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Follow Friday: The New Library Corner

I love to read. I have always loved to read.  
I blame credit my mother. 

Either it's genetics or the fact that she read to me (even before I was born) every day until I was able to read by myself. Once I could read, I always had a book with me.  

I read a little bit of everything: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Mysteries, Horror, Romance, Thrillers, Humor, the Classics.  

Roger loves to read too.  One of the reasons we bought our house is because the living room had a huge wall with built in shelves.  They are filled to overflowing.  

Did I mention that I love to read?

So for this week's Follow Friday, I'm going to feature my favorite tools for the voracious reader:

First, if you like to read, you should check out Goodreads.  This social networking site is Facebook for bookworms.  You can list the books that you're reading, list the books that you want to read, and write reviews of the books that you've read.  Perhaps you've noticed that the right hand column of my blog has a widget that shows what I'm currently reading.  All that info gets stored on Goodreads.

Besides tracking my own books, I get updates on what my friends are reading or adding to their wish list.  Now, when I go to the library or walk into a bookstore, I don't have to say, "Hey! What was the name of that book I saw in that review online?" I go into my Goodreads app on my iphone and look it up.  It's super easy!

This leads me to my favorite new gadget: The Nook!  eReaders are very trendy right now.  In the last 6 months, use of eReaders has DOUBLED.  When gadgets like the Nook and the Kindle first came on the market, I was ambivalent. I love holding books.  I love thumbing through the pages of a book. I couldn't imagine reading off of a computer screen. I was surprised to find that the reading experience was very different and quite enjoyable. I can adjust the font and the brightness of the screen. I can easily flip to different sections and even highlight or bookmark things I want to reference later.  I can look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary.  Now, instead of packing 3-5 books plus a few select magazines every time I go on a trip, I just load the books onto my Nook and I'm ready to roll.  My current subscription to TIME magazine can now be viewed on my Nook as well and it's always waiting for me, sometimes even before I find the paper copy in the mailbox.  

One of the reasons I chose the Nook over the Kindle was its diverse document capability. Unfortunately, the Kindle has been rather selective about the kind of books (usually only books available through Amazon) that can be uploaded to the device.  The Nook, on the other hand, allows books in ePub or PDF format. I can borrow ebooks from the public library as well as load PDFs of research articles for work and then take those documents with me wherever I go.  I understand that Kindle is loosening their rules on this sometime before the end of the year so perhaps the Nook vs. Kindle choice will be a toss-up very soon.  

So before I close today's Follow Friday, a genuine note of thanks is due to my mother. Not only did she instill in me a love of reading from a very early age, but she was the one that got my Nook for me.  It was an early birthday and Christmas present for this year and it's one of the best gifts I've ever received.  Thanks Mom!

Happy reading!

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