Nook on the Road

Firstly, I'm happy to report that I am still in love with my Nook. I traveled this weekend and can say our love affair is hot and heavy It was so nice to just throw that slim, light notebook into my bag. My pre-trip ritual usually includes, not only the finding and packing of several books & magazines but, the emotional stress of deciding what kind of book or magazine I'll be in the mood for. I had to snicker when I saw CityCrab furiously rounding up his New Yorkers in an attempt to bring the ones he has yet to read. Usually, I end up with a bag that weighs close to 50lbs but I lightened my load. And, no surprise here, I have gotten over spending money on books again. I'm also over the typos.

Virtual Sadness

As a blogger, I have always made my way around the virtual world. I suppose it's just something bloggers do. We write and research and hunt and peck. I am a genuine person and there are very few people I consider friends. I don't have time or patience to be halfway in. Through the blog world, I have met some truly amazing people. One of these people is Stephanie Green. I am not even sure how I stumbled upon her blog but from the moment I read it, I was hooked. At the time, she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer and I followed her story and her journey meeting her friends and family along the way. We never met or even actually talked but we exchanged emails and comments over the course of about 2 years. I even reached out to her when I was headed to Miami with no babysitter for CityBaby because I felt like I knew her. We had a laugh about the fact that both of our dogs were featured in our profiles pics wearing yarmulkes (freaks) and that we had similiar backgrounds. I found out today that after a valiant fight with a horrible disease she passed away at the young age of 35. I am ironically not feeling virtually sad at all. I am feeling actual sadness.

I've had my Nook for over a month now and I can report that I am pleased with it. I like the way it functions and most of my hesitations (battery life and weight) have subsided. My big issue is the quality of the transliterations of the books. Let me explain. Firstly, I am a grammar freak. It's all I can do to keep my mouth shut when someone says "supposeably" or "as long as" instead of "so long as." And, I am always adding "ly" to CityCrab's feeling. "I feel bad." Actually, you feel "badly." Secondly, I feel that a book with a typo should be discounted. Remember, before outlets and TJMaxx were the new retail and your grandparents would buy you a Ralph Lauren polo that had a tiny hole in the back of the collar and it was deal? They would never pay full retail for that shirt (or for anything else but that's another story.) So, why should pay full retail for a book that misspells "dollar" as "dolor." Just one of my many recent finds. My guess is that when they create the ebook version of a book, they run it through some machine that picks up the type. I can't imagine someone sitting there retyping the whole thing. Well, the machine is just not working, at least not for me. I know there's a disclaimer in every book that excuses the publisher from having to be accurate. But imagine how annoying to be distracted from the story by bad grammar. My high school teachers didn't put up with and neither should any of us.