I've been using a Sony eReader for years and have quite an extensive ePub library. I love classics and have a very large electronic library of these and other books. I still go to the library for both regular and digital books, but rarely purchase paper books these days.

At the Brown County Breakdown this year my Sony eReader died - the first night was COLD, and apparently too cold for my Sony I've been in withdrawal and saving for a replacement. I knew it wasn't going to be another Sony however. Their current offering isn't near as nice as my version that cra**ed out on me, and I think Sony isn't as competitive in this area as they once were. My main requirement was that I needed something that could access my large ePub library easily - hopefully with no converting required. That left the Kindle out, but I really didn't want one of those anyway.

Barnes and Nobles had a great Black Friday deal on their most basic reader - the Simple Touch - they almost cut the price in half! For the first time in years I went shopping on 'Black Friday'. I am very happy with the Simple Touch Nook - I didn't care for their first generation which was why I had the Sony to begin with. No problem accessing my ePub library seamlessly, and I saved $40 on the purchase. Of course they tried to sell me on one of the more advanced Nooks, but I don't need/want a tablet, and I LOVE the e-ink display. My purpose for an electronic reader is...to read. I don't need color and certainly don't want a back-lit display. I don't use it for work and don't need it to display tables and/or graphics. This is even better than my beloved Sony Daily Reader, and that is saying a lot!

So if you are trying to decide on a digital reader, and you really want it to read books rather than a small tablet, it would be difficult to go wrong with the Nook Simple Touch. I was saving for the Glow version, but frankly a light around the side wasn't worth an additional $60! Normally there is only a $20 difference between the two versions.