The not-so-secret reason I became an e-reader

The not-so-secret reason I became an e-reader

The way I put it in the title makes it sounds as if I literally became an e-reader. Like I’m in a Franz Kafka story, but instead of waking up as a cockroach, I woke up one morning as a Nook GlowLight Plus.

Maybe that would make a good 21st century reboot, now I think about it. But no. I haven’t turned into an electronic device. (I’ll bet you figured that part out, though.)

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5 strange and unusual novels in my Nook

Oh, the joy of discovering I already own the books I want to read

The beginning of a new month typically finds me culling a list of new novels I’m looking forward to reading. However, it’s beyond time to get serious about reading my own damn books.

I’ve done okay so far this year. Of the 26 books I’ve read, 15 were already in my library. With more than 500 books in my digital collection and The-Lord-alone-knows how many on my shelves, I have to believe I can do better. So this month, I’m resisting the temptation to add new books to my to-be-read list. Continue reading “5 strange and unusual novels in my Nook”

#ReadMyOwnDamnBooks Update: Overwhelmed, and not

Digital books - reading slump

I began today feeling exceedingly overwhelmed by my own damn books.

This weekend, I inhaled The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty. As with so many books in my Nook library, it’s there because I found it offered for $1.99.

It’s difficult to resist e-books offered for $2.99 or under. Why, that’s less than a large iced coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts! I’ll think to myself as I gleefully click “Purchase” on a book that was never on my radar. Even if I don’t fall in love with it, surely I’ll read it at some point? Continue reading “#ReadMyOwnDamnBooks Update: Overwhelmed, and not”

Three ways #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks is making me a better reader

When it comes to stuff, my general policy is, less beats more. Less stuff means fewer things to look after (meaning dust and organize) and more time to spend reading. Except … all this wonderful logic falls apart at the bookstore.

I have very little willpower when it comes to buying books.

Picture me taking a deep, cleansing breath as I type this: I have 489 books on my Nook. I won’t even hazard a guess as to how many are in my house. Suffice it to say, they number well into the upper hundreds.

You can see, then, why #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks captured my imagination. I’m always saying that I have enough books to last a lifetime, then carrying on buying more and more and still more. It’s alarming, if I’m honest. Besides the irritating amount of dusting required, I embarrassed to admit how many books I have double, and sometimes triple, editions of because I no longer know what I have. Continue reading “Three ways #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks is making me a better reader”

When the choice is between e-reading and not reading, I choose my Nook GlowLight Plus

Nook GlowLight Plus

My favorite place to read as a child was under the covers with a flashlight. While the pleasure of being subversive and sticking it to The Man (who, in this case, happened to be a woman: my mom) no doubt played a role, more compelling was that I appreciated the sensory deprivation that facilitated disappearing into the world of a book.

My bedroom, with its white furniture and riot of stuffed animals, vanished from view, and I could submerge myself into the alternate reality of wherever I was traveling to—the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Claudia from From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, London with Sarah Crewe from A Little Princess or Paddington from A Bear Called Paddington, turn-of-the-century Manhattan with the five sisters from All-of-a-Kind Family.

This memory had slipped into my subconscious until I happened to mention to a friend, as a jokey aside, that what I most appreciate about my Nook GlowLight is how it facilitates reading in the dark. (And the “Plus” version is waterproof, should I wish to read in the bathtub by candlelight!)

Continue reading “When the choice is between e-reading and not reading, I choose my Nook GlowLight Plus”