Sunday, January 22, 2012

Flying with your Nook - and your Book

Just returned from a mini-vacation which involved a three hour flight each way. I do fly fairly often, but this was the first time with my brand new Nook Color.

I was excited! I loaded it up with a bunch of a books for the trip. Some I purchased, and some I downloaded from the library. I was so ready!!

Here's what I learned:
  • Make sure you fully charge your Nook, or Kindle, or eReader before your trip. Turn your wireless settings off, so it won't use too much power or interfere with the pilot, you know, flying the plane.
  • When you go through security, you still have to take your laptop out of your bag and place it in a separate tray (so annoying.) But not your Nook! In fact, so many people must have been flying with their new eReaders that the security guards kept announcing "Nooks and Kindles can stay in your bags."
  • If you are a nose-in-your-book, introverted reading nerd like I am, take along a paper book, too. I packed a lightweight paperback that I read during take-off and landing. But once you're in the air, you are fine to turn your electronic device on (power up that Nook or Kindle) and read the great story you are into! Or finish a piece of short fiction, because you have so many loaded on your Nook. Or read magazines. Newspapers. You have a whole library to browse through, so pick whatever you are in the mood to read!
Want to know the two books I read (concurrently) on the trip?

On the Nook, I'm reading REVOLUTION, by Jennifer Donnelly, which is a captivating novel weaving together stories of two teenage girls that live 200 years apart, one in present day and one during the French revolution. I felt like a teenager myself when the steward told me to "power off all electronics" as we started our descent, and I read really fast until I finished the chapter I was on.

I also had along a paperback titled THE CALL: A Novel, by Yannick Murphy, an unusually-told book about a veterinarian and his family, which I read during take-off and landing.

One year ago, I was one of those people who insisted that I only liked paper books. Real books, I called them.

Well, I'm here to tell you that I've changed. I love my Nook. I love reading on my Nook (I can turn it sideways and prop it up!) and I'll grab it anytime I have to travel, as long as I have electricity and a place to plug it in. I'm getting too damn old to backpack, but if I do, I'll take a couple of paperbacks. But for me, for now, it's my Nook, my Nook, my Nook!

Have you flown with your eReader yet?

4 comments:

Dreaming said...

Smart you to remember to take a paperback for those times you can't use the electronic reader. I didn't think about that, but the airplane magazine was a fair alternative.
I love my eReader and I love that I can get books from the library for it! That, and free books because I'm an Amazon Prime member.
I also love that I can access the book on my Kindle, my iPhone, computer or iPad.... and it always knows where I am. Cool beans!
Revolution sounds intriguing. I've read books with similar themes before, but can't for the life of me remember their titles. But, the parallel lives theme intrigues me.

Linda Benson said...

Dreaming - Revolution is wonderful! Well, a wonderful book anyway. A page-turner.

That's awesome that you go back and forth between all of your electronic gadgets, and it keeps the same place in your book? Wow. It's amazing to me how far technology has come just in the last 1-2 years. It makes you wonder what's next??

Once Upon an Equine said...

I love my Nook Color. Fell in love with it all over again when I dropped into my local Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago and had them install the latest software upgrade. (nice to have in-store service like that). Now I'm streaming Netflix videos and I've discovered Angry Birds. (I started playing it for the first time a couple weeks ago at 9:30pm and didn't stop until 2:00am). It's addictive. And as my paper Equus magazine subscription was running out, I opted to subscribe to the electronic version on my Nook. I love my Nook Color.

Another great advantage to eReaders is they are so handy to use on exercise machines. So much easier to "turn the page" with the swipe of a finger than trying to keep paper pages open. Today, while briskly walking on the treadmill, I was reading an eBook and loving it. It made the exercise time fly by.

Guess what book was I reading on the treadmill? I was reading yours...The Girl Who Remembered Horses. I'm only about 1/4 through, but immediately, in the first few pages, I was impressed with how beautifully and descriptively it is written. I really connect with Sahara and her love for animals. I'm intrigued by Sahara's dreams and the world she lives in, and what has become of it. I just finished chapter 15 - a bit of a cliff hanger leading into 16. I'm worried about Sahara and what Dojo is about to do. I'll have to get back on the treadmill tomorrow and see how this encounter unfolds.

Thank-you for the book. I'm enjoying it!

Linda Benson said...

Once Upon - thanks so much for the nice comments on THE GIRL WHO REMEMBERED HORSES. Authors love to know when they're connecting with readers.

Hey - I hadn't thought about using an eReader on an exercise machine. Cool! And yes, it's easy to turn the page.

I also haven't got a magazine subscribtion on mine either, yet, but I'm sure that's next. I'm staying away from Angry Birds, though. hee hee.