2010 ended just as I had expected; most of December was too hectic to blog. Visiting family and friends in Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland as well as Christmas shopping and decorating took up all of our time. Enjoying New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with family and friends was wonderful!
Now I'd like to tell you about a gift I received for Christmas, and I hope your Christmas was wonderful!
I fought it forever but finally let my husband buy me an ereader. I didn't want a Kindle or a Nook so George bought me a Pandigital Novel. I love REAL books. I love everything about them; the feel, the smell, the crisp coolness of the paper. I didn't want an ereader and I definitely didn't want to LIKE having an ereader, but I'm sorry to say, I got one and I LOVE it! It's so cool!
Of course the ereader doesn't work for advance reader copies of books that are in the publishers' pipelines, but for new releases that are not special enough to save for your private collection, my Pandigital is perfect. For example, I'm currently reading the new Dean Koontz book, WHAT THE NIGHT KNOWS. When he's not being overly enthusiastic about golden retrievers, I enjoy his stories. But Koontz always has a quirky way of inserting words into his books that I've never seen before (and will probably never see again) and it drives me crazy! Now I don't have to run for the dictionary or write the word down on a scrap of paper to look up later. I just have to touch it and VOILA, up pops the definition. Twenty pages into his latest book, there it was! SKIRLING. Hmmm, what is a skirling? Spellcheck doesn't even recognize this one! I now know it's the sound a bagpipe makes. I'm not Scottish and don't play or enjoy bagpipe music, but I won't forget the word for that mournful sound thanks to Mr. Koontz!
And thank you, Mr. Koontz, for introducing me to BATHYSCAPHES. Looking at that word I deduced it had something to do with baths or water but I now have added yet another word to my vocabulary. In case you're wondering, bathyscaphes is a navigable, submersible vessel used to explore the depths of the ocean, usually having a spherical observation chamber under the hull. I'll be sure to use that word the next time I'm having lunch with my friends and discussing our deep sea adventures!
All in all, I have to admit my ereader is nice. I definitely won't be giving up real, printed books anytime soon, but it's great to be able to read in bed with the night mode without having to use a cumbersome book light.
My wish for each of you this year is that you'll be enjoying tons of wonderful books, the paper variety or an ebook. Happy New Year and happy reading!
Forget Koontz and forget his book “What the Night Knows” (a ghost vengeance story, been there, done that), instead read a book that’s really been BANNED like “America Deceived II” by E.A. Blayre III.
ReplyDeleteLast link (before Google Books bans it also]:
http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000190526
Dear Anonymous,,
ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate your comments, I looked up that book and it hasn't been banned, it's been PANNED by almost everyone who read it. I try to avoid controversial subjects and political views in my reviews and don't usually review anything that is self-published. Thanks for reading my blog. Lynn