Look What I've Got!

Hubby surprised me with a used Sony Book Reader that he got from Ebay. This is an incredibly thoughtful gift as Hubby knows my fondness for books. When I first found out about it I was very skeptical. Half the fun of reading is selecting the book from the store based on cover art, and flowery description. Plus you can't beat that new book smell. None of these features are available with the Sony Book Reader. It's just sort of... blah.

The first book I loaded onto it was Robert Jordan's The Path Of Daggers.

(I'm currently re-reading this because of the latest release in the series).

Look at this cover art:

How awesome is that? Look at what I'm missing? This is a lovely picture, but it really is much more impressive in real life. Cooked up right out of the artists/authors imagination. Sigh.

When I am reading a novel I will often flip back to the cover, or maps to help create a visual in my mind of the characters, or geographical reference. You don't get to do this with the book reader. There are zero graphics. Not that I need graphics... I DO have an imagination, but I miss them.

This is the part where I tell you I'm converted. Even though I had condemned it before I even attempted to use it, I am now an advocate of the digital book reader. Why, you ask? Several reasons:

1. It's very portable and is now a permanent fixture in my purse. I take it everywhere and use it all the time.

2.I no longer need to worry about dog-earring my precious book collection, or having it get squished up and torn on an airplane, (the fate of the most recent addition to my collection - The Sookie Stackhouse novels).

3. It's super light. Some of my novels are 700 pages or more and can grow quite heavy after an hour of reading. My hands never get sore from holding the book open, and I don't break the spines anymore by squishing them flat. Most of the time I'm not even holding it, it's propped between the bed and the wall. The reading experience is now much more comfortable.

4. I move a lot. A LOT. I have packed and unpacked the same books 10 times in the last 12 years. I've lugged them upstairs, and downstairs, in elevators, from car to car. I am TIRED of moving books. Now I don't have to. Ever again.

It was a little irritating flipping the pages so much at first. I had a hard time adjusting to the 5 inch screen, but now don't even notice. I love it. I'm converted. My entire book collection is being packed up to go to the used book store. All is right in the world.