War of the eReaders - Part 2

First I would like to extend a warm welcome to my new friends and followers from the Book Blogs forum. I look forward to chatting, networking, and most of all, reading all your wonderful book blogs, in the near future. Thanks for stopping by!

Now, on to business!

As some of you may or may not remember, some time ago, I posted about a decision I had been pondering for some time: whether or not I should purchase an ereader; and if I did, which brand would be the right one for me. I was hesitant to purchase one because I was unwilling to give up my physical books and I love collecting, sorting and organizing my books in my small yet growing personal library. However, the ease of carrying around an ereader (as opposed to a physical book), especially when travelling, as well as the instant gratification of being able to download a book whenever the fancy strikes were tempting considerations.

As luck would have it, my decision was made for me when my friend and fellow blogger, Mike, alerted me to a sale of refurbished Nooks at the Barnes & Noble Ebay store. Purchasing a refurb was another apprehension I quickly got over. Buying a used anything makes me nervous, especially when it comes to electronics. Also, I'm a germ-a-phobe and I couldn't be sure what lude and disgusting acts the previous owners had been preforming with my Nook. Mike assured me that certified refurb electronics were perfectly fine, and in some cases better than new for the mere fact that the device had actually been turned on and inspected for defects prior to resale. I was, however, advised not to lick it when I received it in the mail :) Wise and sage advice, Gubby!



My Nook arrived and I immediately downloaded a couple free books just to test it out and get the ball rolling. A word of warning, although the Barnes & Noble free book selection is extensive, it's not exactly high quality. There are some good books offered in there but you have to wade through piles of erotica and religious lit to find them. Strange combination, I know. I quickly graduated from free books to paying for a couple. Barnes & Noble makes it ever so easy. They keep your credit card on file for you and everything so it's not even like you are spending money when you download a book. How nice of them, right?

The gadgets on the Nook, I have to admit, are awesome, although I am sure they are not exclusive to only the Nook. I am loving both the "Look Up Word" and the "Find" features. The Nook contains a full dictionary so when you come across an unfamiliar word you simply click "look up" and the Nook pulls up the word's definition. And the find feature does just that: type in a word and the Nook will find all other instances of that word in the book. It's a handy feature for the book I am currently reading, Game of Thrones by George RR Martin which contains many different characters, some of which I need to be reminded of who they are and how they fit in the story. Also handy for such a book is the "bookmark" feature. Game of Thrones has some reference material at both the beginning and the end of the book that is handy to refer to throughout reading. I simply assigned a bookmark to both sections and can flip to either with just a click. But enough about Game of Thrones. I will be blogging on it soon enough.

I have to say, I am enjoying my new Nook and believe I would recommend it, or any ereader, to anyone. Now, I'm not saying I'm going to give up my real books. No way, no how. But it's a fun alternative and will come in very handy for travel.