From book to nook...

My journey from paper books to my coveted nook was a slow process.  I, like many others, felt that reading electronic books just couldn't have the same ambiance as reading the well worn pages of a good novel.  The excitement of turning a page and being able to visually see how much more you had left in a chapter... that's what reading is all about, right?

So how could I possibly start reading electronically?  Outwardly I railed against the idea...I am not a techno geek (or so I thought).  Repeated advertising of this new technology got me thinking though.  Perhaps I should just embrace my inner nerd and check this out.

As an avid reader, mainly those sappy romance/erotic novels (which should preferably feature some supernatural or rugged hero who needs saving of his own, as well as a strong yet vulnerable heroine) I found that I was purchasing paperback after paperback.  I also rarely read a book more than once.  I mean once you know the story why waste your time re-reading when you can just skip to the juicy parts?  So here I was with copious amounts of paperback books and no place to put them all!  How do I remedy that? Hmmm... it would be so nice to have just one device that could hold all of my books.  And so the research began.

I looked at the Kindle, the Ipad and the Nook.  The Ipad was just too expensive and I really only wanted something that would allow me to read without all of the other features.  So it was down to the Kindle and the Nook.  The deciding factor came after a visit to my local Barnes and Noble store where the Nook agent explained in detail the many fine features of their product.  What was the finally selling point you may ask... you can access the public library (ohhh FREE BOOKS and NO LATE FEES).  I was sold!

Got my first edition Nook and went about downloading my first few books.  I couldn't believe the vast amounts of books that I would have never realized existed without this wonderful gadget.  The day I fell in love with my Nook happened when I was rocking my new born son to sleep for a nap and decided to read while we were rocking.  Had I had one of those paperbacks I would never have been able to turn the page without disturbing the peaceful slumber going on in my lap.  But my Nook... well now that's where it became awesome.  Just click the side and magically the pages turned for me, quietly and with no disturbance.

And, oh, the books that I've found since that day.  So many authors both good and bad.  Some are now my favorite authors ever.  I know I often use my Nook to escape the stress of life and the frustrations with raising three children and trying to maintain marriage (which let's face it ladies a good romance novel can be extremely good for the hubby as well) and holding down a job.  But the worlds that I get to escape into are exciting and sexy and breathtaking.  Many of the books that I have purchased or found have been electronic releases that I would have never found in the book store.  Many of these are among the best books I have read.

No I don't read the really deep literature and I rarely look for books that make me think.  My books are an escape and I try not to find books that make me look at real issues.  However, many of the books even though they may be "trashy" romance novels, have a heart and a soul to the characters.  Many of my posts will be about the characters, authors and books that I have discovered in my journey from book to nook...

In case you need to begin a new addiction... Get yourself a Nook!
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