Library books on the Nook

I’ve had my Barnes & Noble nook ereader for about six weeks now, and feel like I finally have a pretty good grasp on this thing. I’m an avid reader, so having several books at my fingertips is a little slice of heaven during my daily commute. Plus, since it saves your page in all your books, the Nook allows me to switch from book to book willy-nilly and not worry about dropping a bookmark.

By far my favorite thing, however, is the ability to check out library books (for free). I have two major library systems to choose from, and both offer the Adobe PDF e-pub format that is supported on the Nook. If you also want to check out digital library books on your Nook, here’s a handy tutorial:

1. Get a library card. I know it sounds silly, but you have to have an account before you can check out books. Some libraries also require you to set up an online account. Get all that done first.

2. Download Adobe Digital Editions (free) from the web and install it on your computer.

3. Log into your library’s website.

4. Find an ebook that you want, and checkout. Make sure it’s an Adobe PDF or EPUB ebook (not MP3 or WMV).

5. Download the ebook file to your computer – I click on “open with” and choose Adobe Digital Editions.  The software will open and you will see your book on the right; the book may have a banner across the corner with the days left in the check-out period.

6. Connect your Nook to your computer.

7. In ADE, on the left you will see Bookshelves. Somewhere on that list should be your Nook. From the All Items list, just drag the library book from the right to the nook link on the left.

8. Disconnect your nook, and you will find the book in your “My Documents” library.

Reading and Knitting

Most of my leisure time can be boiled down to those two pursuits. Sometimes I do them at the same time.

Last night I finished knitting up the ski mask / helmet liner. And hated it. The shaping is wrong, such that the front face part is much too open; like Pacman, the face is split back to the ears. Meaning that it will not keep the ears warm. What good is that?? I also determined that I was overambitious about adding extra length to the neck part – it didn’t need it and instead ended up rolling up at the bottom edge. Unless one has the neck of a giraffe, the pattern as-written is probably just fine.

I ripped the ski mask back to the neck and modified the pattern slightly in the hopes that the face opening will cover the ears. This morning I got about an inch knit on the forehead part and it’s too early to tell if my modifications are sufficient.

On the reading front, I finished up some trash novels* and picked up a book I got from Suzie for my birthday: I Never Metaphor I Didn’t Like, by Madry Grothe. What fun! The book (or at least, the first chapter, since that’s all I’ve read so far) is chock full of quotes from all sorts of people from Ghandi to Twain, Einstein to Bronte. I love the English language and the fun that can be had with it. Metaphors are expressive and entertaining; they stretch our language and encourage visualization.

* By ‘trash novels’ I mean no disrespect to authors or readers. This is just what I call the fluff reading, the entertainment-only-no-thought-needed type of book, the stuff that you can pick up and read just a couple of pages of before stuffing it back into your totebag, or go months without touching and still jump right back into the storyline. Novels, many from the Best Sellers’ rack by authors that churn them out at an inhuman rate but nonetheless manage to transport us and provide distraction while riding the bus or ferry, while waiting in line someplace, or during that half hour before bedtime when we just need to slow our brains down a bit with literary distraction.  I alternate such light reading with classics, biographies, educational material, historical fiction, or poetry; but I find that too much of the heavy stuff (reading that takes concentration and/or contemplation) bogs me down and I must throw in a medical, horror, or science fiction novel. My usual list of diversions include King, Clancy, Patterson, and Grisham, plus a variety of picks from the discount tables.

Book Review: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

What a title! So egotistical, a bit narcissistic. Author is Dave Eggers, another new one for me. Picked this book up at Barnes & Noble when they were doing a buy-two-get-one-free type of thing (I’m always a sucker for cheap books).

Back to the book: It’s weird. The introduction thing is wordy and obscure, and I almost regretted my decision to buy the book. Fortunately, I’m stubborn and I plowed on – and now I’m glad I did.

The book has an angry backbone (since it’s ‘narrated’ by a young man who has recently lost both of his parents and is now acting as a guardian to his 9 year-old brother) but plenty of bittersweet moments to keep it from being one long rant.

The thing I like best is that the writing style is unusual, in that it’s almost a stream of consciousness type of thing; the main character goes on tangents where he imagines all sorts of horrible things happening, and the the story follows it word for word. It is like recording your own imagination as it runs away from you.

An example: at one point, the main character leaves his little brother with a babysitter so he can go out to a bar and just have a good time as a young man, to get a break from playing ‘dad.’ As soon as he starts driving away from the house he begins to imagine that the babysitter is really a pedophile, who is going to torture and maim the boy in all sorts of unspeakable ways, and when he gets home he’s going to find that the babysitter has either killed the boy or that the boy has instead triumphed over the wicked babysitter and is simply awaiting dinner. You know this kind of stuff runs through your own head, and it’s odd but refreshing to see it on paper. I guess it reassures me that other people have wild imaginations, too, and that most of the terrible things we envision never come to pass.

Summary: it’s a dark novel, but with the main character has a good heart and is doing the best he can given the circumstances. There is so much life and truth to the story, it’s believable. I feel for the characters, and to me that means the book is a winner.

Book Review: Sepulchre

Today I added a new category for Book Reviews. I am an avid reader, and devour books of all sorts on a regular basis – if I’m not knitting, I’m reading (and vice versa). Sometimes the bus is just too bouncy, crowded, or hot for knitting; and sometimes I just don’t feel like knitting (GASP!) — so I always have a book in my tote bag. And seeing as how my shawls have been relegated to at-home projects, I’ve been reading on the bus more than is usual.

I’m a big fan of public libraries and have cards to both King County and Seattle library systems so that I need never fear being denied the opportunity to check out a book, whether I’m near home or work. I am about a third of the way through a book called Sepulchre, by Kate Mosse.

A sepulchre, as I’m sure you know, is a tomb – and as I’m often drawn to the macabre this book practically jumped off the shelf and into my bag. I’ve not read Kate Mosse before and I’m thoroughly enjoying this novel. It’s chock-full of intrigue, suspense, murder, and good old fashioned mystery in an historical setting with plenty of cliches (bad guys in black, stormy nights, mysterious characters, angry mobs). The main characters are female and there are two story lines running throughout, which are intertwined (of course). The setting is France (my fave) and has enough historical tidbits to keep it real while weaving a beautiful picture of Victorian Paris and French countryside, and then thrusting you into the modern-day cacophony of tourists, travel, and technology.

It’s highly detailed and moves along as a leisurely pace, allowing you to visualize and imagine. It’s a good lazy-day type of story, with lots of depth and imagery – and it’s spooky to boot.