the .: fyr :. light

It’s been a-buzz in the air for a few weeks (months?) – Barnes and Noble’s answer to the Kindle.  I’ve been ignoring the chatter for the most part because, being unemployed at this point makes it impossible for me to grab hold of new techie toys and play with them the way I normally would have wanted to do. However, the Nook (as it is now known) is set to be released in November, on trial at a B&N near you, and as enticing as a well-built man in bikini trunks. Ok, ok – maybe not THAT enticing.

As you all may already know, I am a Kindle owner. My Kindle sleeps beside me at nights – hubby on one side of the bed, Kindle on the bedside table on other side. It goes pretty much everywhere with me. I have over 500 books on it and every now and then, I will set aside everything else that is happening and go read a book. For instance, last night, I think I finally shut the light off at near 3am because I was up reading One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1) by Janet Evanovich. As I may have mentioned before, I was always a paper and binding kind of bookworm – I had to feel and smell the books to get the full reading experience. Reading isn’t only about reading the words and understanding for me, it’s the entire experience of reading that gets me. If I didn’t have trouble controlling my spending urges, I would spend far more time in Barnes and Noble book stores than I currently do – simply because the smell of the place, the quiet, the sight of people just reading right where they are – seated on the store floor – is just part and parcel of the reading experience.

I shall never forget the Dallas experience: 3 colleagues and myself were in Dallas on a training exercise for 3 weeks in December of 2006. One Saturday, they wanted to go to the mall and shop. I am not one for shopping; when I need stuff, I go shopping, get what I need and leave. This kind of shopping has always tired and bored me. Luckily, the mall where they chose to go had a Barnes & Noble – right at the door where we parked. So I happily told them I’d wait while they shopped in B&N. Of course, they were stymied – what was I going to do when I was done in B&N because they weren’t likely to be done in the next few minutes. I smiled and told them that if it took them 3 hours, they’d come back and find me seated right here on the floor in almost the same position they left me in. They laughed, left the car keys with me because they were sure I would want to go sit in the car, and said they’d check on me in an hour or 2.

Long story short, 3 hours later, they all were done and came to find me … and there I was, seated on the floor in front of the same shelf they left me in front of, with a pile of books around me – reading. This is the kind of reader I am. The smell of the store, the sound of pages turning, silence of people reading all around me …. that was my heaven.

The Kindle managed to merge 2 of my loves – technology and reading. I don’t get the whole experience with the kindle, but I get enough that I could literally give up my book addiction. And for some reason, I stopped going to B&N. It’s because, I think, that I associated being in the store with leaving with a bag full of books. I felt odd to walk into a B&N with a Kindle, sit and read it and then walk out.

So, the Nook opens up endless possibilities for me – and I have a date with my neared B&N to go and check out the Nook and dream. Of all the features of the Nook, the 2 that struck me most stunningly is the ability to lend books to friends AND it’s WiFi capabilities.  Oh yes, this could be the start of a great thing for B&N.

I’m sorry Kindle … sometimes it’s not so good to be first.

And I promise you, dear readers, as soon as I am done with my date with a Nook, I shall impart my impressions right here for you.

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