Staci\'s a quirky bird

I’ll start by saying that, although I did lots of research before choosing the Nook, I haven’t used a Kindle. Here’s what I came up with in the way of features and which suited my needs the best.

general “why get an e-book reader” stuff

reading books is easier

Never lose your place again. Never get a hand cramp from holding your book open when it’s near the end. Turn pages with your thumb and a click without having to even move your hand. Download dozens of books so when you’re finished with the first book in the series, you can start book two without having to get up.

buy a new book without getting off your couch

With two kids, browsing the book store was a huge chore. With an e-book reader, download books fast and easy, 24 hours a day from anywhere you have wi-fi.

e-books are cheaper

I spent almost $30 on a hard copy of Mockingjay when it came out. It was on Nook for 8.99. Nuff said.

save your bookshelves

I was really getting sick of trying to find places for my books on my bookshelves – especially the ones that ended up sucking. Nook can hold up to 1500 books (more if you add a memory card). Try dusting that many books on your bookshelf. Or even a owning a bookshelf that would house that many books.

to 3g or not to 3g?

Unless you’re planning on browsing the internet on your device, you don’t need 3G. I personally wouldn’t ever use it for that, not only is it cumbersome to navigate, but I have an iphone that’s brilliant with my mobile internet needs so this was a non issue for me. Books download even on non-3G in about 30 seconds.

only with the nook

Barnes and Nobles is a real store (duh)

You can go into any Barnes and Nobel and read a book for an hour before you get shut down from that particular book. Also, you can go into B&N and play with a Nook before you buy it.

I’m an interface kind of gal

The kindle doesn’t have much in the way of interface for my tastes. The nook’s color lcd touch screen and interface helped tip the scales. I also like that I can browse books by cover using the flashy lcd screen in the store as well as in my library. You can also flip your pages by swiping the lcd screen, similar to the iphone. I read some feedback that the touch screen wasn’t fast enough – it’s definitely not as fast as an iphone but I don’t find it bothersome.

number of book titles available

Nook has double the amount of book titles available. A huge selling point, I did some research on specific titles that I wanted to read and found that Amazon didn’t have several on my to-read list that Barnes and Noble did. The count as of right now is 2 million Nook vs 750,000 Kindle (up from 1 mil. Nook and 500,000 Kindle 3 months ago).

not what it seems

sharing stuff

kindle – you can share books BUT only if all of the devices are using the same Amazon account to purchase books. You can’t share books otherwise at all.
nook – you can share books BUT only once. Seriously. Once ever.

both have

Share on multiple devices
Free sampling of books before you buy
Free books/publications to download (though Nook has more available titles)
True Ink – there’s not back lighting, the text looks like a real book

And with all of that, I chose a nook. I’m super happy with it, in fact I love it! I thought I would be sad to let go of real books, but it’s so much more convenient than reading paper books. Good luck choosing yours.

Sometimes, everything sucks and you want to run away. Except instead of actually running away, you watch a movie, play video games, drink yourself into a massive idiot. Lately for me, it’s been books.

blame it on twilight.

I started reading again for the first time since I had kids when I read Twilight at the beginning of this year. Really, this summer after reading them again (you know the drill – don’t judge) I got super hard-core into books again, devouring books in a day or two at the most.

then I got an ebook reader

Holler. If you’re an avid reader – get one of these bad boys. I got a case for mine (I got a Nook – I did a lot of research and am super happy with my choice) so it feels more like a real book. I’m glad to not have hand cramps while reading,  not to be losing my place when I set my book down, not to have to go to the bookstore, not to even have to turn pages (you just click a button, my thumb is usually on it) – it’s great. I download a bunch of books at a time so when I’m finished with one I just move on to the next one. Height of convenience.

stuck in fantasy

So I guess because real life is stupid right now, I don’t want to read anything remotely like real life. On the other hand, I’m getting really sick of vampires and werewolves. Shocking, I know. But I quickly read my way through my list of books to read and then got stuck. What to read, what to read?

goodreads

I found goodreads.com and fell in love. Not only are there about a zillion lists to browse (like Characters I want to sleep with, best Heroines, books I’ll never forget), but there are reviews with star ratings on all of them as well. I’ve always found it really frustrating to browse for books, and extraordinarily frustrating when I pick a book that sucks. So, this site took a lot of the guesswork out. Another thing I started doing recently was reading reviews on books I like, finding reviewers that have a similar opinion to me, and then browsing their lists of read books. The one thing it doesn’t have is a recommended books, sort of like netflix. I would love to get in there and rate a zillion books so that the robot that runs the site can tell me what to read, but I’ll settle for a little digging to find what I need.

(gasp) I don’t want to even watch tv anymore

It’s like I don’t even know myself. I can get so into a book, and getting into a book is so much more amazing (for me at least) than watching tv. I’ve ditched a slew of shows that I’ve watched for years (Like Chuck and Desperate Housewives) because watching those shows just isn’t near as intriguing as reading a book. Dog and cats, living together – INSANITY! But I feel satisfied reading books, way more than watching a show about a bunch of catty, backstabbing, quippy, re-donkulously rich housewives and divorcees.

So if you love to read too

Hop on goodreads and add me (un: quirkybird) and let’s share lists. Viva la biblioteca!