Unless you have totally disconnected yourself from society you know that nowadays reading is less of a “fun” thing to do, especially because people make up the excuses that books are heavy, tedious, and overall boring. With so many other things to do than read, why carry a heavy book, with a seemingly endless number of pages around with you?

I have never agreed with this mindset and have always covertly carried a book in my backpack or purse for when topics in class are getting a bit too dry or looking at overpriced shirts is getting monotonous. Although my purse does make my shoulder hurt from carrying a copy of my favorite book, Anthem by Ayn Rand, it has been worth it to delve into a different world while still being among the regular hustle and bustle at Tanforan mall.

I used to see people with their eBooks and say, “Oh, wow…they are just trying to show off how much money they have…they could just carry around a regular book.” But after a trip to Barnes and Nobles, I learned a lot about the Nook with the help of the staff and actually committed an infidelity towards my precious hardcovers by buying my very own Nook.

The day I bought it, I had stopped at Barnes and Nobles to buy a book for school, and a few fun reads. Apparently, my fun reads were making my subtotal $72, for two books. No, they were not hardcover, and although they were relatively new, I did not expect to spend almost $100 on books.

My aunt had accompanied me, and noticed that my eagerness to buy the books was not going to die down soon, so she decided that if I were going to spend $80 dollars on three books, she would buy me a Nook instead.

Honestly skeptical, I accepted the gift but the words of my best friend, junior Marie Johnson, rang in my head, “The eBook does make reading and other things easier, but it really does not beat reading an actual book.”

I agreed and having always been somewhat of a technology fearing luddite I feared that with the purchase of this eBook, I would be facilitating the demolition of libraries, the burning of books, and so many other horrors.

Thankfully, though, I was very mistaken and within a few hours of having the Nook in my hand my fears had melted away. Despite rumors that you must expend a certain amount of money every month to be a member and pay a membership fee is lie. With a nook you pay for the device, and that is it. Economically, the Nook cuts book prices in half and though with a Kindle you can only buy books on Amazon, you can buy on Amazon.com and barnes&nobles.com with a Nook, to find the best prices available. I got home and bought the same books I had wanted for only $28, and my one schoolbook has even come out to be free.

I played with the Nook and found out that my fear that eBooks would put libraries out of business was also not true because libraries had set up something that lets eBook readers check out books on their nooks. Not only, would I still be able to read library books, with over a million free books on my nook, I downloaded The Phantom of the Opera, Pride and Prejudice, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin, all for free. I had gone to the “dark side” as one would presume. Although I now enjoy reading from my Nook, I do not think it is something for everyone.

For “screen-haters” I suggest getting the Nook I purchased that is only black and white and has a screen made to be read in sunlight that actually resembles a book page. Although you may think looking at a screen will hurt your eyes after a while, I know mine have hurt after reading a lot of pages. And however much I am praising eBooks, I am not advertising them, I am only sharing my experiences.

Hopefully people who do enjoy reading and have a bent bookshelf that is about to break (much like mine at the moment), I suggest getting a Nook. For people who believe tradition is tradition and refuse to get a Nook, I say, power to you, but do not forget that the world will change and make advances, so do not let tradition keep you behind.