My Hero, The eReader

I was sharing this little story on a  group the othr day and I figured I'd share it here too.

For those who don't know, I have two teenage daughters (15, 17). Bot are good students, but they go about things differently. My oldest tends to wait until the last minute to do a project. My youngest does it the first day because she hates school and wants it done ASAP. lol

Anyway, on Sunday, Kati, my oldest, informed me that her AR test (advanced reading) was due on Monday and she still needed to find and read a book for it. Well, of course she does! *groaning* Students have to get at least 20 points or they don’t pass the AR test. Kati always passes, she LOVES to read. Still, she procrastinates. Her usual plan of attack is to find a book on the AR list worth at least 20 points. This way she doesn't have to read several smaller books. She'll sit down in the recliner on Sunday afternoon and spend the entire day reading.

However, this time she couldn't find any books in my boxes (I have tons of books!). So, I joined the search. She wanted a Dean Koontz book. I have quite a few, but could I find them? Of course not. We had already tried the store earlier that morning and nada. At this point we were starting to get desperate. Finally, my brain kicked in and I said, "You know, we could just download an ebook to my Sony eReader".
Not sure why I didn’t think of that to start with! I guess because I'm not used to the kids reading on my eReader.

Anyway, we popped online and found a Koontz book right off the bat. Kati did have to pull an all nighter to finish it because we had a birthday party to go to that evening and she didn't have time to read until it was already late. When Monday came Kati took the eReader to school with her so she could refresh her tired brain before the test. As you can imagine she aced the damn thing. LOL

 

And yet another use for these wonderful devices...saving kids’ grades everywhere!

On that same note, have you all seen the newest version of Nook? It's more expensive, but boy am I loving the looks of that thing!

 A few features (see more on their site):

• Stunning 7-inch color touchscreen 
• Magazines & newspapers in rich color
• Kids' books come alive
• Over 2 million titles at your fingertips
• Get social, surf the web, play games, even listen to music

Originally I wanted the Kindle. Actually, I still do. I really like this newest Nook too, though. I'm thinking I should wait, because my guess is that Kindle will soon have their own color version with all these same fun features. And with any luck the prices will go down and that's when I'll pounce! LOL

 

In the meantime, I'll just stick with the Sony. :) 

 

Lions, Literati, & an Interview!

Okay, today is going to be mixed bag of stuff.

First, I want to talk about something that really really gets under my skin. Large jungle animals being kept in small cages and treated like housecats. Have you all seen this?





As you can see by watching th video, the lion wasn't provoked and I'm not saying his trainer did a single thing wrong in the way he handles the animal. But, the lion did attack. It wasn't really going for the kill, as is obvious by the video. So why did it suddenly spring at the trainer and chomp into his leg? Well, that one is easy. It's a LION, that's why!

These animals are beautiful, majestic, wild, and dangerous. They do not belong anywhere near a cage with a glass wall so that people can take pictures of it and go all goo-goo over the pretty kitty. Wild means wild. They aren't domesticated, nor should they be. When are we going to learn that we as humans don't have the right to just do whatever we please? Taking a lion out of its natural habitat and thrusting it in front of cameras is bound to cause problems.

That said, I was very touched by the lioness. Did you see how she attempted to control the situation? These creatures should be free. They should not be locked up. At least that's my humble oppinion. Or not so humble, I guess.

Okay, with that rant over. Have you seen the new eReader that's about to hit the market?



The Literati (love that name) will be hitting the streets in October. The good news, it has Wi-Fi, the price is fairly reasonable at $159, it's cute as hell, and it has :::::drumroll::::: a color display! Yes! I love this feature. LOVE IT!


There is a downside, obviously. Isn't there always? The Literati doesn't have 3G connectivity. YET! Bummer, I know. But, and this is yet more good news, it will be available at the following stores: Macy's, Kohl's, J. C. Penney, Best Buy and Bed, Bath & Beyond. Is that sweet or what? Now, what does this all mean for us authors? MORE EXPOSURE! Hot damn! More people reading ebooks = more sales!


Is the Literati as great as the Kindle or the Nook? Perhaps, perhaps not. We'll just have to wait and see. Still, the great thing about this new device is that it gives readers even more options. They are no longer forced to choose from a select few devices. And I really think that people who maybe haven't gotten an eReader, maybe haven't really explored the whole eReading craze, will at least be shown the way, as it were. LOL And that makes this ebook author a very happy camper!

Okay, the last thing I wanted to share with you all is a contest. Over at Desert Island Keepers I've been interviewed. And it was a fun one too. ;-) It's a three day event, so be sure to stop by tomorrow, too, as I'll be chatting about my 5 favorite books and why they're my favorites. Then on Saturday, well, that's a surprise (mostly because I haven't written up the blog yet, lol). Anyway, leave me a comment over there and you're entered to win...BOOKS! Cool, eh?

iPad...Kindle...Nook...Ack!

I'm not gonna lie, this thing looks pretty damn cool. But I'm hearing some negative rumors too. Like the web browsing is restricted, it's obviously pricey and you have to buy the books from their site. So, in the age of devices I'm not sure this is really a good bet.

I want to hear from you all! We've chatted about this before. Ereaders, mini computers, laptops. I want a new ereader, I just don't want to buy something I'm not going to be satisfied with. Some recommend buying a laptop, you can use it as an ereader as well as your regular computer. Others say the Kindle because it's easy to use and they have a HUGE database of books to choose from. The Nook has color though and their database isn't too darn shabby either.

Where to put my money? What's the best buy? You tell me!