your Goodreads
friends finished a book you haven't read and loved it? Go get that e-reader and
download a sample to read STAT.
As you can imagine, I've read quite a few
samples. In fact, they're pretty much what determines whether or not I buy the
book 100% of the time.
Because I came to realize it's not so
different from what I do in a bookstore. At bookstores I walk through the
shelves, pick up something that interests me, read the blurb—and if I like it—move
on to the first few pages. If I don't like it, I'd put it down and move on.
Turns out, it's the same thing with e-readers.
Samples that I don't like get archived. Samples that I read and love are left
to torture me on my NOOK until I finally cave in and buy it.
I think I'll be reading much more this year.
So for those of you who are wondering, quick
pros and cons of the NOOK Simple Touch.
Pros : It's affordable (only $99), the e-ink screen is very easy to
read on (as opposed to backlit screens which can tire your eyes out), it's
small and light enough to be easily portable and the battery life is pretty
fantastic. I read online that it's something like 14 days with heavy use. I
charge mine every couple of days once the battery starts dipping below 50%, but
I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the battery's resilience. Also, you can
add storage through an SD card which I suppose is always a plus.
Cons: There isn't any color! Yes, I obviously knew that my NOOK Simple
Touch wasn't going to have color as it has an e-ink screen (which I'm finding
more and more that I actually enjoy reading on), but it makes me a little sad
inside when I flip through my little virtual bookshelf and everything is in
black and white. The covers just aren't nearly as pretty as the ones sitting on
my bookshelf (or my iPod, for that matter). And, you know, the new book smell
isn't there when reading an e-reader. Which is a little sad.
I've also noticed that Barnes and Noble tends
to have less promotional little things for their e-books (in comparison to
Kindle books). I can't tell you how many times I've seen free or discounted offerings
for a Kindle book, when the NOOK counterpart was, erm, not. That combined with
Amazon's constant LOOK! SHINY KINDLE! DID YOU BUY ONE YET? on their homepage
(I'm a Prime member, so I suppose I kind of asked for it) while I'm all noooo
Amazon, I have an e-reader, kthanks can be a little irritating, but hey!
It's a minor thing, really.
So that about covers it, really. I think I'm
going to go read now.
Thoughts! Do you have an e-reader? If you do,
what do you think? If you don't, tell us why you're holding out! There are
e-readerish things to discuss!
