We are so close to giving away those Kindles! I can’t wait. Be sure to check back at 6 p.m. on December 22. I’ll take entries right up until noon that day. And keep buying SECRETS OF THE LOTUS! I’ll give a minimum of $25 to the National Wildlife Federation, but if my royalties go above and beyond that, all the better.

Now I’ll just let you know how very much I love my new Nook. I’ve been playing around with it for the past couple of days and the only differences I can see between it and the iPad are:
1. Nook is smaller. (The reason I wanted it!)
2. Nook’s speakers are not as good as iPad’s. (It does have an earphone jack!)
3. No word processing capability on the Nook. Documents are read-only. (But then, that’s why I have a notebook computer, right?)
4. I haven’t figured out how to put movies and music on the Nook yet, although I know it is possible. Not quite as easy as synching my computer and my iPad was, though. (At least, not yet.)

But the books are awesome! I’ve blogged before about my love for Sherlock Holmes, right? Well, I downloaded a complete illustrated Sherlock Holmes volume for $1.99! I had most of these on the iPad for free from Project Gutenberg, which is still one of the most worthwhile projects I’ve ever encountered on the Internet. I haven’t found any Gutenberg books in the Barnes & Noble online bookstore yet, but I won’t give up hope. In addition to the Sherlock Holmes volume, I’ve downloaded Kevin Wallis’s BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THINGS and Nicholas Sparks’s SAFE HAVEN. I’m looking forward to delving into both of them.

I’ll finish up this post by pointing out my new feature section (upper right below the picture of my creek). It currently highlights the project I’m planning for January. As soon as I get the schedule set, I’ll post that there, but let me just say I’m really, REALLY excited about it. I hope some of you who came here because of the Kindle giveaway will return to check out January’s big events.

Breathe in, breathe out!