Digital readers and Audio Books

I have wanted a digital reader or a Kindle for a long time. I have not purchased either because I have no money. Sadly, that's the story of my life. I have no problem with regular books. I love to read, but some books are kind of bulky. And putting them in my bag with all of my other belongings runs the risk of ripping covers and pages accidentally. The other day I asked Colleen to get my cell out of my bag for me. I have a huge sack like bag that I use for my everyday use. Colleen pulled out a bottle of water, a bottle of Pepsi, my wallet, my Walkman, Mum's iPod, a note book, my makeup bag, a Harry Potter book, my glasses, car keys, and another book all before she got to the bottom and found a ton of loose change and my cell still connected to its charger, that I had been using at work. Sadly, I usually carry around a lot more! A digital reader would come in very handy for my just for the benefit of lightening up my bag. I almost always keep a book handy in case I am left waiting for someone or am bored wherever I end up. I have something to pull out and read. With real books I am limited to the amount I can carry along with me. I cant grab six books and say I might want to read one of these at the gym this afternoon. I would need an entire extra bag for books. I already carry my regular bag, my lunch box, and my gym bag! I don't have enough arms for any more bags! With a digital reader I know I can buy a cover to keep it from getting all scratched up, something that happens to all of my electronics. I have dropped my cell in so many parking lots there is a permanent parking lot dent in the top. With a digital reader or Kindle you can buy and download many a book and always have them available. If I don't feel like reading The Shining I can read Such a Pretty Fat (I have no idea if I would even be able to download both books but you get my point). I would never get rid of my "real" books. I love them. I cant even bring myself to sell the ones I don't want on Amazon.com. What if someday all of out electronicals failed and I didn't have a single paper back handy? What would I do? I personally would end up hugging myself in the padded room. No TV, computers, cells, or digital books! AACCKK just the idea is giving me a  panic attack! 
If I had my choice between a Sony Digital Reader and a Kindle I would so go for the Kindle. The kindle has built in WIFI! Who doesn't love WIFI! I could go online on my Kindle find a book buy and download it and then its right there ready for me to read! Amazing. A Sony doesn't have that, you need a computer to do all the buying and downloading. That doesn't mean if I was given a Sony I would be all bitchy about it and be mad because it wasn't what I wanted because I do want it, they come in pretty colours like pink!
I want to go online download some books put them on some sort of electronic portable book reading device and go away. Where I go I don't care. I think it would be even easier for me to read  that the gym with one. Real books and magazines are bulky and awkward. A digital reader is smaller and thin. Oh how I want one. Family members this is a very less then subtle hint that my birthday is very close I mean 29 days away. Get me one!

Audio books, another thing I am a huge fan of. I love listening to books I have already read, I have a hard time with books I haven't read yet because I have a short attention span and if I get distracted I must start all over. The other night I was doing an overnight at the hotel I work at. I always bring my netbook with me. I listen to Pandora.com, watch TV at Netflix.com or just amuse myself with the tragedy that is Facebook. All of the about makes a very long, quiet, lonely overnight go by slightly faster. That particular night I remembered I had downloaded The Shining from audible.com. It took me a while to decide whether I wanted to listen or not. A few years ago I made the mistake of reading The Shining while doing overnights at the hotel. And I'm sorry I love Stephen King to death, one of my favorite authors but I was not a fan of that book under those circumstances. I have read the The Shining at least a dozen times since I was 14, it never once scared me until I read about that dark, lonely, scary hotel in a dark, lonely, scary hotel. I have worked at this particular hotel for going on five years now and I still wont go in most rooms of the hotel. I did decide to listen to the audio book. I figured if its just background noise it cant be so bad. It wasn't. I had totally forgotten the first half of the book was barely even scary. It passed the six hours I had left of work like a dream. 
I do have a few audiobooks that I havent read yet because I downloaded them specifially for the gym. When I am at the gym I like to zone out and I need something to listen to to keep me sane. I have a Sofie Kinsella book that for the life of my I cant rememver the name fo it, Its one of those girl meets boys, hates boy, boy falls in love with her, she falls in love with him types. Amazingly cute. Sadly I love boy meets girl and happy endings occur books, It makes me  think it just may happen to me  someday. I also have The Jewish Book of Why. It was recommended to me  by Cantor Elise, her and the Rabbi are helping me to begin my conversion process. The last audio book I have is the first Sookie Stackhouse book. These books were/are the inspiration for the HBO show True Blood, a show I don't watch but I hear the books are great. Audio books at the gym keep me focused on listening to the story not whats going on around me or "OMG  Ive only been here for five minutes I have an entire 55 more to go!" 


I need distractions at the gym and in the rest of  my life. That's where audio books and digital readers come in. I love to read! Its just that some times carrying around books is a hassle and you need something more compact.