Patti’s Saga of an RV Rookie: Lose 55 pounds in ten minutes for $149.00

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January 16, 2011

Patti with the Nook

See the Nook?

Would you like to lose, say, 55 pounds or more,  in 10 minutes for only $149?  I did it, by getting a Nook e reader. Ok, the pounds I lost weren’t human flesh  (apologies those of us trying to lose ballast); they’re dead weight and space wasters in RV’s, tents, or homes and are known as “books.” I know, I know…books are lovely in homes but if you’re downsizing to a condo, 5th wheel,  or cardboard box, think about it.

I’m a maniacal reader. To the point of insanity. In addition to pleasure reading like a fool, reading has always been integral to my teaching and writing careers. Reading is my hobby, my joy,  my career (when not writing), and my friend. In truth, my love of reading is central to who I am.

So, the thought of giving up or not having access to my zillions of books while camping or RVing  was totally out of the question. Then I realized, it’s not about the books…it’s about reading. And that’s when my brilliant husband did the research and gave me the solution;  my Christmas 2009 gift: my Nook.

Unreal! In a nano second, I had room for 1,500 books in a little thing that’s only 7.7” x 4.9” x 0.50 !”  Now, I don’t have 1,500 books on my Nook  (yet), but I do have 35 books I’ve downloaded and have yet to read, as well as 48 books I have read and archived (sent to the “back” of the Nook). Also, I’ve downloaded tons of non-fiction books I use all the time: four study Bibles, several cookbooks, flora and fauna books, and light pool-side reading such as “The Complete US Constitution and Bill of Rights” and the “Declaration of Independence.” I love this stuff, and actually use it. It’s kind of scary when I think about it…

I take all of my books with me when we’re camping or traveling. They even fit in my purse. I can choose from six (count ‘em, six) text sizes and three fonts, all customized for my not-so-young eyes. And if my vision ever blows out, the Nook will read the books aloud to me! The battery charge lasts literally weeks. The screen is some non-glare thing that allows me to  read in the car (as a passenger), under our Jayco trailer awning, and in the Class C coach while hubby drives (when we get a Class C coach). Also, other Nook owners and I can “trade” books back and forth. Hmm…was that a not-so-subtle all call for other Nook aficionados of historical fiction, autobiographies, biographies, and great fiction? And Barnes and Noble has so many great, free, or incredibly cheap books to download.  Oh, and get this! Many libraries are now lending e books compatible with Nook and some of its competitors.  Our Prescott, AZ library does. Check with your library to see if it lends e books; then, check your e reader’s compatability with your library’s system .

If you’re a reader and/or  Rver, you might want to check out the awesome feel of a Nook in your hand ( they prop up great against pillows). I’d love to hear what you think about your e reader, or  questions you may have. In the interest of full disclosure, I don’t know anyone associated with the Nook or Barnes and Noble and certainly don’t get paid to promote Nook in any way, shape or form! Wouldn’t do it…wouldn’t be prudent, to quote a former president.

Happy Tales to you,

Patti

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13 comments

  1. Patti Faustini

    Hi Marlene, and it’s great hearing from you! Congratulations on your Kindle! Isn’t it all so fun? In addition to having an e reader, I think having to deal with the learning curves necessary to use new technology (well…new to me, anyway) keep our brains young. Your brain may actually be young, but mine isn’t!

    Happy reading and Happy Tales,

    Patti

  2. Marlene

    I to am a fenatical reader. I just got a Kindle for Christmas. I am so happy with it. The hardest part about going full time was loseing my books now I do not have to. Yes
    marlene

  3. Patti Faustini

    Hi Brenda, thank you for the comments and it’s always great hearing from you. I’ve never known anyone with a Sony e reader, so it was interesting to read your comments. I hope our other Woodall’s readers with Sony’s will catch it as well, or those considering an e reader purchase. E readers are so incredibly awesome for traveling or RVing!

    Happy Tales, Patti

  4. Brenda & Gary

    Hello Pattie, it’s seems that you and I are again in the same mind frame. I have an ereader and I am into my second year with it. Since receiving it for Christmas I have only read one physical book and that was because it was the last book in a series that a friend of mind had lent me. It was almost odd to carry a bulky book around and I noticed the weight of it as I was reading it as well. I have become accustomed to the light weight of my reader. Mine is a Sony brand and it does so much more then I had anticipated when I was researching which one I wanted. It was more expensive then the other brands but also had more features. The battery lasts me close to 3 weeks and that is with almost constant use, I take it everywhere with me. My Sony has feactures such as “notes” which I am able to type messages to myself about meetings for later reference (yes still working), I am able go back to these pages to add or remove items. I have used this portion for copying recipe ingredient for a new dish to recreate at home when out for supper with my hubbie. Phone numbers of old friends I have run into. Direction when getting lost ( which happens often), also for shopping list or to do lists when out and about. There is also another feature where I can do handwriting with a special pen that stores nicely within the ereader, I have used this to make primitive drawings of crafts I would like to make, also a nice reusable pad for x and o games or hangman which entertain children or just to let them draw something for me.Other features are the audio section to which I have added music I enjoy listening to while reading, or audio books. For this feature I use the ear buds from my MP3 player. I am also able to load pictures in it of family members or any other from my computer. I am also able to change the text size (4 different setting) and it has a build in dictionary which I can access by double clicking on the word. This does not lose my spot in the book and I can highlight the description for a full deffinition if needed. The Sony ereader has two memory card slots as well for extra storage and I have filled it to capacity just to see how much it can hold, I got as high as 1530 books between what one memory stick and the ereaders 350 book capacity. The battery did not last as long with all that loaded so I stick with just the ereader memory for now. I purchased my Sony ereader with a case that has a build in reading light which has an adjustable arm and high and low light feature. . Also it is not enough light to disturb my hubbies sleep. This case is very similar to a book cover so it protects my ereader. The sony is a bit more expensive then other brands but also has more features and since I do utilize the added features it was worth it. I purchased my Sony ereader from Best Buy and with it I bought the extended warrenty and I am so glad because the sales guy said it is new technology ( mine is of the first generation) and he said there may be a problem with the battery at some point, sure enough there was within the first year and I just took it back and got a brand new Sony ereader for no charge and the 3 year warrenty was restarted as of that date. There is a Sony ereader web site that I can purchase books from some are a bit more expensive then others, they offer a bargain section and bundles of books on similar topics or authors. I have only purchased a handful of books from this site but have had no problems doing it, it is user freindly and easy to navigate, but I have since found many sites that I am able to download books for free. One site had given me 2500 books all historical romance for free and I have others which have on average 250 to 350 books in each file, I have had no problems with any files not being compatable with my ereader. The library downloads also work with my Sony ereader both with written files and the audio books and any music in MP3 form. The Sony ereader also does language conversion but I have not mastered any other language to test it out.

  5. Patti Faustini

    Diane, great hearing from you, and yes, downloading e reader apps is another way to go. Cool. That sentence sounded like I know what I’m talking about . However, to be honest and since I’m the founding member and CEO of the just-now-named “Geezer Patrol, ” I haven’t actually done the app thing. As a matter of fact, tonight’s dinner topic started like this, “Now, sweetheart, what exactly is an app?”

    Happy Tales!

    Patti

  6. Patti Faustini

    Hi MrOak, and it’s great hearing from you. First, here’s a review I liked comparing the Nook, Kindle, and the iPad : http://news.cnet.com/kindle-vs-nook-vs-ipad-which-e-book-reader-should-you-buy

    WBH (World’s Best Husband) and I were just talking about this very subject: if we were to buy now, would we buy the iPad? I’m just beginning to study iPads and found this review helpful.
    http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple%26%23174%3B+-+iPad%26%23153%3B+with+Wi-Fi+-+16GB/9811355.p?id=1218178658389&skuId=9811355.

    Also, we stopped by Best Buy and played with the iPad , which was a great help.
    Like you, I have more than my share of technology… but I hear the distant drum of the iPad and it’s calling my name from the wild! However, I’m going to hold off awhile and watch the prices plummet.

    As far as book costs and whether to buy books from Costco (which I love, too) or e books? It depends. I check everything out first. For example, Amazon has Andre Agaassi’s terrific memoir “Open” ( used) for $5.25 PLUS shipping. You can download it to a Kindle or Nook for $5.00, immediate download, no shipping. Easy call.

    It also depends on how and where I will use the book. With my son’s Barnes and Noble Christmas gift certificate I bought three back-packable pamphlets on desert cacti, desert birds, and desert scary creeping things. I want to be able to pull these out and study nature as we walk and they’re physically better than my Nook for that purpose. My son was horrified. He thought for sure I’d download some cool book and considerd my laminated pamphlets painfully low tech!

    So, yes, there’s no getting around doing the research on the best deal, unless money is no object.

    Happy Tales, and let me know what you decide about an iPad or e reader,

    Patti

  7. One more thought for those looking to minimize the number of electronic devices to bring along in the RV: I was able to download a free Kindle App for both my laptop and my smartphone so I can load books on either and take them along without even adding a new piece of electronic equipment to the pile. Just a thought for those trying to minimize the gear to be packed…

  8. Patti Faustini

    Hey again, June. I was thinking about how much you like to pass along books to loved ones and how an e book may impact that:

    Idea: I’ve read books on my Nook that I just LOVED, then bought them at garage sales or libary sales for 25 cents and gave them away.

    Just a thought,

    Happy Tales, Patti

  9. Patti Faustini

    Hi June, and how great to hear from you! In response to your questions:

    1. Speaking only for the Nook, there are tons of free e books available for download. While many of them have titles such as, “Instructions for Behaving Like a Gentleman on Safari” published in 1898 ( I made this up to prove a point) , there are also excellent, contemporary free e books and mountains of e books for under $5.00.

    For example, Barnes and Noble (creator of the Nook) has a “free Friday.” Every Friday, under the Nook’s menu’s “Shop” link, they offer a cool free e book. I’ve downloaded the last two, as they matched my interests. I’ve also downloaded many top notch books for 99 cents. It’s great fun! Oh…I just finished reading Andre Agassi’s “Open” for only $5.00. It was fantastic and I have never played tennis. Barnes and Noble sometimes offers free smoothie coupons if you take your Nook to one of their stores. It’s all quite fun, you know!

    2. My Nook does not have a back light. The new Nook color may; I’m not sure. Instead, I purchased a
    night light for my Nook, which works great. http://gifts.barnesandnoble.com/Lyra-Light/e/9781599859439

    3. Regarding pictures, I have found that whatever pictures are in a book, are included in the e book version, as well.

    4. I don’t know if “The Next Exit” is an e book. But, I have found there are certain books I prefer in actual book form, and “The Next Exit” would be one of them. I think when it comes to comparative research (flipping back and forth between several pages to check infomation simultaneously) there’s nothing like a ‘real’ book. Others may disagree.

    Good luck on your search for an e book June, and let me know what you decide. I’ll be writing some book reviews for Woodall’s in weeks to come, so check back if you like.

    Happy Tales , Patti

  10. MrOak

    Thanks for the Blog. I really like hearing the things you like and do not like (although I am not sure I saw any you did not like) about your e-reader. I am an engineering geek and have been thinking a lot about getting one of these. There are more and more of these e-readers showing up in the market place.
    When we were RVing in FL in 2009 I saw a women reading a Kindle on the beach in brilliant sunshine. When I inquired about how well this device worked in the sun she handed it over and asked what I thought about it. It was very readable! That’s something I can not say about my laptop.
    I have read books on my iPod touch but only in a pinch since the screen is too small.
    My adult daughter and her husband read books on her iPad when travelling and often around the house.

    That leads me to my quandary about what device to buy. I have way too much electronics as it is so the thought of buying a dedicated reading device to add to the pile is not appealing. Thus it seems that the device must do more than be a reader. The iPad comes to mind. It’s bigger than most of the e readers (thats a plus and a minus). It has a great color screen but it may not work as well in the sun.
    If anyone has experience or opinions about its readability I would love to hear it.
    The iPad has lots of apps that are useful to an RVer. I use GasBook on my iPhone to find inexpensive gas all the time. Apparently there are great GPS apps that can turn your iPad into a super GPS device.
    Again I would love to hear real experience with this and what app is being used.

    Of course the iPad is a much more expensive device. That leads me to my last question.
    I read mostly popular fiction. When I have looked at free books on Kindle and limited other sources, I have not seen much that is of interest for my normal reading. I buy many of the books that I read at Costco. These paperback books are 20 to 30% less than the $9.99 that seems to be the popular price for these e-books on Amazon and Borders. Am I missing any information that changes my view of the cost of e-books?

    Jim

  11. Patti Faustini

    Hi Gene, and yes, everyone should do the homework before buying an e reader (or anything). Here is the system my library uses and the e books it supports :

    http://www.overdrive.com/resources/drc/Default.aspx?type=ebook.

    Awhile back ,I saw Kindle listed as a compatible e reader by my public library, but checked again after reading your comments. Kindle is not listed now! Hmmm…I wonder what happened? It would seem Kindle should step up to the ‘library” plate if it wants to stay competitive with other e readers.

    Thanks for your feedback, and Happy Tales,
    Patti

  12. Gene S.

    If checking out e-books from your library is an important consideration to you, do your homework before buying. It seems Kindle (Amazon) has a proprietary operating system that doesn’t play well with ePub, the e-book distribution system used by many public library systems. I looked just a bit ago to confirm the Kindle is on the not-compatible e-reader list. Unaware of this, I asked for and received a Kindle for my birthday. A great device–lots of free public domain titles available, and l-o-t-s of for purchase titles, but not compatible with public library systems. Sigh.

  13. June Morrissey

    Thanks for another informative blog. I have resisted the urge to purchase an electronic reader because I love to pass on to family and friends the really good books that I have read. The other reason was expense but it looks as if they have come down in price. I did not know that you could download “free” books. I will have to look into that. I too, take many books along in the RV when we travel as I am not a happy camper unless I have something to read. Many nights I read by flashlight so the backlit screen would certainly solve that problem. One of my favorite books for travel is “The Next Exit” which alerts me to fuel and food at each exit on all the interstates in the U.S. I wonder if there is a download for that?? Do any of the downloads come with pictures? Safe travels, June