Saturday Discussions: E-Books

This week I want to talk about e-books. For Christmas, I am getting a Nook which will open up my world to e-books. My biggest problem is that I'm not sure I'm ready to dive into that world.

I've been avoiding e-books since their creation because I love the feeling of a book in my hands and seeing the progress as I turn each page. Books make me happy. Sure, having all my books in one tiny machine is a cool concept but what would happen to my beautiful bookshelves? How would I be able to see all the spines?

And as an aspiring author, I don't want to see the novel I'm slaving over go from the screen on my computer to the screen of an e-reader. I want a print and paper copy in my hands.

So why am I getting an e-reader?

My reasoning is mostly to get novellas and open myself up to e-ARCs. I think e-readers are a cool concept but they will never replace the wegiht of an actual book.

Here's what I wish would happen:

I wish that if I went to the store and bought Latest Awesome Book that said awaesome book would have a code in the back. If I typed the code into my Nook, I'd get an e-copy and some extras (if available) on my Nook for free. Or maybe that books would charge two dollars more for the e-code and that would open the e-book up to the people that spent money on the hardcopy of the novel. 

Basically, I will always be a books first advocate that happens to own a Nook for extras (I gotta get me Destroy Me after all) but owning a Nook won't change my mind about how I love to read.

What about you? How do you feel about e-readers?