Baltimore Nesties
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
E-reader owners come in
1. What e-reader do you have? Are you glad you purchased it?
2. Can you/do you borrow books from the library? Are you able to find new and popular titles available in e-reader format?
3. Can you/do you lend to friends and borrow from friends?
4. Has you book purchasing increased with the e-reader, or has it stayed the same?
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Re: E-reader owners come in
I'm leaning toward the Nook Color. I was eying it up in B&N last week and walked away certain that I just didn't need it, but I can't stop thinking about it and weighing the pros and cons.
My single biggest concern is that I get 99% of my books from the library and I can't afford book purchasing habit. I'm worried that being able to purchase so easily will spell the end for our budget.
My friend has a Kindle and loves it and is urging me to get the same, but the Nook Color is more highly rated than the Kindle. It's newer and, frankly, I like the color feature LOL
That's my major concern too. I get all my books from the library, but my aunt who has a kindle said you can get free books. I'm kind of torn personally. I really like holding a book in my hands.
1. What e-reader do you have? Are you glad you purchased it?
KINDLE, Yes. I was very leary. I am a book worm and I like the tactile feeling of holding a book. But storage is a huge problem. I like to keep my books in case I want to reread. Especially anything that is part of a series. I was surprised at how much I liked it.
2. Can you/do you borrow books from the library? Are you able to find new and popular titles available in e-reader format?
Library- I am told this is an option or is coming soon. To be honest I have never been a big user of the library. I am notorious for returning books late. And I paid the library full price for way too many Nancy Drew books because I owed so much in fees. I used to call it renting books from the library. Since I was always paying for the books, I figured I might as well get to keep them.
Popular titles- I don't read a lot of popular books. To be honest I read a lot of "smut." (If there are any other closest smut readers I recommend the blog Smart B*tches Trashy Books.)
3. Can you/do you lend to friends and borrow from friends?
Lending/Borrowing- I am told that you can, but I do not know how. DH uses his for reference materials, so I am not interested in "borrowing" design patterns or secure coding. LOL.
4. Has you book purchasing increased with the e-reader, or has it stayed the same?
Amount- My reading has gone up. I have availed myself of a lot of the free books. Also, a lot of the older harlequin's only cost adollar or two... So all in all, my total book budget has probably decreased.
Yep, the friend of mine who has a Kindle has said the same thing. Her husband found a site where she can get something like 15000 free titles? Which sounds awesome, but are they titles I want to read? I know a lot of the classics are easy to track down for free, but I'm not interested in the classics! I haven't put a lot of time and effort into researching it all, clearly, or I'd have a better handle on what I'd have access to.
And like you, I like holding a book in my hands. I like seeing books lining my bookshelves and want a well-stocked library. But I figure I can still do that. Right now I borrow from the library the bulk of what I read and if it's something I really love enough, I buy it. The Outlander series, the Harry Potter series, quite a few of Nora Roberts' books, etc.
1. What e-reader do you have? Are you glad you purchased it? i have the original Nook. I am glad I purchased it - well okay, it was a gift, but I asked for it over the kindle. I love it.
2. Can you/do you borrow books from the library? Are you able to find new and popular titles available in e-reader format? I do. It's kind of hit-or-miss. I read The Historian on my nook, one or two James Patterson books, and one or two Nora Roberts books. Bestsellers are usually available as ebooks, but it can be hard to get one - like real books, there is a waitlist because they only have so many digital copies available. Unlike real books, the books automatically expire after 2 weeks so the waitlist moves relatively fast (bc you dont have to wait for someone to return the physical book) even if there are only 3 copies in the digital library. Also, once the book is available to you (if you were on the waitlist), you have three days to download it, kind of like the hold shelf at the library. So it ends up running fairly smoothly.
3. Can you/do you lend to friends and borrow from friends? Um yes, I lend books to my mom and my SIL all the time. As a warning though, the lending has gotten REALLY restricted. It used to be most books could be lent, and now the default seems to be that most books CAN'T. Both my mom and I have commented on the drastic difference and how annoying it is.
4. Has you book purchasing increased with the e-reader, or has it stayed the same? Um. It's increased I think. Maybe. I think it increased in the beginning but has since leveled out. I don't read every single book on the ereader, which is what I sometimes think people freak out about - "but I like paper books!!! But I dont want to buy every book!!" etc. I still like paper books and I still read them. I don't buy every book. Right now I probably buy about 50% of my books. Out of that, 75% is probably e-book and the rest are paper books. There are some books I just know I wont prefer as an ebook - history books, the game of thrones series, etc. So, I don't buy them as an e-book. There are other books that I don't want to pay for - such as the new Janet Evanovich or Sookie Stackhouse books. So I'll get them from the library or borrow them from a friend. There are also a fair amount of free books out there if you aren't picky as to what you read. Most of the time I don't like the free books available. My mom will read almost anything so she reads a lot of the free books. You can take a look at the books available and see which you would prefer you think.
Honestly I love love love my nook. I think I would have loved a kindle as well, but I just love an ereader. For traveling it is SUPER convenient, especially if you dont know how many books you want to bring with you, and its lightweight and easy to stash in a purse or whatever.
My concern with the Nook color is the backlighting. I use both the nook and kindle apps on my iPad and the backlighting hurts my eyes considerably. I don't especially notice it until I glance up or away and my eyes kind of blink. I stare at a computer screen all day so I prefer when I read for it to be e-ink or real paper.
Finally, I will say my biggest issue with getting e-books from the library is the format of the digital library itself. I found it hard to navigate and the search function was basically worthless, and that was the biggest turn-off for me.
RE Nook Color VS Kindle: It really depends on how you like to read.
The Kindle is "e-ink" which means it is made to look like you are reading a book. This is good for people that have issues with glare when looking at a computer screen. However, there is also no back lighting, which means you need your own light source in low light situations.
My understanding is that the Nook color is more like reading from a computer screen. Also, I have heard that it is difficult to see the screen in direct sun light.
I get ocular migraines, so I went with the Kindle, becuase I thought it would be slightly less straining for my eyes.
Does that mean that an e-book borrowed from the library is only lent out for 2 weeks?
Yes, you only have it for two weeks. So it can get tricky if you are on the waitlist for like 10 books and they all become available at once. I am not sure if you can renew or not. The nice thing is you dont have to return the book, it just expires on your device. I believe this is true for nook and kindle.
Ooh, I don't think I like that. Thanks for the info!
Haha! I'll look into it - thanks!
miscarriage on 11/26/09 at 5w6d
Exactly.
I poked around on Amazon and while the library borrowing feature has been announced as being available before the end of the year, it is not yet available and no exact date has been provided.
Based upon Becky's comment above, I've sent an email to HarCo Public Library to inquire after the amount of time an e-book is lent out for. If it's only 14 days I'm going to be annoyed.
DE IVF #1= 04/11 - BFP
1. What e-reader do you have? Are you glad you purchased it?
I have the second generation Nook. I also had the first generation Nook that my husband now uses after purchasing the new Nook that came out last month. The second generation is all touchscreen and is smaller and lighter than the original Nook. The Nook Color is like reading a computer screen and since I am in front of a computer at least 40 hours per week I didnt want to read from a computer screen. The e-ink is very easy on the eyes and I have a light that connects to my Nook so I can read in bed. I absolutely LOVE my nook, especially the new Nook.
While I do not have a Kindle I have played around with one and I just didnt like the keyboard at the bottom. I felt like it was just bulky and unnecessary.
2. Can you/do you borrow books from the library? Are you able to find new and popular titles available in e-reader format?
You can borrow books easily from the library. I have not done this yet. I have been able to get alot of free books. B&N offers a new free title each week. Every once in a while they offer groups of books for free. I think I have every classic on my Nook after last summer. They offered 10 books per week free for the entire summer. I have been on websites with people lending books and I have taken advantage of reading some newer books that way.
3. Can you/do you lend to friends and borrow from friends?
Yes you can easily lend/borrow with the Nook.
4. Has you book purchasing increased with the e-reader, or has it stayed the same?
Book purchasing probably has increased with the e-reader but that's because I end up getting gift cards from points on my credit card or just as gifts. I think everyone in my family knows that I have the Nook so they just give me gift cards so that I can purchase whatever books I would like.
Dani- If you're going to be reading it outside a lot I would opt for the b&w version. The nook color is really hard to see outside.
That being said I just got the new touchscreen Nook this weekend (I had the first edition version up until now). I read about a book a week and almost never buy books. I belong to the NY and MD eLibraries and just fill up my queue. Yes, you can lend books, but there are almost no books that are lendable. Publishers are really cutting down on this so I rarely ever lend.
I also am on Dropbox where someone has uploaded TONS of books, and I've gotten pretty much any book I want from there. Pretty sure that's not really legal, but I'm relishing in it. This weekend I downloaded The Hunger Games series, Bossypants, Game of Thrones series...all free.
So I don't see purchasing books anywhere in my near future. I do ask for B&N gift cards for birthday/Christmas gifts and rarely touch them.
PS. I'm obsessed with my nook
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The Baloney Bug, A Blog
I've found a way around this... I just keep my Nook on "Airplane Mode" until I'm done reading the book. Then it won't leave until you connect it to your computer/turn off airplane mode.
Holiday Card 2011
The Baloney Bug, A Blog
You're a smarty pants! I'm back on the e-reader bandwagon!
Okay, to follow up on what I first wrote...
1. What e-reader do you have? Are you glad you purchased it?
Nook Color. Yes! I'm a huge fan. It doesn't bother my eyes all. The one downside is that you can't read it in the sunlight with polarized sunglasses on. Otherwise, it's easy to read in the sunlight...like the sun isn't preventing me from seeing the screen. I read every morning on the way to work while DH drives.
2. Can you/do you borrow books from the library? Are you able to find new and popular titles available in e-reader format?
Yes, this was a must for me. When I was comparing it to the Kindle, the announcement about Kindle books being made available at libraries was just made, but I was kind of impatient. Plus I liked to Nook better overall. Just personal preference. I checked out the Kindle at Target and didn't like the way it felt and I didn't like the keyboard. I knew I wanted to take advantage of the tablet-like capabilities the Nook has.
Yes to the second question too! There are definitely some new releases that are "always available"...not sure how they make that determination. Other ones, yes it is annoying to wait for them.
3. Can you/do you lend to friends and borrow from friends?
Haven't tried.
4. Has you book purchasing increased with the e-reader, or has it stayed the same?
Umm yes, but only because I bought books to read for my book club that weren't available at the library. I was lazy and didn't feel like getting the physical books.
Thanks for this tip!