Finally, a Nook

Nook Color: available in Barnes & Noble
I’ve unwittingly fallen in love with it, a bit.

I still believe e-books are despicable things though I now own one (and have secretly wanted one since forever). I don’t even know what to read on it. I have a hard time deciding. Should I only read romance novels on it? It would be easier to hide from prying, judging eyes and I could enjoy the rapture of lust in privacy without everyone knowing why I squirm so much in my seat while reading.

In a way, I feel as if I’ve fell from grace. I feel as if I’ve flung my archaic books aside and ran off with the first young thing that came along. I feel like Judas. Betrayer. I feel like my books stare at me with hate and displeasure while I sleep, wondering if they should lay gently across my face and suffocate me in my sleep as a way to rid the world of another book-betrayer.

There’s not much for them to worry about though. I still feel odd holding and reading on the Nook. The experience is not the same but I think the Nook is growing on me. Efficiency tends to do that. Being able to carry a device that contains many books rather than lugging around 10 at a time, as I’m prone to do, makes the Nook shine in my eyes like a Siren on a rocky coast that beguiles sailors to come closer. I feel like a crash is coming.

The crash will be in the form of a $0 balance in my bank account. The Nook makes me buy more books. It makes purchasing them too easy. I no longer have to get up and walk to the bookstore and talk to people that I really don’t want to talk to along the way before trying to decide what to buy. Instead I search for a book, it pops up quickly, and, with the press of a button, bought and downloaded to my device. Ready to be read.

This causes a love-hate relationship with indecision at its center. What am I to read on this Nook thing? So far, I’ve purchased a new background (to add some spice of myself) and a few games (because that’s what devices are for). As far as books go, I have the instruction manuals, a book on the Pisces astrological sign (which I bought just because; it’s my “test run”), and Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. I’ve decided that Seraphina will be my trial test for the Nook.

starry night etsy — Cool, artsy cover on Etsy

I still don’t know how to decide what to buy on the Nook and what I should buy as a book. I really wanted the Seraphina book because I like the artwork on the cover. A few people I’ve spoken to have either given up entirely on books or only read periodicals on their e-readers. Some read books on the e-reader and if they really like the story, they will go out and purchase the book.

None of these options appeal to me. I would prefer to have books that I will only read on the Nook and books that I will only read as hardcopy. The difficulty is in deciding which will be for the Nook and which will not. I considered purchasing for the Nook books that I’m not really fond of. Books that I just want to read for the hell of it; for example, a few classics.

This seems like a swell idea and I was gung-ho for it until I remembered how much I love book covers. There are books that I’ve bought not for its content, but for its cover. Sometimes, it’s the cover that first grabs me and makes me want to read the book. My thought at that time is cool cover = great book. An unbalanced equation.

Also, I love to highlight. I’m not a notes person but once in a while I might jot a word or two in the corner. My belief is that notes deface the book and take away from the text. If someone else should come along and read the same book, that person would be distracted by the notes in the corners and the opinions in the notes will prevent the new reader from forming authentic opinions of the text.

Anyway, that’s what usually happens to me. I prefer to highlight. Highlighting calls attention to the passage without spoiling the reading experience of a new reader. I think if a person needs to make a note, then she should purchase some sticky-notes; that’s what they’re for.

eBook-on-books-608x319 — My bedside looks exactly like this, glasses and all.

Of course, the Nook allows me to highlight and make notes. It offers all the things that a book does and more; such as easy and quick dictionary references. No longer do I have to hunt down a dictionary to discover the meaning of a word or how it functions in the sentence.

This is great and all but I highlight so that I can come back to the passage later when I might need to use it as a reference. If all my books are on the Nook, I wonder what would happen if there’s a black-out and I need the reference but am unable to get it because the battery is low and about to die and will not last long. If this device wasn’t dependent on electricity, then it would be really great.

Though the battery does last a long time, I had to wonder ‘what if’ since I found myself in such a situation a few months ago when a storm caused a massive black-out and, for some people, it seemed as if the Apocalypse had begun since there was no electricity i.e. no cell phones, no AC (there was a heat wave), no TV, no internet. Yes, yes it was the end of the world for many teenagers that weekend.

Well, I shall continue trying to make friends with my Nook. Hopefully we will have an amiable relationship soon where there’s no awkward silences when I turn it on and consider what I should read on it. Also, I hope that my books and I will be on friendly terms again. I can’t have them angry at me since I’m surrounded by them in my room. They could really ambush me if they want. There’re lots of them and one of me, and a Nook.