A Book and a Nook

I am someone who likes the smell of a book.  Maybe I ate paper as a child, maybe I chewed on my Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss too much and absorbed something strange.  Whatever it is, I cannot imagine my house ever being empty of books.  But, I have a wee house, and I can only visit Ikea for bookcases a limited number of times before I have to either move or make some weighty decisions about my books.

However, I have purchased  the new e-reader from Barnes and Noble called the Nook.  I dithered for months, thinking I would never betray my beloved hardcovers and paperbacks by reading something on a "device".  One day, at work, I just decided "what the hell" and bought it.  I immediately had to play with it, and see for myself what the Nook offered.

I'm very pleased with my Nook.  It's called Super Nook, joining my family of Ipods named Papa Pod, Super Pod, and Super Wee Pod.  It's my happy family of electronics.  Bud thinks I'm crazy, and maybe he's right.  I wonder sometimes myself!  I am pleasantly surprised that I figured out how to use the Nook without a seminar for the clueless.  The manual actually being on the Nook helped, too.

I started out slow, dowloading samples of books I might be interested in reading.  One sample was  Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella.  I was happy to see it was  about two chapters in length; enough to see if I really wanted to keep reading.  I then hit "purchase" and within seconds the whole novel was on my Nook.  I just finished it this morning, and am delighted with both the book and the experience of reading it on the Nook.  The print was crisp and clear; no eye strain at all.  I could easily turn pages by either pressing the button on the side of the Nook, or swiping the bottom of the Nook display.  I could either leave a bookmark, or simply shut off the Nook, and it would take me right back to where I left off.  I'm not one to highlight passages, or write notes in my books, but Nook lets you do that, too.  Now I can keep enjoying all the books I want, but not have to worry about which pile to put them in around the house.  Of course, I've already bought a few books this week in paperback, so I still have a bit of a problem with space.  I may have to start  checking  the real estate ads after all!

So--Twenties Girl.  What a fun read!  Lara is the main character.  Her great aunt Sadie has died at 105 and her family has reluctantly gathered at Sadie's funeral.  In fact, they're the only people there, and none of them visited Sadie in her nursing home, or really cared a bit about her.  As the funeral begins, Lara is the only one who hears and sees a young lady dressed in twenties clothing who is yelling about her missing necklace.  Guess who?  Yep, it's Sadie.  She wants Lara to find her necklace, a long string of beautiful beads with a dragonfly pendant that she wore for 75 years.  She can't rest without it.

Lara can't get rid of Sadie, who proceeds to wiggle her way into Lara's life, providing Lara with some hilarious scenes  involving her ex-boyfriend, a potential new man, and her struggle to keep her headhunting business afloat.
Lara also learns along the way  that Sadie was much more than anyone ever knew, and that our age on the outside isn't always the same as how we feel on the inside.

In a time where we sometimes forget where we came from, this is a novel that reminds us that our parents, grandparents, and everyone who came before us were once young, happy, and just maybe bustin' a move to the Charleston, staying out all night, and enjoying life.  This was a fun, enjoyable read, and I look forward to Sophie Kinsella writing more novels like this one.  If you enjoy Jane Green or Emily Giffin, you will like Twenties Girl.

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A Book and a Nook