Second Emulation

Rediscovering Bookish Bliss: My Switch from Kindle to Barnes & Noble

• Shawn Juarez • Episode 50

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Remember the thrill of wandering through the aisles of a bookstore, the smell of fresh ink on paper, the cozy nook that seemed to call your name? That's the feeling I recaptured when I made the leap from Amazon Kindle to Barnes & Noble for my e-books and audiobooks. This episode is a tale of literary love rekindled, as I share the frustrations with Amazon that nudged me away and the rewards of Barnes & Noble that warmly welcomed me back. It's a journey not just about platforms and purchases, but about finding comfort in the pages of a book and the familiar voice of a storyteller in the dark.

Settle in as I recount the surprisingly snag-free shift to Barnes & Noble's world, where transactions are as smooth as a page-turner's plot and the perks of their audiobook subscription lure you into story after story. Imagine the delight of replacing podcasts with the immersive narratives of audiobooks, and the anticipation of expanding my library with both digital delights and tangible tomes—like a signed edition from Christopher Paolini that's got me on the edge of my seat. Join me, and perhaps you'll be inspired to reexamine your own reading rituals, discovering anew the joy and tranquility that a good book can bring into your life.

Want more of Second Emulation? Stay connected with us by following our social media channels! By clicking the link below to stay up to date with us on our socials and Game review streaming channel.

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 📍 Welcome to Second Emulation, the podcast that explores all things pop culture, from movies and TV shows to the latest anime releases. Join us as we dive into the world of entertainment, sharing our thoughts, opinions, and insights on the latest trends and releases. With a focus on what's hot and what's not, we're your go-to source for all things pop culture. So sit back, relax, and let's get started

 Welcome new and current listeners  this episode is going to be about  me making this transition from  Amazon Kindle  to  Barnes and Nobles  and why I made that pivotal move.  All right, so let's get into it  I got myself an Barnes and Noble's account  for audio and ebooks. Now, for those who don't know, Barnes and Noble's has been around for a very long time.

For me, it holds a very special place. It's a very, it's one of the very few  last brick and mortar bookstores. For those who don't know about bookstores, it's a, it's not a made up place. It's a. It's not magical. It is a physical place where you go to buy books  for those who might be younger who, buy things digital. 

Before Amazon came along and Kindle, we used to go buy books at Barnes Nobles. And so Barnes Nobles or the other bookstore borders, which no longer is around.  Barnes Nobles has stood the test of time against  Amazon.  Now,  Barnes Nobles has a special place because I grew up with Barnes Nobles. So it holds a special place in my heart. 

But. Around the time Amazon came, I got myself, I drank the Kool Aid, as you can say, and got the Kindle,  got the, started buying ebooks, which were convenient  because I don't like to travel with  My books in my bag because they would get damaged and then they get worn and your investment on that book would just be, wasted.

The e book readers were the best thing for you at the time.  So we fast forward to now.  Why did I make the switch? Now the reason why I made the switch is because recently  Amazon changed their  way they you do purchases on their apps through third parties so Like on my phone, or any tablet, before you can go into the Kendo app.

And, if I want to buy a book or an audiobook, I would just hit buy the book and it would be there, so I went onto the app, doing my normal work. Routine went to go buy a book or sample a book and I was greeted by this message that told me that I can no longer buy the book that I wanted, I would have to  go to the main website  and purchase the book itself from there.

So it was telling me it was redirecting me to the Amazon website.  This didn't make any sense. Then what was the purpose of having the Kindle app if you couldn't purchase the ebooks  through the app itself?  It was just, for me, it was pointless.  Because now you're telling me you're gonna have to redirect me to the main website so I could buy a book, then have to wait for it to be downloaded on the app? 

That prompted me,  it, it  made me angry  because  Any future books I wanted to buy I was now locked out of because I would have to go through these hurdles to just buy a book and then have to wait for it to be uploaded onto an app,  which didn't make any sense. So while that was happening, I was looking for alternatives that  could serve the same purpose. 

And for some reason,  I was looking for other type of, ebook readers or apps that, offer the same type of services that could fulfill those same type of needs that they weren't going to have any issues. And for some reason,  I kept coming back to Barnes and Nobles.  And I think what kind of got my attention was their membership and rewards. 

And that kind of got my attention was that they have a rewards card, a reward system  and me just going onto the website brought back all these memories of, Back in the day, and as I was perusing the website, I was thinking, do they have an app? Because...  I distinctly remember going to the store and having to buy a book, and now they have a website and I don't know...

And I do know that they have a... an e reader...  So I don't know if they have an app and if what if they follow the same protocols that Amazon's going through  So I had to do my research a bit In regards to the ins and out of just Barnes Noble and as I did more research  on Barnes Noble's their website and their app  I began to like what I saw and what I read and it just  became more clear for me that I was going to just pull the trigger and sign up because  not only that nostalgia factor of what I experienced as a kid,  just made me want to dive in, feet first. 

Now, I know some people will say, this is  what happened.  Some of my  Books that I purchase or ebooks  are now stuck on the Kindle app And I know I could hear people in the background screaming. That's why you know, you have to have physical media digital is not great and I hear you,  but I also do have physical books  the reason why I myself Do all three is for the convenience and ease factor is that I don't want to lug around a book Sometimes because sometimes it might be heavy.

Sometimes I don't want to damage it and a book is just paper. And yeah, for some people they might like that feel and that texture. Me personally, if I buy a book, I'll read it. I'll put it away. But, and part of my collection, but if I'm traveling, I don't want that book to be damaged. So I like the ease of having an ebook or maybe doing an audio book. 

And so that's why I  don't When it comes to books itself, I don't phase out  physical books completely. I like to have  all three, physical, ebook, and audio,  so  just want to make that point clear is that I don't  You know,  phase out physical books. I do have physical books myself. I just like the convenience of having an audio and an e book to accompany my physical book.

Just in case if I lose a physical book or it's damaged in some way, I still have the other two options as well.  Now, the one caveat that.  I also seem to mention is that Barnes and Nobles has a physical location while Amazon, doesn't have a physical bookstore  location. You can go to a Barnes and Nobles and tell them what book you want or you can see all the books there.

and pick up a book and walk out and have that book same day  if need be or if they don't have it have that book shipped to you so you can go in and touch the books as opposed to on amazon you could see the books listed there and have it shipped to you or you could do an ebook but the caveat there is that they also have book signings like they have events there amazon doesn't do that  now Which leads me to my point is that I have a lot of nostalgia with Barnes and Nobles because growing up  with my family, we went to a lot of midnight releases. 

For those who don't know, Barnes and Nobles was pretty  big when it came to midnight releases for books, especially for Harry Potter, Eragon, and of course, Twilight.  Like,  when I was younger, these were like the best selling books, and they drew in a crowd.  Barnes and Nobles. was packed for these midnight releases just like midnight releases for movies.

Barnes Noble had midnight releases for books you had to be the first one to get it because you could be the first one to read the book and if you finish it you could spoil it for someone else and so it was like this is before e readers. So I remember Going down, making sure we signed up for, the midnight release for several Harry Potter books, and then waiting, going to the bookstore, seeing the event, participating in the event, then doing the countdown, and then getting we have already Signed up, for all of your beading  supplies needs!

Paid for it and then just reading it. And I still to this day have my Harry Potter books that I got from that midnight release  for those midnight releases and.  I will say to this day that those things are cherished. Those  are a piece of memory. Along with the ones I got for Eragon.  I do have Twilight books there that are stored away.

But those are memories that I have. And that's one thing that I think that brought me back  to signing up with the Made This Witch  to Barnes Noble is that the memories...  are anchored that I can associate with Barnes and Nobles. I don't have that attachment with Amazon.  Barnes and Nobles, there's that fema that familiar feeling, like I know it. 

Like a long lost cousin or relative...  And I know what to expect.  And it just made things easier for me.  Now,  the one thing that was interesting and new was, I did sign up for a Barnes Noble subscription plan for their audiobooks. Now, this was very interesting, because I know,  their  app is called the Nook app.

Now, I think what they did was very clever here. That within their Nook app,  you can purchase the audio and ebooks. You don't have to actually go to another third or fourth app. It's all done within the Nook app itself.  Now, unlike,  the Kindle app,  or Audiobook, or Audible,  you have to get two different apps for that. 

This is all done within one app, so you can clearly, if you want to purchase an Audiobook, you just hit Audiobook. If you want to buy an e book, you select e book, and everything's organized on the Nook app.  I've never had something so s You know, made simple for me in my life. It was just  very simple. I didn't have to jump through any hoops. 

And  it made the purchasing,  like just the ease of making a transaction, very simple, not too complicated.

I was very pleased with it, and as I mentioned earlier, I signed up for the subscription for audiobooks, and so I've been three months in, and I have three credits,  four credits, because I used one to,  to Polanyi, who

Those who wrote Eragon, he's doing a sci fi right now. I bought his,  his sequel  to this first sci fi that he did. And I got three credits that I could use  and I'm enjoying it. And I like it. It's not too expensive. I think it's, 14 99, probably the same cost for audible, but  The Amazon might have but I just like the ease  of what Barnes Noble has done and  Because I also have a Barnes Noble's account  any Purchase that I do make That's not part of the audiobook subscription plan  earns me rewards which I Find is awesome. 

Is that  I can  put towards an audio book or put towards an e book or a physical book,  which makes it that more pleasing.  And they have two tiers for their membership. They're free and they're paid.  And,  when I've, back in the day,  Barnes and Nobles never had anything like that before. And for me, I find it, I find that the value that they're bringing to, to me, the offering,  has much value.  Because...  I'm enjoying the experience. I haven't actually made a purchase for an e book as of yet to see how much what they're calling their stamps on their card,  equates to. Right now, I've just been enjoying their audio books.

I finished,  two books so far. And I do like how everything organized into it, not too complicated.  And I didn't think I would enjoy audiobooks as much as I would. And this is someone coming. I am from who listens to a lot of podcasts. I'm someone who is a light sleeper, who likes to have noise when they sleep.

I listen to a lot of podcasts. And I've been transitioning from podcasts at night to audiobooks. And I used to do this a lot with the Kendo app which, Now I'll set a timer,  with the book so it doesn't play throughout the night. And I've been just doing that  and going through the book and I've been finding it very, appetizing in a way, since.

I can just, alternate between a podcast and an audio book and just having someone read to you, which is the most, I think that the most aesthetic thing, aesthetically pleasing thing is having, sometimes a voice actor or celebrity read you a story kind of reminds me of as a child having,  read you a bedtime story, get that nostalgia filling.

So I think it's just nice. So I've been getting, slowly, getting into more audiobooks, trying to build my collection over time and just slowly going to have to rebuild my ebook collection as well. And I've been enjoying,  make

What I'm going to say is I think I am more happy that I made the switch from  Amazon to Barnes and Nobles. And because I made that switch, I'm more relaxed and happy. I think if I would have stayed utilizing Amazon,  the Kindle app, I would have been more stressed out because I'm someone who wants to be able to read my books, have that ease of access.

And  I would have been miserable,  and not being able to have access to more books to read,  or listen to. And I think I was just looking for a reason to pull that trigger and that was it. And so I'm happy that I made that choice, switching. Yeah, I'm glad as I mentioned earlier, I think I'm glad that I made that choice and,  everything's just been smooth sailing from that point on.

And,  have I looked back, will I go back to Amazon or the Kindle app or audio? Probably not. If they did a deal, maybe, but I've been enjoying the Barnes and Nobles, my Barnes and Nobles account and the Nook app and all the offerings that I have,  as I mentioned earlier, I got right now I have three audio book credits.

I'm just laying those stack up. I've been eyeing some books that have been,  that are on my key or in my list that I've been trying to get. There, I'm going to be using those credits for that. And then there's a couple books I've been eyeing, some e books I'm going to be looking to get as well.

So I've been just curating this list of just, reading that I'll be doing.  And I've just been really excited. Just, I haven't been doing much reading, I've been taking a step back, but I've been,  I think I'm going to be going full force into it now that I have,  the Barnes Noble's account, the Nook app,  and just this plethora of just access to books and reading material that I'll be able to do.

And,  and not just digital media, also physical books too. There is,  actually,  forgot to mention this as well is that  there is a fifth  book from Christopher Polanyi, give a shout out to the author,  who's writing a fifth book in the inheritance.  cycle, saga, of Aragon that I've been eyeing. There is a pre orders going out and  I looked on Barnum was website and they are offering a sign copy that you could pre order to get a sign copy from the author.

So I've been eyeing that. And I think that's something I'm going to,  Get because I want to build my collection from the author. So I think that's going to be my first initial physical purchase,  for myself and my sister.  So I'm looking forward to that. Fingers crossed. Hopefully things go well.  But yeah, I just wanted to, get on here and talk about, why I made this switch.

It's been something I wanted to talk about for a while and  just moving forward. I know the topic isn't too excited, but I wanted to get it off my chest because I was mulling it over for a while now. And because I haven't used, the Amazon Kindle app and I been staying away from, Comixology when they did their whole, purge,  left that app and unable to read comic books.

And then it wasn't too long until candle felt the same fate.  And it's just,  I was just slowly getting, tired of it and now that I'm, I found  a resource that I can finally, read books on and purchase books,  I'm much more happy. And there's other apps I'll probably talk about,  or resources, but I just wanted to get this off my chest.

It's a different topic, but hopefully, there are others, like yourself who  are using. Barnes and Nobles, maybe also using the Nook app. Maybe have recommendations, or certain  genres of books you're reading. Maybe you want to, send some recommendations my way. You can always hit me up on our socials  and Don't be a stranger.

All right. This is gonna You know tied up for this episode, so I'll catch you guys in the next one. All right. Have a great day. Bye 

 📍 Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Second Emulation, where we explored the latest in pop culture, movies, TV shows, and anime. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app, and leave us a rating and review to help us reach more listeners. And don't forget to follow us on social media for even more pop culture content and to stay up-to-date on all the latest news and releases. As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions for future episodes. So until next time, keep on Emulating and stay tuned for more exciting content