Linking Goodreads Reviews

Well it looks like I'm going to have to start linking my Goodreads reviews. I didn't realize that NetGalley lets you download their ARCs to your nook (or kindle, iPhone, etc.), and that they have ARCs from great authors like Stacia Kane, and publishers like Angry Robots, and now I really want to work with them! So I'm going to start linking all of my reviews to my blog so they can see that I read and publish a lot, and do have quite a few followers. Plus I read and reviewed 231 books last year, that's probably quite a few more than most reviewers and bloggers. Most of my friends usually see my reviews either directly from Goodreads or by following a link from Twitter, so I haven't really focused on the blog too much, but I have had some ideas for posts that I haven't pursued as well, so maybe it's a good time to do that as well. In fact, I had something that I wanted to say yesterday that I wrote on Tumblr because it was easier to do it on the iphone, so I'll try to figure out what the mobile updates option for the blog is that I saw suggested when I signed in and then keep everything centralized through this location from now on. Thanks for the inspiration, NetGalley!

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Library Loot February 26, 2010

I missed a few weeks of posting my library loot, but this week was too fun for me to miss. For one thing, I went out in a snow storm to get (most) of it. I found out later that the schools had been closed, which doesn't happen much here, off the shores of Lake Erie. Good thing my branch is near by, I was safe and so were my books. I admit it, it was Flirt that got me there. It's the first Anita book by Laurell K. Hamilton that I haven't bought. I just can't rationalize hardback prices for her anymore. Especially for this tiny little book, really more of a short-story or novella. Not $24 worth. But I still wanted to read it, and suffered when so many Twitter friends bought it and loved it, so I went out in the storm to get it when it became available. I guess I'm still a fan. It was very good, if very short. I picked it up on Friday and returned it on Saturday because I know that hundreds of other fans are waiting for it.

For another thing, it was a great week on the ebook front; I was able to borrow 3 great ebooks from the library to read on my nook! I pasted images of the books onto my pile so that they could be included in this post, it seemed appropriate. I think they should still count, even though they aren't physical books. And this is my blog, so they do. Ah, the power...

I was really happy to borrow Dan Brown's over 500 page book and to be able to read it comfortably on my nook. It was a real example of why getting the nook was a smart idea for me. Especially after shoveling snow, my bad shoulder really needed the break from paper books! And I just enjoy the whole concept of borrowing ebooks from my library, it feels like everyone wins. I wish I could afford to buy every book that catches my attention, but it just isn't going to happen. But the libraries are a huge support to authors and publishers. And I really like supporting my local libraries, they are just wonderful and a real life-saver to me. Plus reading on the ebook reader is more comfortable for my body and my eyes (I really miss being able to adjust the font when I read paper books). And ebooks never smell like cigarettes, like one of the books I had to return unread recently because it just stunk.

As for the paper books in my haul, after Flirt, I'm most excited about the Norman Rockwell book. I read about it in a review and was really intrigued. I didn't know that he took pictures before making his paintings, and the book is the first to explore his photography archives. There are even many before and after shots with the photos and paintings. Should be fascinating! And at $40, another book I couldn't afford but am thrilled to borrow from my library.

I was happy to see the Ace of Cakes book on the feature wall at my branch; it has been on my to-read list and there it was, like magic! I'm also looking forward to exploring the book about organizing by Peter Walsh. I saw him on yet another talk show and figured it couldn't hurt to check it out and see if there is anything helpful for me.

The book about puberty by Lynda Madaras was quite good, useful both to tweens and their parents and friends. And the space research guide by Mary Pope Osborne should be interesting, especially because my littler guy is reading it too.

A great haul this week, plus I still have a pile of books from the last few weeks as well. So I'd better stop typing and start reading!

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My nook cover arrived!

Picking out a cover for my new nook took almost as much time and angst as the decision to by the darn thing in the first place. After much trauma I decided on the Tupper quote cover. The full quote reads, "A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever." Martin Tupper was an English writer and poet mostly remembered for his Proverbial Philosophy.

I'm really pleased with my choice. It feels great in my hands, very smooth and super soft. I was really worried about that because the device feels so good on it's own, nicely weighted with a great texture. If I don't enjoy holding the cover I'll leave it off, and you know the one time I drop it will be when it's off. My second choice for covers was the really stunning Jonathan Adler Punctuation Cover. Both covers have pockets and good looks, but the Adler cover looked like it might hard in, and on, my hand. It appears to be canvas rather than the soft (fake) leather of the Tupper cover. Possibly more durable, but feel was really important to me.

Of course, all of the shopping stress could have been avoided if B&N had any plans to carry the covers in any of the stores near me. Even the giant store in the super-expense retail center in the wealthy suburb will not be carrying any nook accessories. It would have been nice to be able to actually see the covers before choosing one. I hope B&N changes it's mind about this soon. The covers are so great, they help sell the product. It may be pre-order only now, but that won't last with all of the new ereaders coming out. They need to stock to promote.

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Why I Got a Nook

One of the my rotten fibromyalgia symptoms is very sore hands. It's gotten so that holding a book is often very painful. I've tried various bookstands, but what worked best, much to my everlasting surprise, was reading ebooks on my iPhone. I tried it out of curisoity and got hooked! My favorite feature is being able to adjust the print font and size, a feature that I really miss  when reading print books now. Plus the instant gratification of being able to get the next book in a series immediately, at any hour of the day or night, is pretty addictive. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed reading on my iPhone and how much more comfortable it was for me. Except when I had a migraine or felt like one might be coming on. The backlighting did become a problem under those (all too frequent) circumstances.

This combination of circumstances made me start researching ebook readers. My primary goals were having easy-on-the-eyes e-Ink and supported formats that would give me the ability to borrow from my local library. I tried the Sony reader with the touch screen and really didn't like it. It was really clunky in both software and hardware. But worst of all, the reports I'd read about the glare off of the touch screen were totally correct. Since my main reason for wanting an e-Ink reader was to prevent causing migraines, this just wasn't acceptable. I was lucky enough to be able to return it without paying a restocking fee because the battery on the device was also defective.

Moving on and being unwilling to wait months for any then-hypothetical options (very much pre-CES), that pretty much left me with Kindle or Nook. Kindle would not let me read library books and would primarily limit me to their proprietary DRM, which really bothered me. Nook seemed like the best option. After checking it out online (the only way at the time) it seemed more and more likely to be terrific for me. And it turned out to also support the .pdb format of most of the books I'd purchased for the iPhone! Based on the best information available at the time and willing to risk a 10% restocking fee on non-defective returns, I pre-ordered the nook just in time for a deliver date of December 24.

After using the nook for several weeks now, I'm nothing but happy with my decision. It's comfortable to hold and intuitive to use. B&N had already released the first software update by the time mine arrived, so the initial complaints about slow page turns never bothered me. And I expect even more software updates in the future to add even better functionality and prehaps even some Android apps. So count me in as one satisfied nook customer.

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