My new toy
This is my new Google Nexus (8GB) Tablet.
I love it! I’m not giving up on paper books, but I have enjoyed the experience and convenience of ereading so much more than I expected!
Things I love about reading on my tablet:
(1) It takes up less room. I have a deep fear of running out of reading material while on vacation (Or at the grocery store. Or in the car. What if I broke down and had to wait three hours for the tow-truck?). Now all I need is my Nexus. (Okay, I admit I am still carrying a backup paperback. Just in case there’s an EMP.)
(2) Samples! I did not anticipate this, but I love the ability to go online whenever I hear about a book that sounds interesting, and easily download a sample. [I will add, however, that the Amazon Kindle samples are the most reliable so far in terms of providing enough actual book text to judge. Several other apps gave me samples that stopped before the actual book began, due to long TOC, acknowledgements, and other frontmatter].
(3) Library eBooks! I don’t know what it’s like in other states/countries, but there’s actually quite a large collection available here in Maine.
(4) The physical experience. Specifically, I find it easier to read and eat or drink (or both) with the tablet propped on my knee, or held in one hand. And when it’s chilly I can wrap up in a blanket and poke my finger out to tap for a page turn as needed, rather than freezing my hand holding the book open continuously.
Things I don’t love as much:
(1) It takes a few seconds to start up. Not a huge deal, but it’s longer than flipping open a paperback. Plus if I am reading bits and snips at a time (while waiting in line at the store, when my husband runs off to get a drink of water while we’re watching Project Runway) it’s less convenient to just pick up.
(2) I need to keep the battery charged.
(3) Footnotes (at least the ones in Ernest Cline’s READY PLAYER ONE) didn’t work that well, navigation-wise. I couldn’t click on them easily, and once I did I got flipped to the end of the chapter with no obvious way to return. Perhaps this is handled better in other books/apps though.
(4) Browsing. I found the GooglePlay store and Nook Store to be frustrating to navigate if I just wanted to poke around. Amazon directs you to the Amazon website, which is much more usable. It’s fine if you know the book you want, but I don’t expect I am going to be making impulse buys based on browsing. All the books I have sampled or purchased were found via word-of-mouth.
I can babble more about why I chose a Nexus (rather than a Samsung, Kindle, iPad, or Nook) if anyone out there is curious. Just comment and let me know!
In preparation for our upcoming vacation to England (eee!) I’ve loaded it up with the following:
THE UNNATURALISTS by Tiffany Trent (YA steampunkish fantasy, takes place in an alternate London!)
THE TRAITOR IN THE TUNNEL by Y S Lee (YA historical mystery, takes place in Victorian London!)
ICEFALL by Matthew J Kirby (Has nothing at all to do with London, but I read a sample and did not want to stop!)
Plus a half-dozen Georgette Heyer books I got on sale during her birthday celebration at Sourcebooks. I’ve loved the few Heyer novels I’ve read previously, so it was very hard not to just buy them all.
I am hoping to get Sarah Rees Brennan’s UNSPOKEN too, as I hear it takes place in the Cotswolds, but it doesn’t come out until the middle of my vacation, so we’ll see how that works overseas!
If anyone has other favorites set in the Cotswolds or London please recommend away!