I bought a nook and love it. I've never used a kindle so don't have anything to compare to. It is easy to use. The screen is not backlit so you don't get eye fatigue. It is like reading a book. The touch screen at the bottom is easy to use. There are plenty of free books to download - the classics and newer books by current authors. There is a nook forum board where you can get lots of information http://www.nookboards.com/forum/index.php It uses at&t wireless verses the kindle which uses sprint. I've never really trusted sprint. Anyway. I love it and highly recommend it.

Good morning from rainy, dreary California. Whether you call it aging or stupidity, I ended up spending last night at the emergency room. Yesterday was my day to open the shop and James went with me. Father left home around 2:00 to attend the Christmas Party/ Annual Event for the Audio Engineering Society Christmas. We closed up shop and headed for home. I had been a craving Jimboy's Steak Taco salad so picked one up on the way home. I have been on a strict no eating out diet since my blood pressure had been giving me issues. I gave in to the cravings. Come supper time I cooked James some french fries and we sat down to eat. The first bite of the salad was delicious. The second bit had a nice piece of steak. A little big I thought absently, but shouldn't be a problem. The nice piece of steak had a mind of its own and decided not to go down and lodged itself in my esophagus, just far enough down that I couldn't spit it out. I've had bits of bread and chicken get semi lodged before so proceeded to drink some water to wash it down. All of the sudden, I was coughing and choking because the water backed up and wouldn't go down. Yes, I spewed, but the steak didn't come out. Went to the bathroom and tried the finger method to get myself to throw it up. Didn't work. I gave it a few minutes to work itself down, then tried some ginger ale. The fizz usually works, but no go. I couldn't eat or drink anything. I could breath fine as long as I didn't panic and spit out saliva as it collected in my throat. James wanted me to call 911 and I told him if I start having trouble breathing or pass out, that's what I wanted him to do. I called father, told him the problem and asked him to come home immediately. I wanted, I needed to go to the emergency room. One of the men in his group is a doctor and he told John the same thing - If I couldn't drink water to go to emergency. James paced the floor with me as I tried to remain calm about this meat lodged in my throat which was extremely uncomfortable and painful. He made it home in record time and we went to the emergency room. Surprisingly, it wasn't very busy and I only had to wait about 15 minutes. In the meantime they gave me a barf bag to spit up in. After all the questions, the doctor came in and told me the scoop. They would give me adderral, a muscle relaxant and valium. They would give it two hours and see if the muscles in my throat relaxed enough for the "foreign body" (their word) to work itself down. If it didn't, then the GI doctor would come in and remove it using a probe of some sort. I forgot what they called it. The Doctor said the 75% of the time, the relaxation technique didn't work and they had to remove the object. They laid me down, juiced me up with all this medicine, constantly monitored my blood pressure which of course has gone through the roof during all this. I do have to say that since Kaiser has computerized all our medical records, everyone knew my medical history, what med's I'm taking, what I'm allergic to, etc. I sent James and John off for the period of time and they went back over to the AES party. James had a great time mingling with all the musicians and checking out the equipment. They came back after two hours, just in time for the doctor to decide he would have to remove the object. They called in their GI specialists, ousted John and James from the room and went to work. They gave me a waking sedative, oxygen, and laid me on my side. The doctor kept patting me on the shoulder, telling me to relax. Yeah, easier said than done when you are going to stick a probe down my throat. At times like these, all the yoga and meditation relaxation techniques pretty much go bye bye. I just concentrated on breathing and anyway by that point, the medicines had kicked in and relaxed me. He stuck this o ring thing in my mouth to bit on and keep my mouth open. Then sprays a numbing agent in my throat, telling me not to swallow it. Easier said than done, but he was fast with the sucker machine. He did this twice, then proceeded to stick the gadget down my throat. No it wasn't fun, but he got it out. To be honest, it made me pee my pants. But no one seemed to notice. Afterwards they showed me the pictures of the x-ray of the piece of meat, plus areas showing my esophagus was bruised. We got home around 12:30 a.m. and now I'm on a liquid diet for today and soft foods for the next couple days. They prescribed Omeprazole which is supposed to help relax my throat. My throat doesn't feel bad, but I'm am all over sore. I do have to say the nurses and doctors were very nice and friendly, concerned and helpful, which really helped and explained each step before they did it. I'm feeling fortunate this morning, that the thing didn't cut my breath off and I didn't pass out leaving James in a panic of what to do. We discussed it later and made sure he knew to call 911, then run across the street and get our neighbor who is retired paramedic. I'm really not sure how he'd react in a real emergency. Whether he'd panic or do fine, left to handle things himself. Let's hope I never have to find out.

There is a blog where all can link to their blogs, if that's what you mean. The link to 52 books blog is in my signature.

Every week I will be posting a Book A Week in 2010 thread. It's not one particular thread. Plus elegantlion has started a social group you can check out. Or you can sign up on the blog

Yeah Julia. Happy to hear that!

There are no hard and fast rules. The challenge is all about reading, pure and simple. For some folks it is difficult to even find the time to read one book a week. It helps to have a goal and an incentive to read. Plus it is all about fun and enjoying your reading time. Having someone to say to "Hey I'm reading xxx this week, what about you?" Sharing. The goal is 52 books. However you manage the goal of 52 books is up to you.

I know some of you don't post on the general board so wanted to make sure you knew about this challenge if you want to join in. Kay started the 2009 challenge at the beginning of the year and dropped out for personal reasons. I ended up taking it over. I've had a few folks expressing interest in doing another round for 2010. Who would like to continue and who would like to join in? The rules are simple. 1) Read at least one book a week 2) Re-reads count as long as they are reread after the beginning of the year 3) All forms of books count including audio books and e-books. 4) School related books don't count - unless you want them too. To keep it simple, even though Jan 1 is a Friday, the book week would start on Sunday the 3rd, so we have the regular week instead of going from Thursday to Wednesday. Who wants to read 52 books in 52 weeks? The weekly thread will be set up on the General board and posted every Sunday as of January 3rd.

Yes, the classics are so much harder to read not only because of the writing style, but the length. I might manage to read one classic a month. If you want to set a goal to read a certain number of classics, then go for it. You can still report your progress here. Set your own goal, let us know what it is and we'll be here cheering you on. Maybe we should have a alternative challenge within the challenge - Read one classic a month.

Kay started the 2009 challenge at the beginning of the year and dropped out for personal reasons. I ended up taking it over. I've had a few folks expressing interest in doing another round for 2010. Who would like to continue and who would like to join in? The rules are simple. 1) Read at least one book a week 2) Re-reads count as long as they are reread after the beginning of the year 3) All forms of books count including audio books and e-books. 4) School related books don't count - unless you want them too. To keep it simple, even though Jan 1 is a Friday, the book week would start on Sunday the 3rd, so we have the regular week instead of going from Thursday to Wednesday. Who wants to read 52 books in 52 weeks?

Hi Rosie, I read a book by Virginia Woolf this year for one of my classes and hated her writing as well. I don't like stream of consciousness style writing. So don't feel bad about it. You got a good taste of whether you liked her or not. I found I didn't like the writing of most of the classic writers such as woolf, joyce and a few others, simply because of their writing style. Tolstoy I loved however. Go figure. Not very inspiring I know but I'll be trying wilkie collins and a few others this coming year. Hopefully will enjoy them. In regard to the 52 books challenge, I am so glad you have enjoyed it and it has given you incentive to read. I hadn't planned on continuing...but starting to have second thoughts. I may can the 52 books blog since hardly anyone reads it or posts their reviews to it. But perhaps I could continue and host the 2010 go round on the forum. I'll put it up for a vote in a post and see whose interested?

Today is the start of Week 49 in the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks and starting book # 50. We are winding down the year with 3 weeks left and heading towards our goal of reading 52 books for the year. Only 3 weeks left in the year and only 2 weeks to Christmas. Have you gotten your Christmas shopping done yet? I haven't even started, nor do we have our tree or outside lights up. We set out to put up our Christmas lights and while pulling out the lights, started cleaning up the garage. We got into a throwing away mode and I'm happy to say we have a clean garage and we can now fit on of the cars inside. Yippee!! Speaking of Christmas shopping, I'm in the mood to buy books for the holidays. Buy Books for the Holidays is the brainchild of several bloggers and is the goal is quite simple. Buy books, support your local indie bookstores and think about contributing to literacy charities. At the blog you can find out tons of information including the latest, a wonderful post about books for boys ages 0 to 9, spotlight on independent book stores and profiles on charities. So give someone you love a book, maybe two or three or more and Buy Books For The Holidays! and on a personal front - I received my Nook and I'm absolutely delighted.

I finally started George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. Interesting so far, trying not to get all the characters confused.

Thursday is the start of Week 48 in the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks and starting book # 49. We are winding down the year with 4 weeks left and heading towards our goal of reading 52 books for the year. I'll be off line tomorrow so posting this now. It's been fun hosting this challenge and running the 52 books in 52 weeks blog. As of December 31st, the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge will be over for 2009. I will not be continuing another 52 books challenge for 2010. I will keep the blog up, it will become inactive. but kept up in order for folks to refer back to the reviews. As of January 1st, I will be hosting a new challenge. It is called Mind Voyages Science Fiction and Fantasy reading challenge and the site is up now. There will be various voyages through the galaxy to different planets exploring the Hugo and Nebula winners, with side trips through the different decades reading the nominees, and checking out Philip K. Dick and Robert Heinlein. Plus, since I like a wide variety of books and like to explore, can't possibly imagine a reading challenge without exploring new releases that come out in 2010. Come check it out and join in. What are you reading this week?

Forgot - reading The Last Ember by Daniel Levin. Pretty Good so far. Lots of roman history involved in the story.

I saw that, but forgot to add it to my list. I'll probably be adding lots of books to the lists. Side trips reading all the nominee books, etc. So many to choose from.

My sis in law let me borrow The Lost city of z and will be reading it soon. Look forward to hearing what you think of it

Thursday is the start of Week 47 in the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks and starting book # 48. The count down - We have 5 weeks left. Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Hope you had a good day and have a relaxing weekend to read, read, read.

Just finished Charlaine's Harris "Living Dead in Dallas." Next up "The last ember" by Daniel Levin. Procrastinating - should be writing, but hubby hovering and I'm hungry, plus james is playing mario on the computer. Too much distraction. Have to go lock myself in a room to write.

Tomorrow is the start of Week 46 in the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks and starting book # 47. Guess what? The count down - We have 6 weeks left. I'll be off line tomorrow so posting this early. Even in the midst of nanowrimo I've been managing to read since I don't watch much tv. Currently reading J.D. Robb's Kindred in Death. If you are looking for book challenges for 2010, there is a whole host of neat ones listed on Novel Challenges. Insanely enough I have signed up for 13 challenges, some of which are carry overs from this year, a couple perpetual challenges and my very own challenge reading the Hugo Award books - science fiction. Crazy but I'm a book lover. My challenges for 2010 are listed here. Some books I haven't decided on yet and I'm making an effort to read ones that have been sitting on the shelves for a while. And a lot of them are crossovers. What have you been reading this week? And are you making any plans to join any challenges next year or have a goal in mind. Please share.

Tomorrow is the start of Week 45 in the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks and starting book # 46. Guess what? The count down - We have 7 weeks left. I'm posting this a bit early since I won't be online tomorrow. What happened to everyone last week? Come on - don't be shy. Even if you haven't made the goal, lets us know how many books you've read so far. We only have 7 weeks left gang - let's go out with a bang.

Today is the start of Week 44 in the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks and starting book # 45. Guess what? The count down - We have 8 weeks left. Time got away from me today - busy, busy. I'm 2/3rd of the way through Inkheart. What are you all reading this week.

My weekly report is finally up. Includes pictures from boy scout capitol march last weekend.

I added you as writing buddy on nano site. There are two or three folks from here on my buddy list you can add as well. Check out social group here nanowrimo that elegantlion started and join in the fun discussions and cheering every body on. If you haven't already. I haven't checked lately.

I manage to do it between my class, homeschooling, working two days at week at our business, keeping up with the house and hubby. Just have to get up a couple hours earlier than everyone. Jump in and get your feet wet - see how it goes.

Today is the start of Week 43 in the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks and starting book # 44. Guess what? The count down - We have 9 weeks left. Only 9 weeks left to 2009. Where has the year gone? I'll be cutting back a bit (cutting back, not stopping - I can't stop reading) on my reading during November, because I'll be busy writing. National Novel Writing Month starts on November 1st. Fly by the seat of your pants, write 50,000 words in 30 days. It's an amazing challenge. Join me and be my writing buddy. I'm mytwoblessings on the challenge sight. We also have a social group started by Elegantlion. Be sure to check it out. So, what are you reading this week?