Library E-Books on the Nook = Easy Peasy!

One of the exciting features of the nook for me is that it would work with Overdrive, which is the company my local library uses for e-books and audio books. You can use Overdrive with the Kindle but apparently it involves a lot of steps, so many that one look at the “procedure” I found online and I ran away terrified! I found these excellent instructions online via http://laurenpressley.com/library/2010/01/my-nook-has-arrived/. (Underlined comments are mine).

Steps for setting up Adobe Digital Editions (for use with Overdrive and the Nook):
1.Download the Adobe Digital Editions software if you don’t already have it.
2.Drag it to your applications folder. (On my Imac, I didn’t have to do this part)
3.Open, register, and login. (I already had an Adobe ID, but if you don’t you will have to sign up for one)
4.Plug in your Nook and wait for Adobe Digital Editions to recognize the device. You might need to restart Adobe Digital Editions. You will have to authorize your Nook the first time. (A new window pops up asking you to authorize, select yes and you are done!)

Steps for getting ebooks from Overdrive:
1.Go to your Overdrive site. Some libraries have a digital library/resources section and it might be there.
2.Find books you’re interested in.
3.Determine if you can get a book you’re interested in now, or if you need to put a hold on it.
4.If it is available for check out, follow the steps for downloading it. (My library walked me through it step by step)
5.Mine automatically showed up in Adobe Digital Editions (which was open at the time). If this doesn’t happen to you, you might need to find the downloaded file (probably in the downloads folder) and double click it to get it to open Adobe Digital Editions.

Steps for getting the ebook onto your Nook:
1.With the ebook in ADE and the Nook plugged in, drag the book from the main screen to the picture of the nook on the left.
2.Eject your Nook.
3.The ebook will not be in the regular library. Instead of browsing B&N covers, use the library to navigate to your documents folder, and select the book from there.

Once everything is set up, it is a breeze to download library books! I am super excited, especially when I spent an hour or so searching through all the e-books my library offers to find 10 or so books that are on my to-be-read list already! Overdrive has a great feature of a wish list so you don’t have to search each time you want to find a library book, you can just add it to your wish list and then access that when you are ready to read each book!

My nook – the review

I have had my nook for almost 3 weeks and I am more in love with it than when I first ordered it! It is perfect for me, yes me, the individual who thought she could never give up holding a book in her hand and sniffing the spines!

I got the petal envelope case so that I don’t have a case attached to the nook while I am reading it. I wanted to be able to hold only the nook in my hands while reading, and this case does just that. It is sturdy and stiff for carrying in my purse and it looks really nice! Holding the nook is a little heavier than a Mass Market Paperback, but it fits in my hand so much better. One of my biggest raves about the nook is that I don’t have to hold open my place and/or push back the sides of the book. Of course, this would be the same with the Kindle or other e-reader but it rocks nonetheless!

The screen is easy on the eyes and the page buttons are in the perfect spot for my hand placement. The touch screen is receptive but it took awhile to reinforce that the main screen isn’t a touch screen. I kept trying to touch menu’s on the main screen the first few days! I have had the nook lock up on my a handful of times but not a large amount and nothing a power button shutdown and restart didn’t solve. I love the ease of purchasing books through the shop menu! I set up my e-book wish list on BN.com which I can access on the nook, so buying the books I want to read is extremely easy! Possibly too easy…it only takes about 10 seconds to buy a book which means my Credit Card is getting a good work out! I did figure out how to download e-books from my library and move them to the nook, which was extremely easy. I will be posting a separate post about that process soon.

After playing around with my nook, feeling how light it is and carrying around his 1000+ page copy of Stephen King’s newest release, Under the Dome, Brett has decided he wants a nook of his own. Hopefully this spring we will become a two nook household! I really love my nook and the reading experience I have with it. Yes, I miss the smell of books and the feel from time to time, but the benefits outweigh these drawbacks.

It’s Friday! What I Am Reading. – February 19, 2010

Every Friday on the Nest Book Club board, we have a post titled What Are You Reading. In this post we add an image of the cover(s) of the book(s) we are reading and give a short summary of how we are liking it. I decided I would continue that Friday ritual here on the blog, so welcome to the first Life is Short. Read Fast edition of It's Friday! What I Am Reading.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. This is a nonfiction book about the Chicago World's Fair, but it is also about so much more. Following the travels and life of a killer that was at large during this very exciting time shows the deeper changes occurring in Chicago. Women could go missing and it was not necessarily surprising and this created the perfect environment for a monster masquerading as a Doctor, pharmacists, business owner and gentlemen to do his dirty work. The majority of this book is written in a very traditional non-fiction manor, without much flow to the story but the portions regarding the sinister man are riveting! It may be that I find the subject of serial killers fascinating but the chapters about him keep me reading the rest of the book. I am hoping to finish the book sometime the beginning of next week. This is one of the books on the Rory Gilmore Book Club and I probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

There are some books that I read for fun and fluff, there are some I read because they sound interesting and some I read because they sound heartbreaking. This story was in the later category, and heartbreaking it truly was! I spent a lot of the time reading this sobbing. As in, Brett asking me if I was going to make it because I was crying so hard! 

Narrated by Death himself, the story is told in a dark but hopeful tone. Liesel has a rough life from the beginning of the book. She is poor, her brother dies and her mother gives her to foster parents because she can't care for her anymore. At her brother's funeral, she steals a book for no real reason other than it was something to tie her to the brother she lost. This act of desire turns into an act of need and then into an act of defiance as she begins to steal and steal. Sometimes it is food, others it is books, but the young girl is always the same. As WWII continues to send her neighborhood deeper into poverty, she grows up to face life's cruelty and life's joy. When her foster Father long forgotten promise to help someone results in a figure standing on the family's porch in the night, her life changes and she is forced to grow up in a hurry. The arrival of Max expands Liesel's heart to almost uncontainable proportions, all while bringing danger and risk to their doorstep. When her foster Father does something equally heroic and idiotic, Max changes his involvement in the family. This leaves Liesel empty and heartbroken and leaves her Father at war. When Liesel takes a similar action as her Father, the reality of the war and Hitler's army is forced upon her in a brutal way. 

This book is one of deep emotions and will resonate within my heart and head for a long while. 

Finished: February 13, 2010. 2010 Count: 13. 

Grave Secret (Harper Connelly Mystery, #4) by Charlaine Harris

This is the final book in the Harper Connelly series and it did what I like the final book in a series to do, sum things up perfectly! I like when a series is folded up nicely in the final book. Usually with a series I find a sadness that comes with the end, but this one I didn't have that feeling. I think this is primarily because I liked the series, but didn't fall as deeply as I have with other series. Harper and Tolliver's relationship continues to bloom throughout this book, which I thought handled the uniqueness of their situation well. The two return to their family to see their half-sisters but end up immersed in family drama, much deeper than they ever imagined possible. The suspense of this family drama continues until it knocks Harper and Tolliver off their feet with long hidden news of a betrayal so deep it could divide them forever. 

Finished: February 8, 2010. 2010 Count: 12.

An Ice Cold Grave (Harper Connelly Mystery, #3) by Charlaine Harris

Wow!!! A huge event transpires in this book which completely changes the series and every reoccurring character. Completely knocked my socks off, even though I had wondered if it was on the horizon based off a few hints in the second book. The bodies Harper finds in this book are much sadder than her previous experiences, but she keeps pushing herself and her abilities because she is determined to find the answers. She says over and over that she isn't a detective or police officer but if she has a hunch and becomes involved in the case, she can't help but see it through. This is especially true when the case begins to physically envelope her, Tolliver and her psychic friends. One of the deaths in this story is heartbreaking and touches Harper and Tolliver deeper than they are accustomed too. Manfred is again in rare form in this novel. I just love how he looks like the tuff guy but is a huge mush of a man on the inside. Towards the end there is a scene that had me laughing so hard I almost cried…a character's wife is hysterical and 100% full force, in your face and it is perfect for the scene! 

Finished: February 7, 2010. 2010 Count: 11.

Grave Surprise (Harper Connelly Mystery, #2) by Charlaine Harris

An old job comes back to haunt Harper in a bazaar case of the one that got away. As Harper begins to immerse herself in the why's and how's of her latest discovery, she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. Tolliver and Harper are scrutinized and in a desperate attempt to prove their innocence; they set out to find the truth. Along the way they find that passion fuels many things, some crimes…and some not. I loved the interactions in this story, especially involving Manfred...so fun!

Finished: February 6, 2010. 2010 Count: 10.

Grave Sight (Harper Connelly Mystery, #1) by Charlaine Harris

This was my first e-book experience, and I loved it!! Of course, I will post more on that subject in a later post next week, but I just had to throw it in! :) After reading the Sookie Stackhouse series, I wanted to read some more of Charlaine Harris' books and this series sounded the best to me. I really enjoyed it…so much that I finished it within 24 hours of starting it! It is a shorter book, but it was fast paced and full of excitement. Harper is a special woman, she finds dead people…all over the place, every day of her life. They sort of connect with her but not in the traditional psychic way. Acting as her somewhat manager/bodyguard Harper's brother is along for the ride as they travel the country working to find the dead bodies of those that want closure and answers. Finding dead bodies becomes the easy part; dealing with the living and their bipolar reactions to her occupation is the hazardous part of her life. This book follows her journey through one job in a small Southern town that isn't that easy to leave to the point of not being able to leave. While this isn't quite as good as the Sookie books, I love the suspense and action. I also really like that Harper is both a butt-kickin' and an insecure woman. She seems much more relatable and real this way! 

Finished: February 4, 2010. 2010 Count: 9!

Booking Through Thursday – February 4, 2010

The northern hemisphere, at least, is socked in by winter right now… So, on a cold, wintry day, when you want nothing more than to curl up with a good book on the couch … what kind of reading do you want to do? 

Hmmm…besides the fact that I am SO over the cold and wintery weather and really don't want to think about it in any sort of joy, I would have to say that I am not really a seasonal reader. For me, curling up with my blanket on the couch while the snow falls with the book I am currently reading is fine by me. Don't get me wrong, I love the feelings that come with each season. The spring and fall outside reading, with a light blanket and the cool breeze and the warm summer days with a cool drink on the table…they are all wonderful specialties for reading. I just don't desire specific books during the seasons. I tend to get so engrossed in the book I am reading that I have a hard time "checking out" of that book to read another one. This is why I rarely read two books at the same time.

IT'S HERE!!!

The nook is here...and I luuurrrvvvvveeeee it so far!! :) I just bought my first e-book on it and am getting ready to settle in for some reading! :)

John Adams by David McCullough

After watching the HBO miniseries adapted from this book, I knew I had to read it. The miniseries was so well-done and informative on the life of a President I knew only slightly. I knew John Adams was instrumental in the Revolution, but I wasn't aware how involved he truly was, nor how he impacted our relations with numerous European countries. I enjoyed learning more about our country's founding and those involved. Almost more than the history, I became enchanted with the marriage of John and Abigail. Even though they spent much of their marriage apart, only connecting through handwritten letters, there love and friendship remained strong. At numerous times, they would go years without seeing each other, only receiving letters and those letters would be months behind. I can only imagine how hard it would be keeping a marriage strong through that, year after year. The Adams' were true friends and bounced their thoughts and ideas, political and otherwise, off each other. I find that inspiring and romantic. John Adams was an interesting man, with political opinions that evolved over time, but in many aspects he was ahead of the times. He despised slavery and both were disheartened to find slave labor upon their move into the in-progress White House. They both valued education for both the wealthy and the poor. John Adams thought that education for all was the key to a successful society.

In all, I found this book to be an excellent account of historical events and of a detailed look into the Adams' family and life. David McCullough writes with such fluency that I almost forgot this was non-fiction, but rather a novel. It wasn't boring or overwhelmed with facts and names to the point of being unreadable like many non-fiction biographies can become. I gave this book 5 starts on Goodreads.com.

Finished: February 3, 2010. 2010 Count: 8!