Shortly after I started writing this blog in January, someone suggested I write about lupus more. No, I replied, the whole point of the blog was to get away from lupus. Having lupus is boring. I’ve been foggy and lightheaded and achy the last few days. Not surprising since I’d been going full-tilt boogie for a week or so, and this is the way my body responds when I’ve pushed myself too hard and tried to act like a well person.
That being said, I haven’t been reading much, just zoning out to reruns of Law and Order and HGTV. I DVRd the premiere of Treme on HBO because I could feel myself falling asleep. The same with Glee. Happy I did because I really like both of them.
I also thought on things literary that I might like to blog on if I ever have the energy. Like, it’s National Library Week, and all across the country, when people need them most, library branches are closing, and hours and personnel are being cut. A crying shame. (I get mopey when I don’t feel good).
Also, this year’s the 50th anniversary of the publication of my all-time-favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird. My aunt gave me a copy when I was 10, and I’ve been reading and rereading it ever since. Rick Bragg has a good article about author Harper Lee and his memories of the book in the most recent issue of Reader’s Digest. First time I’ve picked up the magazine in years — it was at a friend’s house — although it was a staple of my growing-up. My grandmother gave a subscription to my father for Christmas. In turn, I gave her the large-print version.
Should I get an e-book reader? If so, Kindle, Nook, Sony, iPhone, iPad? Let me know what you think. I’m planning a two-week plane/motorcoach/train trip this summer to the Canadian Rockies this summer, and I really don’t have room to haul a bunch of books. (FYI, this is a low physical activity-rated trip; I’m not hiking. Gone are those days.) Maybe I could read e-books of the five books that won the Pulitzer Prize this week because I haven’t read any of them, which is like the first time ever since I can remember. Not that my memory’s too good right now. See, I told you lupus was boring… In fact, I’m going to take a nap as soon as I find a suitable image of my brain on lupus to illustrate this post.
On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever 
Didn’t realize how much I’ve missed your column in the Sentinel until today’s blog. Keep it up – I LOVE it! Just keep breathing. . .
Should it be 50 years for TKAM?
You may think lupus is boring, but I have a couple of really good friends with it, and I’d bet they would love to hear about it. I was trying to convince one of my friends to start blogging about how she deals with it on a day-to-day basis, combats the effects of steroids, etc. Anyway…
Love my Kindle. Love, love, love. When we travel, it sure is nice to not have to pack one bag just with books. I saw something on another blog today though, where the iPad had an Alice in Wonderland loaded on it, where things moved, like a pop up book. I’m in lust with that.
Correction: Yes, 50th anniversary of To Kill A Mockingbird. See, I told you I was in a fog. And I was never good with numbers!
My vote is for iPad. I had one in my hands today and it would be a wonderful way to read a book, the newspaper, your blog, email, etc. It’s the old sales trick. Put it in your hands and you are sold. Honestly.
Hi Nancy,
I started Valencia when I was 52 and had to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” for a class which was a re-read for me. That said it was probably forty years ago that I fell in love with the book and loved it all the more at age 52. Lupus may be boring to you but I bet people who Google the term that would come across your blog might get some encouragement from you. OK–will leave that topic alone.
Have you read “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” ? Fantastic!
Thirdly, I’m so jealous of your planned trip. 🙂
Nance, Jay and I both love his Kindle. I can show it to you if you like.
Hi Nancy,
I too REALLY miss your Orlando Sentinel reviews. The Book Page is terrible now. I quote you all the time on “dumping” books, cause I`m a “dumper” myself. Thanks to Commander Coconut for telling us about this blog!
I can`t afford any electronic reader–not the purchase price, but BUYING all the books. I read too much. BUT, I want one–especially for travel, so I don`t have to drag 3 hard cover library books along. The Nook has me tempted cause you can “lend” out your books to others for 2 weeks. Now, all I have to do is convince the members of my Book Club to get one,too. The iPad is interesting, also, cause it does multiple things–I figure I`ll get more for my money, although I`m not really a game player. Let us know if you get one & how you like it!
Hiya Nancy! TKAM… my fave book also! Did I ever tell you about being in Monroeville, the site of fictional Maycomb?
eReaders… I like to flex a book and make it physically part of me as I hunker down into it. A Kindle can’t flex. I’m not necessarily a Luddite– here I am online!– but some things are just non-replaceable. Yah yah, I appreciate all the benefits of an eReader, but I also appreciate my tired, worn, 2-columns per page copy of “Forever Amber,” complete with stains and creases and God knows what else. Now that’s a book !!
You asked for it; here goes:
Bill gave me a Kindle for my birthday two years ago. I have loved it. Among the things I have loved the most are the ability to buy books while hurtling down I-95; reading in bright sunlight; an instant dictionary for words I ought to know but don’t; the ability to enlarge type; and, perhaps my favorite perk, syncing it with my iPhone so I can read on the run (while waiting for an oil change or an appointment at the doctor’s office). Also — no small matter — it is light. When reading books such as Wally Lamb’s “The Hour I First Believed,” holding a Kindle is a lot easier than that unwieldy thing.
I have no experience with a Nook, but reviews do not rate it as high as the Kindle.
Would I trade my Kindle for an iPad? In a New York minute. Not only would it enable me to leave my laptop at home when traveling — now I can check my email and read news online in living color — I can still enjoy my Kindle books (and purchase them from Amazon) using the Kindle app available for free at the iPad app store. So, for another $200, you’re more than doubling your capacity to play. No, you can’t read it in bright sunlight, but you can read it in darker areas (trade-off v. the Kindle). It is larger than the Kindle, but I don’t find that a problem Probably weighs about the same.
You cannot — unless you spring for the 3G version of the iPad when it comes out in June — buy books without a wi-fi connection. That’s a small consideration, IMHO, if you’re using it mainly for sport and entertainment.
To me, there’s no contest. As a rabid Kindle reader who loves her gadget dearly, the iPad has got it, hands down.
I read this book long after I got out of school, and I’m so glad I did. Not having to read with an eye toward deconstruction gave me the freedom to get lost in the story. I love the balance between the elegantly simple prose with the complex stories and personalities.
As an erstwhile blogger, I completely understand where you’re coming from on writing about lupus. I have thought about starting a blog about living with depression, but I realized that focusing so much on it, dedicating so much mental time and energy to the topic would be counterproductive. Sometimes in order to live with the things we do we must focus on the things that motivate us the most.
Sometimes that motivation is the warm, slightly squishy feeling I get when I see a Kindle. It was techie love at first sight, so I’m saving my pennies.
Thanks for the techie advice. I’m leaning toward iPhone because I need a phone, and I don’t really plan to read that many books on whatever because I still love the real thing. Also, unlike CDs, I can’t digitally reproduce the books I already have and want to keep forever.
I wish there was a lend/lease program that you could try everything out for a couple weeks. I prefer B&N online to Amazon, so that’s another thing to consider. I’m hoping Verizon will support new iPhone this summer because ATT coverage is the pits at Edisto.
Much to ponder.
The iPad w/3G is so tempting, so expensive; but also I understand they messed up the available fonts for easy reading.
I can’t read in the car, but I can on train and plane.
I love reading you, whether about Lupus or whatever. I’m still strictly a paper and ink reader myself, but I have a friend who got a Kindle last winter just before she was laid up for a week with the flu, and now she swears by it!
Happy Trails!
I haven’t thought of FOREVER AMBER in a zillion years! I used to sneak it out of the bookcase and read it when my mom wasn’t around and then put it back before she would miss it. It took me a long time to read it, and I was only 10 years old so it was VERY exciting to me. I hated the ending. However, I have read it at least two times since I “grew up” and only wish it were still in my mom’s bookcase because I would probably read it again. Somewhere along the years it has been lost.
I won’t be getting an e-reader simply because I do too much reading in the bathtub, and I’m fairly certain none of them are waterproof.
That said, I HAD to check out the iPad because I love everything Apple (25-year user). Love my iPhone too. I had absolutely no problem reading the demo of Winnie the Pooh on the iPad. Don’t think you’ll have a problem with the fonts Apple offers.
I’ll probably start a war here, but every Apple screen or monitor I’ve ever seen was incredibly clearer than others.
Enjoy your trip!
Molly
Hi, Nancy,
I for one would love to see you blog about your personal experience with Lupus, a disease I know little about. I suspect you’d educate a lot of us out there as well as be helpful to those who have the disease.
On an unrelated note, I recommend two books I recently read: Day After Night by Anita Diamant, a novel based on the true story of Israeli immigrants interned by the British, and Devotion, a memoir by Dani Shapiro.
Best,
Linda
I personally don’t have time to read a book anymore. I listen to them. That said…. I have a friend that has a SONY READER. He’s and obsessive reader. He finds the Sony easy to download to, easy to use when reading. He finds his books all over the internet not just Amazon so in this manner he is not limited to one site. Sony is also compatable with most library sites. Enjoy your trip!
Update. I bought a Nook, which I am calling Nanook. I was going to just get iPhone and work my way up to iPad, but the new version of the Nook has free 3G wireless and an Internet browser. So far, it’s good, but I see as a reading accesory, not a replacement. Probably several blog posts to come. Yes, that darned lupus has put me behind again. Lots of new books!