I got a nook simple touch for a gift. Crack cocaine is nothing to it...

[TygrBright]

I had no idea.

First thing I did: Visit the Gutenberg project. Loaded over 100 wonderful books absolutely free, including a Complete Shakespeare, the Diaries of John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys, Quiller-Couch on the Art of Writing (and Reading,) all of Jane Austen, Pickwick Papers, the poems of TS Eliot, Lewis Carroll, George MacDonald, A. Conan Doyle.... All the Raffles collections, P.G. Wodehouse, oh, my...

Next: Went to B&N and typed in "free" in the nook books search window, loaded another 15-20 books including a mystery collection that includes all of the Father Brown stories, Don Quixote, a bunch of other good stuff.

Next: Went to the B&N nook books site and sorted by price from low to high. Had to page past dozens of pages of self-published soft porn and other irrelevant crap, but ended up with another 15-20 excellent items all for under $3.

Then I remembered getting a CD with a recent book purchase and found that the author and her publisher had generously issued her entire previous catalog in that series of novels as a bonus. Went to the publisher's (Baen books) website and found a FREE library that included all of the James H. Schmitz material they'd recently republished. Plus they'd issued all of the omnibus editions of some of my favorite authors (including 2-4 full length novels plus the occasional novella or short story collection) in the $5-7 price range.

The reader uses e-ink technology. It's smaller than a paperback novel and lighter than most. E-ink is amazing. It looks EXACTLY like reading a book page, except that I can adjust the type size, line spacing, and even the typeface (font) to my preference. I can highlight and gloss and bookmark.

I copied all of my books onto a memory chip, onto my computer (downloaded Adobe's Digital Editions reader free,) and backed them onto a static drive.

I invested a few more bucks into one of those tiny LED clip lights and can now read in bed without keeping my esposo awake. I can slide my reader into my pocket or purse and take it everywhere, and if I'm not in the mood to read one book I can switch to another... They are all there at my fingertips.

My ongoing project is now to replicate as far as I can my paper book library so that when they cart me off to the warehouse I've got it all with me.

I am a VERY happy camper.

joyfully,
Bright