NOOK Night!

That's what Barnes & Noble calls its weekly in-store classes to teach you how to use your NOOK e-reader.

My wife and I and a friend attended class this evening. One of the things we learned was it would cost $15 to buy a printed manual on how to use the NOOK. Otherwise you have to page through the version embedded in your device or try to follow it on your PC. In either case you wouldn't be able to print it. Publisher's copyright protection, we were told.

A very nice young woman instructor, Emilia, answered all our questions and took us through the basics of how the NOOK works, its various settings, customizing it to your tastes and, of course, finding a book you might like and how to read it. She even gave us her card and invited us to call her if we had additional questions.

You might be surprised to learn that the NOOK prefers to “sleep” rather than be turned off completely at night. Saves the battery, Emilia said.

We also learned how to connect the NOOK to our PC and download pictures and music to the device.

We were there well over an hour and it was time well spent. And speaking of spending, I also bought the book, “Moneyball,” by Michael Lewis. You get a free read of about 50 pages before declaring your intention to buy. I think I made up my mind well before that.

There are also “free” books classified as Barnes & Noble Classics. Lots of famous titles are included.

So many books, so little time.