Nook

I love that word--nook. It reminds me of a lazy Thursday afternoon, rain pouring down, drumming against my windows, and I'm curled up in the nook of the couch, a book in my hand, lost in a world that doesn't exist except in the words that jump from the pages and into my imagination.

How funny it is to me that I have never been one for electronic gadgets. It used to be that I'd never touch a computer after I got home from work. I was on one all day, so why slave over one all evening? If it wasn't for my writing hobby, I still wouldn't touch it. Then I only got my first cell phone two years ago. I still don't have any kind of e-Reader, iPhone, iPod, so on and so forth. I'm usually the last to care about such things.

But this Nook from Barnes and Noble did catch my attention. Maybe I'm just getting more sophisticated as the days go by, or maybe my geeky friends are rubbing off on me. No, that can't be right. I've been called a geek myself, just not in my gadgets, more in my tastes in art and entertainment. I do love my sci-fi, anime, and fantasy.

When I do pick an e-Reader for myself, it will be the Nook. I do like how that word speaks to me. However, in a practical sense, the Nook has some wonderful features that you just cannot get from Amazon's Kindle:

• Share books for 14 days
• Look up words in the available dictionary
• Make notes and mark favorite passages

So what do you prefer? The familiar feel of paper in your hands or smooth plastic? Leave a comment or answer the poll at the top of the right-hand side bar.