Since I received the nook (on June 10th), I’ve read 2 books! I know that 20 days seems like plenty of time to read two books, but it’s really quite record breaking for me. I’m a busy woman. I don’t have space in my purse to carry around books.  (Ha! Anyone who has seen my purse knows I’m lying.) Even if I were compelled to carry around a novel or two, it gets annoying to flip pages or find the nearest object/junk mail/job application to hold my page while I walk the dog/make dinner/answer the phone. I think you get my drift. I just whip the little gadget out and read no matter where I am…no pages to turn, no place to lose (it knows where I left off!) and even better–no highlighter/pen/notebook to jot down my thoughts or interesting quotes. That’s right, I highlight and make notes right there on the nook’s touchscreen. Love it!

You know what else is amazing? (If you own one, I’m sure you’re thinking “of course I know what else is amazing!”) Barnes and Noble picks up the bill for my 3G. While I can’t exactly go browsing facebook on their dime, I can download a book while I’m in the car, if it strikes my fancy. (Of course I’m in the passenger’s seat when I’m downloading this book. Honestly people! How crazy do you think I am?)

My only gripe, which is sure to be fixed with a simple software update, is that you can only see your highlights/notes by “flipping” back through the book. The Barnes and Noble ereader for the iPhone allows you to view a list of all of the highlights/notes you made. I have done some research and I am not the only one who has taken issue with this inconvenience. I trust that the voices of nook owners across the country will be heard soon and that they can do a little software update to smooth things over.

Until then, happy reading!

Stay tuned for reviews on all of the books I’ve been reading!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivyfield/ / CC BY 2.0

to read?

Seriously. I’ve been working on the same book that I vowed to read before the end of 2009.

I’m just not that into it.

It just so happens that I am into Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. (I’ve been on a health kick 30 days and counting.) It just so happens that I can purchase the ebook for half price! But when will I have time to read it, if I don’t have time to read anything that is already on my to read list?

Despite considering myself to be technology savvy, I haven’t quite jumped on the ebook bandwagon. There’s just something about putting down my iPhone when I get home and picking up a real paperback. There’s something about the lack of tangibility of an ebook that irks me.

The thing is, I never put down iPhone. It dawned on me today that maybe I can make time for reading if I’m carrying a “book” with me as I wait in line at the grocery store or wait for a server in a restaurant. Maybe if I can read a page or two every time I’m waiting, I will actually finish a book some time this year.

I’ll admit, I tried an ebook once and it didn’t work out. Maybe this time will be different. Maybe this time I will see the inherent value in having a book without carrying the book around.

Maybe this time next week I’ll have an update on how my reading of The Omnivore’s Dilemma [ebook] is going.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i173/ohsodramatric/magazines.jpg

In 2008, I subscribed to Rolling Stone

In 2009, I subscribed to Allure and The New Yorker.

And now comes the great debate for 2010…

Real Simple or Martha Stewart Living or Martha Stewart Living?

On a quasi-separate note, I’m also in the market for an extremely large magazine rack or a creative way to categorize my magazines. The New Yorker has very long articles and I didn’t make it through everything that interest me, so I was hoping to keep my magazines on file for a few years.

Suggestions anyone…anyone at all?

I judged this book by it’s cover. I figured it would be a great laugh. And I laughed as Jacobs stoned adulterers and is brutally honest at the most inopportune times (thou shall not lie). However, this was no comedy. It was loaded with information from different versions of the Bible and different interpretations from different religions. If I had done the slightest bit of research before impulsively grabbing this off the shelf, I would have known that Jacobs’ style is very informative. In 2004, he published Know-it-All: One man’s humble quest to become the smartest person in the world.

I read this book to the very end, which I don’t do if I really don’t like a book. But I can’t say that I loved it. It may be because it didn’t meet my expectations. (It’s not like I had any right to have expectations, but I did.) Or maybe it was my very Christian upbringing that made me judge his approach. It may have also been that he didn’t really follow the Bible as literally as possible. Despite the interesting relationship that I’ve developed with this book over the past 3 months, I would probably still recommend it, but only to a very specific crowd.

If you’re looking for a good laugh, it’s probably not worth reading this entire book for the occasional laughs spread throughout. However, if a very unique perspective on religion based on impeccable research strikes your fancy, this is right up your alley.

Happy Reading!

I have been hesitant to write a review, because I don’t have much to say. To rave about this book would be to celebrate mediocrity– a practice I do not condone. But to give a negative review would also be unjust.

I bought the book because the title was catchy. I knew nothing of the stage memoir and all I knew of Carrie Fisher was her Leia days– about which she speaks humorously in this memoir. I’ll admit the book was funny–sometimes laugh out loud, share with your friends. Fisher’s conversational tone makes it an easy read. But it was just missing something.

I spent the whole book waiting for the climax, the epic emotional breakdown,  the details of her electroshock therapy. Luckily, I wasn’t waiting for very long–the book ended just 176, short, large-print pages.

I wouldn’t recommend that anyone go out and buy the book–I didn’t laugh that hard– but if you can get your hands on it for a bargain price or borrow it from your local library, it’s a fun read.