Bought The Wife a Nook.

[Wifezilla]

No, she really does have 40,000 ebooks. No typo

I have downloaded quite a few, but need a new external or 3 if I want to catch up to Abi

 

[Buster]

I don't really like keeping new books, except non fiction for reference purposes. Most of mine get donated to the library.

In fact, I don't buy many new books at all, preferring instead to get my reading for free from the library.

But I love old books. Musty books. Books with yellowed paper and well loved bindings and covers and loving gift notes on the inside covers. The older the book the better. That is what graces the shelves of my bookcases.

Plus they come cheap.

If I bought more books an electronic reader would be perfect for me, though. Very convenient and eco-friendly. Carrying around 40,000 books in my small backpack is just the sort of thing that would appeal to me.

 

[hunterjumper999]

my kindle allows me to make notes in the book... just sayin.

And i too like the low end ( free) and high end new release ( 9.99) prices vs. buying books that cost vast amounts more.

 

[Wildsky]

I bought a kindle for my son who "inhales" books!

I'm hoping that one of these days we will be able to buy school books to download. It would seriously save kids from lugging heavy bags around. My son is only 10 so we have time to change the world!

(Son is currently reading the Warrior series on his, read the Last Apprentice series already)

I still buy books for myself, and also use the kindle if he'll put it down for a second. I like to have my SS books etc. in hard paper.

I love the fact that my son can easily look up a word (dictionary feature) if he doesn't understand it, makes me more comfortable that he's not just skipping over hard words like I used to do as a kid.

 

[Lady Henevere]

I also have a Kindle and I love it. There are tons of free classics available to download, and many classics are extremely cheap (for example, I recently got the complete works of Mark Twain for $3 or $4 -- books, essays, short stories, etc.). DH and I were having issues with my bedside table -- which is not a bookshelf -- being piled high with books all the time. He's much happier with just the Kindle sitting there. It's also great for traveling -- even if you think you might want to read only 2 or 3 while you're gone, they are all with you and they weigh next to nothing. I also love that it's completely readable in direct sunlight -- totally different than a computer screen.

The only downside I have found so far is that a reference book I borrowed and then decided to buy (Gaia's Garden , in case you're looking for an excellent book about non-traditional gardening and permaculture) had tables in it that are too big to come out properly on the Kindle's screen. They are shrunken down to fit the screen, making the text in them tiny and very hard to read. I wish I had bought that one in print.

Wildsky, my DD's math book this year (7th grade) was a huge, heavy thing, but the entire thing was available online and downloadable to a USB storage key. It made the backpack a little lighter. I know that some businesses send documents on their Kindles so people can read them while they travel -- I would think that many other school and business applications for e-readers will be widespread soon.

 

[SKR8PN]

I loved all the positives about the Nook and the Kindle. The only thing I still can't wrap my head around is having a cookbook on the Nook!
That just doesn't "feel" right, if you know what I mean. I like the personal connection that I have with my cookbooks. That part would get lost in a e-reader....

 

[TanksHill]

ok, so I have heard a ton about kindle. Will someone explain to me how you load the books. Is it a USB that hooks to your computer? Kinda like ITunes but books?

Wildsky I love what you said about your son using it. Such a great idea being able to look up words and such.

I guess I wil need to look into it.

gina

 

[Buster]

It's a stand-alone device and can download directly using Wi-Fi or its own free cellular access. Meaning you don't even need network access to download.

There is Kindle for the PC, though. A program you install on your PC that does require network access. You can then read the same book on your PC as on your Kindle.

I believe you can also purchase one copy of a book and read it on multiple Kindles and PCs, which is handy for families with folks who tend to read the same sorts of books.

 

[Wildsky]

It's a stand-alone device and can download directly using Wi-Fi or its own free cellular access. Meaning you don't even need network access to download.

There is Kindle for the PC, though. A program you install on your PC that does require network access. You can then read the same book on your PC as on your Kindle.

I believe you can also purchase one copy of a book and read it on multiple Kindles and PCs, which is handy for families with folks who tend to read the same sorts of books.

Yes, I think the kindle uses 3G or something (no fees or anything), I normally buy books for my son using the computer and send it straight to his kindle, even when he's at school You can buy a book straight from the kindle as well.
You can also look at Wiki pages I think, I don't want my son doing that too much.

I can select from my Amazon account to download the books to his kindle or to my cell phone, I've read a few on my phone as well.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

I loved all the positives about the Nook and the Kindle. The only thing I still can't wrap my head around is having a cookbook on the Nook!
That just doesn't "feel" right, if you know what I mean. I like the personal connection that I have with my cookbooks. That part would get lost in a e-reader....

honestly.. i mostly use my 'puter for my recipes anymore. easy peasy to look up almost anything online, it sits in the kitchen anyway, and i can just make the print bigger if it need to see it further away. but dont ask me to give up my Joy of Cooking (1942).


as for books - i'll say it. I DONT KEEP THEM EITHER! they either get sent to never never land... or i just sell them at the used book store. i only ever buy used books anyway.

the biggest shock The Big Man had when we got married was that he's not keeping books anymore either! it was almost a brawl. i had to relent for actual books that he liked to read over again... but we just dont have the storage for ever book he's ever read. he flat out refuses to kindle or any of the others. me - meh... whatever. i figured out the library is free and you dont have all those pesky books laying around waiting for the cat to barf on them.

psst.. here's a secret. i've been known to tear out chapters of books to read while i travel so i dont have to haul the whole thing around... and once...i burned hundreds of books that were up in the attic of the old farm. they were all moldy and covered in mouse poop. i burned them ALL! shh.... dont tell his mother! or him! you are all sworn to secrecy.