Nooked

Last year about this time I blogged about not being ready to buy myself an e-reader.  I'm still not really eager to embrace virtual books, but they are now being thrust upon me.  In a burst of unexpected generosity, Barry bought me a Nook for Christmas this year.

If you are assuming that I didn't leap upon it with cries of joy, you are correct.  I thanked him politely, plugged it into my computer to charge it up, and wondered what the hell I was going to do with the thing.

By now I've read the user guide, downloaded the app that will let me borrow e-books from the library, and purchased my first virtual book.  I was having a little trouble actually using the thing, though; the shape was awkward and I didn't like either the forward/backward buttons or swiping my finger across the screen to turn the "page." Until yesterday, that is.

It seemed to me that if the Nook were to function as even a partial replacement for my paper books, it would be spending a lot of time bouncing around in my purse or my briefcase, so buying a protective cover for it would be the sensible thing to do.  Yesterday, then, I stopped by one of the local Barnes and Nobles stores and bought a cover.  The one I selected looks like an actual book, about the size of a paperback but covered with bright red leather.  Attractive, durable, more than I planned to spend on a device I hadn't really wanted in the first place.  BUT...

Now that the Nook has been inserted into the cover, it feels right.  It feels like a book.  It falls open in my hands like a paperback would.  In this position, the side buttons for paging forward are just in the right place - no more need to swipe across the entire page with a finger.  In its book-shaped cover, with the typeface adjusted to the perfect size, it may actually be (dare I say it?) a faster read than a book.  Because my cover is real leather, it even smells almost like a real book.

I'm still not giving up on physical books - I love them too much.  But my nifty red cover has convinced me that my Nook and I may after all have a long and happy relationship.

"You cannot open a book without learning something." ~Confucius