me and my nook

When I first started harvest this year, I read Jane Austen’s Persuasion on my iPhone. Hey, it was a good book and nearly worth the headaches and eye flicker it caused. But it was obvious that it would be a detriment to my health to continue to read this way. I really had no choice but to get an ereader. It was destiny.

My hubby and I spent a great deal of time comparing ereaders. We knew we wanted one, but being the geeks that we are, we became overly knowledgeable consumer on the subject. This Wiki gives a pretty good assessment of them all, and there are a ton.

We ended up settling on a nook.  He surprised me with one during harvest and since then I’ve delved into the world of digital books. Eink me happy.

On to the files

There are any number of places to get ebook files. Obviously, you can get them from Barnes and Noble or many places online. While stumbling I discovered this rundown of 30 free sites to download ebooks. It’s also worth checking to see if you area library participates with My Media Mall where you can download ebooks from a lending library and they are good for a couple of weeks. Although I have to admit that I’ve had a hard time finding books that I want, but I’m sure that will change as more titles are added.

The nook accepts both pdf files and epub file formats. Everyone knows how prolific pdf’s are around the interweb. I’ve found that most of them are a bit wonky on the nook. Stuff like word breaks and random spaces can be a little irritating. Enter a free ebook manager Calibre. I love that I can convert files from just about any format. I also love that it’s so easy to keep track of everything I have available plus what I want on my nook.

Book lights

The nook and many other ereader use a technology called eInk. It looks like real paper when you are reading, therefore it’s easy on the eyes. It also works great in bright light situations. In order to use the nook in low light situations you have to have a good book light. All book lights are not equal. We have two and neither one really works for me.

When choosing a book light you need to keep in mind that there are different considerations for an ereader. You need a light that works but also a clip that fits the ereader. Barnes and Noble has one for sale that designed for the nook but no one would actually show it to me in action and I don’t need a third book light that doesn’t work for me, if you know what I mean.

I did my research and found this little light: Clip on flexible book light. It has the most buzz for my intended purpose and at $3.81 each, I order two and through in a solar powered cockroach as a stocking stuff for my hubby. Won’t he be surprised!

Cover me

The nook feels substantial. Not in a lugging around an air conditioner way, but in a feels about as heavy as a book way. That being said, it cost a few bucks so I wanted to keep it safe. I looked at the covers available and also searched for DIY tutes for making your own. I didn’t like anything I saw or they were about $70. They are kidding, right? Being the crafty wench that I am, I just made my own. Here’s a quick rundown on how.

Supplies

2 pieces of fabric roughly 7″ by 8″. I used some pretty cotton.

Timtex interfacing stabilizer (this stuff is readily available online and incredibly useful in many crafting projects.)

Iron

Fray check if you want to treat the edges of your fabric

Sewing machine

3″ piece of ribbon

1/2″ piece of velcro

button for decoration

Making it

-Make a timtex sandwich with both pieces of the fabric. Iron both sides down on to the timtex.

-Cut to size: I went with the 7″ by 8″ size times 2.

-Use fray check around the edges and let dry before moving on.

-Sew both sandwiches together on your machine. I did a double stitch on both sided and just one on the bottom.This is your pocket.

-Fray check the end of your ribbon.

-Sew one end of ribbon inside center of back and attach/sew vecro piece on outside of front both on the pocket and on the ribbon. This creates the flap for keeping the nook inside the pocket.

-Finish with a button for decoration.

Put your nook inside it’s pretty little pocket and take it with you everywhere.

One Comment

Welll…how ironic is that??? I just bought a Nook last Saturday!! I actually have 2 more coming as well (1 for my hubby for his b-day, and 1 for my DD for Christmas). I was thinking along the same lines of “can I make my own cover” for these things? Thank you so much for being several steps ahead of me (as usual), and for the valuable links/tips that you provided. I will be checking those out later today. Thanks again. Rockin Robin C :-*

Rockin Robin Caldwell

11/11/2010