Book Review: Nook Books

I actually downloaded six books to my nook from the library, but didn't get through all of them. The two I didn't get two are Reading Jackie and Ten Days In The Hills, but I'm going to definitely try and read them before my three weeks are up!

Here are the four I did read and my thoughts on them.

Salting Roses: This was definitely a quick, fun read--it was about a girl who discovers that she is the sole heir of an estate worth millions, and I can't go into much more detail because I don't want to ruin it. I liked the main character because she wasn't a stereotypical lead character, and I thought the plot was entertaining, but I wasn't totally in love with it. However, if you're looking for something light, it isn't bad.

Wench: This was a historical fiction, set during the Civil War, about a resort where white men summer with their black female slave mistresses. I thought it was definitely an interesting premise, and I think the descriptions were very realistic and made you feel like you were there, but I didn't like it as much as other books I've read set during the same time period. (Note: If you are looking for something of this time period that is very well-written, in a very dark way, check out Valerie Martin's Property. This is a book that I got at the literary seminar I went to and heard her speak about, and I really recommend it.)

That Old Cape Magic: This was a book I downloaded that I wasn't sure about. I thought the plot sounded interesting, but I had read Empire Falls and didn't love it, so I was skeptical. But I actually really enjoyed the book because it felt like real life. It discussed relationships in a non-fluffy way. Griffin is a husband, a son, a father, a person, and the books takes you through how he is all of these things and how each of the other relationships affects the other. It also looks at how different places, for instance, the cape, becomes a part of these relationships.

Alice I Have Been: The whole time we were in the Bahamas, I kept thinking of Wide Sargasso Sea, which I read my senior year, and I'm not quite sure why, because I hadn't really thought of it since. Maybe it was the setting that I was in that was reminding me of it.

I had wanted to read Alice I Have Been for a while, and I thought it would be similar--a book imagining what a literary character's life was like. I was definitely wrong, and I'm so glad. The book is a fictionalized, yet heavily researched, account of the woman that inspired Alice in Wonderland. When I first started the book, I expected it to be light and happy. It was the total opposite, to the effect that I thought I had to be imagining some of the dark things that were hinted at but never said. And honestly, I think my surprise to find these made the book very good. It was also well-written, and I think the characters were three dimensional and really stood on their own. There was also this fantastic passage that I bookmarked to share with you.

Finally, Mr. Dodgson told me that he had started to write it down. He said that he had been thinking about it all the time, fortunately, so he hadn't forgotten any of the particulars. He said that writing it down was quite different . . . when you write things down, he explained, they sometimes take you places you hadn't planned . . .

If it were true in stories, it was also true in life.

I thought this gave some insight into the book, the characters, and the overall process of writing. How writing things makes them different, how maybe you're imagining things in your life that may not actually be happening, and how you can't actually be aware of how your choices affect the rest of your life, in a way you hadn't planned.

And so, I think my ereading was quite successful, because even though I didn't love everything I read, I was able to explore some books I may not have chosen otherwise.

Vacation eReading

I've always been obsessive about packing for a vacation. I've gotten better lately--generally I pack only a couple of days before rather than a week before--but it still involves a lot of checklists. (I am having a flashback to the episode of Friends where Monica and the gang go to London. Anyone remember the check! check!?)

While I have a generic checklist saved on my computer that I adjust according to where I'm going and the weather of said location (I know, I know), I always have the most trouble figuring out my books--which ones, how many I'll need. This requires more thought, because I'd hate to lug too many books through numerous airports or get stuck without having enough books to read.

Enter the nook. When eReaders first became popular, I thought that they would be the perfect solution to the above problem. I could download as many as I wanted onto the lightweight device and carry it in my purse, rather than lugging three paperbacks or changing books out of my suitcase.

I have to admit, I haven't used my nook very much since getting it for Christmas. Mostly, it's just easier for me to pick up books at the library and read them without worrying about battery life or maneuvering the touchscreen just right to turn the page. So I had to get the nook ready for the Bahamas, too.

My first step was getting a case for it. I thought about making one quick, but because I have yet to conquer the sewing machine and also wanted something a little more durable, I bought one. Before I even had a nook, I coveted this cover, but it wasn't available in the nook color size. So I settled on this one. It has a durable front and back, yet isn't heavy to carry around, and I like that the way the elastic works. It's quick and easy to open and close it.

And then came the fun part: the books. Rather than picking out multiple paperbacks and having Nathan hide them from me before we left so I wouldn't read them beforehand like my mom used to do for me, I pulled out the nook and started browsing B&N's selection. I had a gift card leftover from my birthday to use on ebooks, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy anything (because I'm cheap . . .). I downloaded some free books that I've been meaning to read--Jane Eyre and Great Expectations--but I also wanted some traditional beach reads.

So, rather than buying anything, I went over to my local library's Web site. Ours is one of the many that have started offering a catalog of ebooks, and I'd browsed it before and found a lot of titles that piqued my interest. And the software seemed easy enough to work.

Well, it was easy, as long as you can read and follow directions. That is not my strong suit, however, so I ended up spending an hour trying to manipulate the software to work on my own, and five minutes getting it to work after reading the directions. Lesson learned.

And so, the nook and I were reading to go. And I have to say, after reading on it so much last week, I'm definitely hooked. I loved being able to carry so many books at a time in my purse, and I even took it up to the martini bar with me while Nathan played in the poker tournament. The battery life was great--I charged it every chance I got at the airport, but it didn't even come close to running out. The only con I can see with traveling with it is that you have to turn it off during takeoff and landing, and it takes longer to get to 10,000 feet than you notice otherwise. So, bring a pen and be prepared to do the sudoku or crossword in the on-flight magazine.

Now, you might be wondering which books I downloaded onto my nook. Check back tomorrow for my full review(s).

A Nook!

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and enjoyed your time with friends and family. We had a very relaxing and ate way too much good food. I even successfully tackled Ropa Vieja, the hardest recipe I've tried to date. (Though it was much easier than it looked once I got started.) It's only 364 more days until the next Christmas, but I'm excited to go back to pre-holiday life and start off a new year.

At our wedding, my brother and sister, best man and maid of honor, respectively, gave a toast, which encompassed the top 10 reasons I would be a good wife. It was very nice and funny and sweet. One of the reasons they gave was that if you ever wondered what to give me for a present, you could just pick out a book. And it's true. I imagine that for every Christmas, birthday, etc., I've gotten some kind of book or B&N gift certificate. And this year was no exception. I got several good cookbooks, a sewing book, and The Power Of Now, all of which perfectly complement my interests now. But, I also got an eReader, the Barnes and Noble Nook Color, to be specific.

I have had mixed feelings about eReaders and the impact they have on reading ever since they first came out and wasn't sure I would enjoy reading on one. Of course, I am often envious of people who have them on planes, because I would be able to have all of the books I'd ever want on one device, rather than packing them all in my suitcase and carry on bag. And it would be better than buying them in the airport bookstore.

In my current job, we have done some articles on eReaders, so I am familiar with the features and what to look for when shopping for one. Personally, I find them to be rather similar; the main features to look for are e-ink, screen size, color vs. black and white, format compatibility, etc. I personally like the Nook because it's from B&N, and uses that bookstore, in addition to having a good-sized screen and providing a clear picture. You might also consider connectivity options. Personally, I don't need 3G, because I have a smartphone for the Internet, and I wouldn't want to be able to buy books wherever I want. With the Wi-Fi, I'll be able to access the Internet when I need to buy books and then turn it off to save the battery life. However, if you want to b able to access bookstores and the Internet in more places, you'll want  And if you need something more full-featured, it does have a nice browser, the capability to play music, and a Pandora app.

I'm going to give it a week of reading before I write anything on the actual reading experience, but if you want a technological perspective, check out this one on CNET, the site I trust most.