Now I need a nook.
A breakfast Nook, I mean. In which to sit and read from my new Barnes & Noble Nook.
Yes, I know: all of you who know me are shocked. “Didn’t you once say you would never get an e-reader?”
Well, no, I don’t think I ever actually said “never.” I’m one of those folks who agrees with the title of that Sean Connery non-Bond Bond film. You know, the one that Bieber kid stole his movie’s name from. (Yes, it was also a STYX song. Yes, I’m that much of a geek that one simple phrase throws me off on this much of a pop-culture tangent. Where was I? Oh, yeah…) I may not have said “never,” but I did very strongly say I doubted it would happen any time in the near future. Then, about a month ago, I started making comments along the lines of “well, since the Kindle and the Nook can upload word documents and pdfs, maybe I’d do more timely beta-reading for my author friends if I could put their stuff on the e-reader and not be distracted by my laptops other abilities.” That led to leaning towards the Nook over the Kindle (more for brand loyalty than any specific technological reason, because if you know me you know I’m technologically-challenged). That led to a shiny new Nook (the black and white kind) arriving in my mailbox on Thursday thanks to my good friends Eric and Jean Bauman.
My first purchase on the Nook was Lawrence Block’s AFTERTHOUGHTS, which is available only as an e-book right now. Second purchase was the first of Rachel Caine’s “Weather Warden” books. I’ve also grabbed a free Rizzoli & Isles short story by Tess Gerritsen and a copy of DRACULA because I own that book in every other format in which it is available, and my nephew Jared is reading it on his own shiny new Nook, so why not have it on mine?
The Block, Caine and Gerritsen purchases pretty much exemplify my attitude towards this Nook and what I intend to use it for. I’ll use it for the beta-reading I mentioned earlier (once I figure out how to upload word docs or pdfs to the Nook). I’ll use it to buy stuff I simply can’t get in print form. I’ll use it to check out authors people have recommended to me, or books that one of my book clubs is reading that I know I won’t want to keep in my (already-overfull) home library.
But I won’t stop buying print books.
Why? Simple.
I’m a collector. Always have been, always will be. Now, that term “collector” often carries some weight with it — the impression that if I’m a Book Collector I must be one of those folks who pays extraordinary prices for signed first editions that never actually get read, etc. Seriously … if you know me at all, you know that’s not me. When I say I’m a collector, I mean that I’m a bit of a completionist. So, authors I love and series I’m hooked on? Yeah, I’ll be buying those in print form until they stop printing books. The fact that I have a Nook is not going to stop me from buying the latest Neil Gaiman in hardcover. Knowing the next Dresden Files book could magically appear in my Nook at midnight on release day is not going to stop me from picking up the hardcover at whatever bookstore I’m closest to on that day.
Also, I have lately started re-building my collections of certain paperback series from the 60s and 70s. I’m seeking out cheap old PERRY RHODAN and DOC SAVAGE and TARZAN paperbacks when I hit various used bookstores as I travel the country. There is a certain thrill in consulting my little spiral-bound pocket notebook in the store to see if I’ve come across one of the last two Hamish Macbeth mysteries I’m missing (DEATH OF A TRAVELING MAN and DEATH OF A NAG, if anyone is interested) or one of the many PERRY RHODAN, DOC SAVAGE, FU MANCHU or SOLAR PONS books I’m missing (too many to list here). Those are the things a Nook can’t help me with, even if those books are available in some format … it’s not the same format, you see.
So, I greet this new Nook happily. I thank Eric and Jean for moving me more firmly into the modern age. I look forward to using it consistently, and also to improving my beta-reading time.
I still want a breakfast nook, too. But I’ll be splitting the time in it between print books and Nook books.