Book Trends

Last year at this time I was patting myself on the back for having a successful holiday season and looking forward to a long and happy book selling career.

In the last twelve months the e-book market has literally exploded. No longer is the Amazon Kindle king of the hill; now we're watching sales of the Nook Color, IPad, Sony Reader and others soaring. Significant price cuts, 3G, Wi-Fi, touch screens, web surfing and full color have made these little devices much more popular. One of the little devils even turned up under my Christmas tree! I am now the guilty owner of a Nook Color.

For the first week I only used my Nook at home with the blinds closed, late at night, under the covers. I was sure the book police would show up and confiscate my business license. When it didn't happen I came out into the daylight and learned some cool stuff.

I have to tell you - I like it. I haven't read a lot of books with it yet, but I do use it to read my favorite magazine while I'm on the treadmill. I check email, write and upload my newsletters (yes, this is from my Nook!), surf the web, listen to music and a host of other activities. On the downside, it's heavier then the average book and I worry about carrying it places because it was a lot more expensive than a book! I'm still finding that the books are more expensive than here in the store but its fun and helpful in my daily life so I'm not completely hating it...

I'll post more as I have time to investigate further and I would love to hear your thoughts... did you get one? give one? want one? Where is the future of our books heading?