Thank you, all, for your answers to my questions, and reassurances about reading my epub books on an Apple device. I am so glad I will be able to load books from Calibre, since I am comfortable with that program.
First, I went to Best Buy to "handle" the iPod, and decided it would be too small for my purpose. I have a Samsung Note 3 phone, and it is adequate (but small) as a book, and I discovered that the new iPod Touch was even smaller than my old one that had been stolen.
Then, I went to the Apple Store at the local mall to check out the iPad mini, as The Old Man suggested (and a friend who has a mini), and fell in love with the look and feel of it and the iBooks app that was on the demo model. The newest Mini 4 64GB model was too steep for me, though, so I came home and found the Mini 3 on Amazon for a manageable price. I already have 34GB of music, and wanted room to grow, since I am adding my considerable ebook library.
Now I have to wait a couple of days for it to arrive. I'm so excited!
I am sure I will have more questions, so stand by, please.
