Maybe I'm just old fashioned.

I've seen a lot of ads lately for ereaders. Kindle. Nook. Other various knockoff brands.

I'm intrigued by the concept and in many ways it's a good one. Buying ebooks saves trees, you can carry multiple books around as well as newspapers, magazines and what have you easily and well contained. It's small and portable so you don't have to lug around a bulky book, especially if it's hardcover.

I know a lot of people who have ereaders who love them. I know others who love the idea and have one on their wish list.

Personally, I'm still on the fence.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but there's something I really love about holding that book in my hands. I like the small of it, the feel of actual pages and the action of turning those pages one by one until I reach the back cover. It's comforting in many ways to hang on to the story in physical form and get lost in the excitement of what's between the front and back covers. Maybe it's just me, but I don't quite see the charm and wonderment occurring reading a book off a screen.

Not only that, but reading off a screen tends to hurt my eyes. I suppose the ereader screen is a bit different than a computer screen, but it's a screen none the less.

There's just something exciting about seeing that front cover with the (hopefully) engaging and not overdone cover art, the way the title is laid out and the font used. Being able to run your hand over that and know you're about to take another journey into an altered universe where you can escape when reality gets too much.

So there you have it. As much as the ereaders have going for them, I'm just not sure I'm ready to part with my good old fashioned book and the charm it brings to my life.

525,600 minutes

Happy new year!

I hope that everyone had a fabulous holiday season complete with too much food, time spent with family and friends, and of course plenty of good reads.

2010 was an interesting year for me full of a lot of ups and downs. Not my best year, but I suppose also not my worst. I began this blog in the middle of 2010, after much thought and deliberation on just what I should blog about and how to actually bring it all to fruition. It's been a great pleasure being able to share my insights and my favorite books with others and I look forward to much more of that with the new year.

That being said, I start the new year armed with a multitude of new books to jump into. As an avid reader who comes from a family of family avid readers (read: my mother) I was gifted a handful of books for Christmas, which I am delighted about particularly because some are by a favorite author and they all sound wonderful in their own ways.

What I received was Once in a Lifetime by Cathy Kelly, who's also the author of Past Secrets, which I loved. I also got City Dog and If Andy Warhol had a Girlfriend by Alison Pace, a favorite author of mine, and Style A to Zoe by Rachel Zoe. I die for Rachel Zoe and think she's a-mazing.

I am currently still reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. It's quite long and so it's taken me some time to get through but I am loving it. It's a real page turner full of wildly fascinating facts, interesting potential conspiracy theories and unusual adventure. I have a hard time putting it down and stepping away because I'm so captivated by Robert Langdon (the main character) and the events as they unfold. I want to stay glued to my seat and take it all in. I'm about halfway through as it is now and I have a strong suspicion it won't be too much longer before I hit the back cover.

So here's to 2011. May it be filled with love and light and loads of new stories to discover.