My house is full of books. There are bookshelves full of them in my living room, my bedroom and my office, and I always have a running list of books that I want to read that I haven’t had time yet to add to the home collection. I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve run out of space for more, and since I can’t imagine parting with any more of my current stash, I needed to find a solution. I’d heard about the kindle, but there was just something unappealing about the large white surface and the keyboard. It seemed, so… clinical. I like the size of my books. I like the smell of a new book, the feel of the pages, and the sound the pages make when I turn them. I like books. How could an electronic device give me that same feeling?

Last fall, as my book ownership was reaching the limit of my apartment and my husband’s tolerance, and I was sneaking books into the house and hiding them so it would appear they’d been there all along, Barnes and Noble announced that they were coming out with an ereader, a competitor to the kindle.  I’d already decided that I wasn’t interested in the kindle, but the new ereader, named nook, had a different look and feel.  It was smaller than the kindle in length and width, sized about the same as a thin trade paperback.  Instead of a keyboard, which seemed silly to me on a “book”, there was a small touchscreen that would show images of the covers of the books in my collection.  And it was from Barnes and Noble, my national book haven, the place that I could go, no matter where I was in the US, and feel at home.  It was as if the book gods where sending me help in my time of need.  How could I not at least give it a chance?

Not being one to rush in lightly, I waited until the sample nook arrived in-store to make a decision.  Excitedly I arrived at my local B&N and bee-lined my way to the giant “NOOK” sign in the middle of the store.  I couldn’t believe how small and sharp-looking the nook was, but I also couldn’t believe all the issues the salesperson was having with the display device.  It seemed to take forever to turn the pages and to navigate the menu.  I asked if the contrast on the e-ink screen was adjustable, and the staff went back and forth, unable to give me an answer.  I left frustrated, deciding to wait until some of the issues were resolved before I made my decision.

A few weeks later, on December 26th, I was back in Barnes and Noble, taking another look.  I’d heard that there’d been a software fix, and sure enough, the page turning and navigation were much faster.  I placed my order, and anxiously awaited my nook, scheduled to ship on February 2.  In the meantime, I read the nook forums an a lot of online reviews, and I started to worry.  The reviews were bad, and the nook owners had a lot of complaints – issues registering, freeze-ups, losing their pages, parts of the book being cut off, sideloading issues, etc.  I started to think I should just get a kindle.  But I waited it out, wanting to see for myself if my nook would have issues.

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