By Pat Farnack; Do I Look O.K.?

January seems to be a cruel month, this year. I keep re-catching whatever bug is going around. I was off a few days, limped back to work swigging DayQuil only to be sucker-punched again three days later; my throat filled with scratchy metallic chips, my head stuffed with goo. In my time off, though, I’ve been swallowed whole by technology.

My husband bought me the Nook, Barnes & Noble’s eReader, and it’s even more of a hit than I could ever have imagined. With a sleek red cover and even an extra reading light which clips on, it travels well in any handbag, briefcase or satchel and is very user-friendly, fitting well in the hand or leaned up against a pillow in a sickbed.

The Nook has a big font which makes it easy to read for old and/or tired eyes and you turn the page by lightly tapping an arrow on the frame. If turned off, via a buried button at the top, the Nook will take you to just where you were in the story, once you pick it up again. A problem, though, is that if you read a great deal, the device is exactly like a cell phone and must be charged either nightly or every other night. It’s one more thing to be current with. Get it? Current? Electrical? Every evening now, it’s brush your teeth with your electric toothbrush, floss, moisturize, check e-mails, plug in cell, iPod, Nook.

An avid reader, I find myself reading even more now. On the train, I scroll through the Nook offerings — eBooks, New York Times bestsellers, Barnes & Noble Picks — downloading Stephen King’s “Under the Dome”which is 823 pages long. I admire Stephen King, but I associate him with a different place in my life. I doubt I would ever make a trip to a brick-and-mortar bookstore to buy a Stephen King offering.

He also requires a huge commitment of time. Where are this man’s editors? I guess true stars such as King and James Paterson are not heavily edited.

Somehow I can’t see a junior editor with a squeaky voice saying, “Ah, Mister King, I don’t follow where you’re going in paragraph three on page 792.” Or, “Do we really need this entire chapter about a minor character?”

There is no doubt that he is a compelling storyteller, but there are so many characters, and it does go on and on. Had I not been sick, it would have taken me several weeks to finish. As it was, “Under the Dome” was a better way to mend at home under several blankets than an afternoon of the SciFi channel. And yet, I would never have tackled it, but for the ease of ordering on my trusty Nook. A month ago, I even ordered and quickly breezed through a romance novel, the title of which escapes me already.

With book lovers, there is also the difficulty of storing your books. Though I regularly purge, I quickly start stacking books that are sent to me on the floor or nightstand once my shelves are stuffed like sausages.

With eReaders, one can read all the latest, even the daily New York Times and Wall Street Journal, without clogging home, car or handbag. Another surprising plus, with the Nook, one is allowed to “share” books. Legally, you can only do it one time, but my husband, who is NOT a big reader, has been downloading my books to his BlackBerry or computer. This is truly fun since he is reading more now, and we can share books which we’ve never done before.

People tell me they enjoy the sensation of actually having a book in their hands, but while a beautiful leather-bound book is a treat for the senses, can that be said of a paperback? I’ve always enjoyed dog-earring pages, so I can go back and enjoy something pithy again, but one can now electronically bookmark a page.

I am also more likely now to jot something down.

The funniest thing about my eReader is when you’re getting acquainted, they have you name your Nook.

The name appears in the upper lefthand corner of the frame, right across from the very handy clock, while there is also a page counter at the bottom, telling you what page you are on and how many are left to go. I have been known to resist change, but; now is not one of those times. I believe the entire world of media is going through not only a sea change but a tsunami change and although I initially felt like dismissing it, I’ve decided instead to happily surf the changing tides instead. Hang ten.

Pat Farnack is the midday anchor at all news WCBS 880 AM in New York City and online at WCBS880.com and lives in Bucks County.