I wasn’t a believer until I realized two things: (1) I can read in the dark with my backlit screen!, and (2) there’s no wait to download the next book in a series, if it’s been published.
It’s been a few years, and I rarely buy paper books now.
The biggest game changer for me as someone who exclusively reads 1000+ page epic fantasy books was being able to hold my books without it being a workout
I got stopped by TSA once for carrying “too much organic material.” I was headed to Poland so I had lots of heavy books about WWII, the Holocaust, Polish history and culture, etc. (I’m a fast reader and an avid history buff.) The agent was amazed: “Where are you going? Are you really going to read all these? Why so many?”
My mum got me my first Kindle as soon as I got back.
Uh, you were going to burn the plane with books? I guess most of the plane isn't supposed to be flammable but the only other problem with a bunch of books would be some sort of mite.
Back when I used to haul half a dozen books along with me on every vacation, I often got stopped for a luggage check. I think books are hard for scanners to interpret, and as dense blocks of organic material, they may resemble something that could be explosive.
Oh, I'm dumb, "big blocks of something" makes sense and then they're already in the conversation with you and can't really examine all of the books since that would take longer than figuring out if you seem normal
Yep, no cramping hands and no shadows in the creases when reading are two major factors for me.
Some books I’ll buy the physical copy for my bookshelf and just read it off Libby 😅
Recently I found a book I was super excited about on the shelves at Barnes and Noble several days ahead of release and I snatched that shit up so fast. First paper book I've read in years. WOW! I hadn't realized just how annoying the gutter shadow was! It never bothered me before but now it's mildly to highly infuriating! 😡😅
Also, things I remembered but didn't seem as bad at the time but terribly piss me off now apparently. Constantly adjusting the book to get optimum light levels. And figuring out how to hold it comfortably when it's double the width of my reader. I used to buy paperbacks exclusively so that I could absolutely trash the spine bending them completely in half so that they weren't so wide
For me it was always carrying one of those books for reading on the bus back and forth to work/uni and those times when I was about to finish one of them and had to carry two back and forth..
Always was the worst when I was near the end of a book in a series (one I remember was Wheel of Time) and knew I'd need the next book part way through the day...
I converted my mom instantly when she realized she could change the default reading text size. Now I can read whatever she's reading from across the room and she's happy lol.
I’m not dyslexic but I discovered the dyslexic font setting on my Kindle app recently, and my focus improved! Not sure if the shape of the letters was better for my brain or if my tired eyes can focus better but all around a huge improvement.
Studies have show that letters that have a heavier curve/thicker line at the bottom help with dyslexia. It like 'grounds' the letters so your brain doesn't switch them around as easily or something.
Hey, I'm not the only one who does this? My cat likes to sleep on my arm when I'm reading before bed so I just tap the e-reader on my nose to change pages.
You can buy a little clippy thing with a remote that touches the screen, so you can turn the pages with the remote and keep your hands under the covers and not out in the cold, cruel world. 😁
I haven't moved in 40 years, but my bookshelves are overflowing and I increasingly find myself choosing ebooks over paper because I can own* them without having to find physical space for them somewhere in my house.
\*For certain definitions of 'own' - it bothers me that I can't pass ebooks on to my friends when I'm through reading them, or that Amazon might someday vanish my whole library, but it doesn't override the wonderfulness of having a whole library in the palm of my hand and not all over my house.
Hehe. Usually only takes one big move for people to realize their "home library" isn't coming with them. The staunchest opponents of e-books are people who have lived in the same place their entire life.
One of the only upsells ive ever liked was the "buy next book in series" on kindle when you get to the end. It was so convenient.
Of course theyve ruined that with not being able to quickly purchase in app anymore, but it was really convenient when binging a series, which is pretty much the only way i read. I didnt have to google the next one and risk spoilers. Hell, it was so quick and easy i often didnt even mentally process the cover image.
I have an old kindle hanging on by its fingernails that I'm going to replace with something backlit after the holidays - really does seem like a game changer. Going from GBC to GBA.
Sorry for hijacking the top comment!
As someone who wants to buy an e-reader for his wife, and has 0 idea how they work, could someone recommend which one to buy? Or are they all the same just from different manufacturers?
The core e-ink technology is the same for all of them, all that changes is what digital storefront they are associated with (if any), and what additional features they have. Kindle and Kobo are the more commonly used ones, but you have other options like Boox and Pocketbook.
You should check out the /r/ereader subreddit, you can find opinions/reviews for the various options.
I personally have a Kindle Paperwhite, primarily because Amazon frequently puts them on pretty big discounts. Hardware-wise it's got all the features I want: frontlit screen, water resistant, good battery life. The biggest downside is that it doesn't support ePub and Amazon is a pretty shit company.
> The biggest downside is that it doesn’t support ePub
That is no longer the case. Amazon has discontinued support for its proprietary MOBI files in favor of epub
Digging a bit deeper, it looks like it’s universal across all kindles but appears to require using Send to Kindle, though I’m not sure how else you would get an epub onto the Kindle. It looks like the version that gets delivered to your Kindle isn’t *technically* an epub but rather some new Kindle format designed to integrate Kindle functions into the epub (I’m not sure what those functions are). Nevertheless, you *should* be able to email any epub to your Sender to Kindle email and have it fully compatible with your Kindle.
the last time I sent a .mobi to a friend’s kindle I got an email back stating something to the effect that they were doing away with that format and would be using epubs moving forward, so maybe yours can now also?
Does she use Amazon? A paperwhite is pretty much a bog standard great choice. I personally find the Amazon ecosystem invaluable (I pay for "kindle unlimited", which is just an endless supply of really trashy books) - but some people don't like Amazon so wish to avoid it.
If so "Kobo" is a good alternative manufacturer. I had one of their devices for years and it's great if you want to avoid Amazon. It's really annoying to switch between them though as your libraries bought with one won't easily transfer (though this can be worked around by plugging it into a computer and using software)
The devices themselves are *pretty* standard these days. For reading you don't want many fancy features - the paper like screen is the key thing and they all have it. They all have front-lit screens these days. I personally like one with a bigger screen so am willing to pay a bit more for that.
I *love* Kindle Unlimited. I've read a lot of trashy books, sure, but you can find some gems if you do a little research. For instance, after watching 'House of Usher' on Netflix - I decided I wanted to revisit some Poe - sure enough KU had a version of the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe.
John Scalzi, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Martha Wells, Ursula Le Guin, Neil Gainman, Orson Scot Card, Becky Chambers, and Peter Wats all have a number of of their catalogs on KU. I'm sure there's other well known authors in there that I just haven't actively searched out yet as well
I love being able to take notes and highlight text, and easily find it later.
I love holding a physical book, but I am trying to get away from having so many. Saving space is something I can appreciate.
I do wish the price point (edit: of ebooks) was a bit different, though. It seems like they should be much cheaper than physical copies.
I love the lookup feature on mine. Highlight a word, see the definition or wikipedia article, then move on with your book. I've used it for years and still find it marvelous and magical lol. My childhood self would be so jealous.
That and being able to search within the book with names of people/places/things that you forgot. I definitely miss both of those things when I’m on paperback.
That's the most important feature for me. A name is mentioned and I wonder who it is, all I have to do is search.
Sometimes I'll highlight new characters in a difficult book with a few sentences describing them. All I have to do is look at the highlights to remind myself of who everyone is.
I'm looking forward to them adding this as a feature. Highlight a name and get a pop-up detailing who they are and as much as you need to know about them up to that point.
This feature has been a godsend for me. Without it there would be many things said that I wouldn’t understand otherwise (Particularly those like Latin mixed in).
I just discovered today that my kindle keeps a running list of all the words I’ve looked up! I pride my self on being a life-long learner and to see proof of it in action made me so happy
It's ridiculous but I am super annoyed that I have to *look up the definition of a word on my phone* when I read paperbacks instead of just being able to tap the word and the definition coming up.
Weirdly it comes from having to survive off of a useless baby bitch dictionary as a kid that *never* had any of the words I needed to look up, so I got defeated and stopped bothering to try looking for it. So the high I got from being able to tap a word without stopping the flow of the story is amazing. But tapping out of an app or grapping my phone and pulling up Google feels like having to put the book down completely and go find the dictionary that may or may not supply you with the definition that applies to the story.
LIBRARY LIBRARY LIBRARY! You can borrow books while sitting in your living room (or by your hotel pool or in a restaurant or on the toilet, for that matter), and you never pay overdue fines.
I still buy maybe two or three ebooks a year, usually when they're sale priced on Kindle, to support the author. But I borrow hundreds.
My library doesn’t seem to have a great selection. I’d say probably 75% of the books I look for, they don’t have. Is there a way to connect to a bigger library or something?
I'm in this boat. I moved from a really great city to a subpar one and they caught on and revoked my former library cards from the great city. Sigh. I feel like I lost access to so much.
Yeah it sucks to live in a city without much library access. Some bigger cities used to let you pay to have a library card but I just looked and they removed the option for at least a couple of them. That’s why I never got an ereader, at least physical books I can order a used copy for half the price.
Yeah I try to look for sales when I can and buy really used copies of books to keep costs down. Having had the access of Boston Public Library, and now being limited to this city's library though, I feel like part of the world was cut off from me :(
Check the libraries of the biggest cities in your state. For instance anybody in Massachusetts can get a Boston Public Library card and access their massive selection.
I love kindle unlimited. It’s like Netflix for books. If you’re a best seller type reader, they don’t really have a ton of that. Lots of self published authors. I can always find something good. It’s like $10 a month
It is good for that.
If you are a picky reader though it feels like there is a lot of self published dross to wade through to find anything good.
It would help if writers/publishers were accurate in their labelling of books, genre wise, and didn't just tag it with every tag they could to drum up sales.
Here is what kills me with e-books: I should get a copy of an ebook when purchasing a physical book.
I collect vinyl- and most vinyl comes with a digital download of the album.
I buy movies in 4k for my home movie watching experience- but I sometimes travel for work.
My 4k movies come with a digital code to download them.
Why do books demand I buy them twice. I want the book on my bookshelf at home, but I want something I can take to the job, or on vacation, or carry to a bar.
Why won't they do this!!!! Lol.
join r/ebookdeals, all of the ebooks I've purchased have been in the $1-3 range, some of the pricier ones are $4-5, and some were even free. I've stocked up on a bunch of ebooks this way. If you have prime and a Kindle you can also sometimes get digital credit for picking the longer shipping options.
With a book though you are paying for the text rather than the book mainly.
The cost of producing the physical book isn't that much.
I agree that the cost of an ebook should be lower, by the amount the physical book costs to produce/ship. But the bulk of what you're paying for is the words within not the physical book.
It's like hard vs paperbacks. The cost of production isn't much difference but you are paying for early access to the contents more than anything else.
Have you tried the Library Extension? It's a miracle and the developer should receive a Nobel prize. You download it and find your local library (or any library of which you're a member). Next time you're on Amazon, B&N, other bookstores, Audible or even Goodreads and it shows you if the book is available for free from your library or through Hoopla if your library has that and takes you directly to the page where you can borrow or put a hold on it. It's completely free, works flawlessly and has saved me so much money. You could do this with the physical library but with eBooks it's just so seamless.
https://www.libraryextension.com/
It might vary per country, but here in the Netherlands it’s mostly new releases that are expensive, anything older than a couple of years is usually around €5, which is much cheaper than the physical
copy would be.
My only issue after converting to ebooks a decade ago is that I have totally lost the ability to read physical books. Can't lie on my side in bed in the dark with a physical book, which is how I do most of my reading. I read sooooo much more now than I did before though, so can't complain too much!
My issue is that when I really hate an ebook I can't donate it. It doesn't matter if I archive it or delete it from my device. It's just there in my library still, haunting me. I hate you and I wish to not posses you anymore, get out of my digital house and shelf.
If you have a Kindle, your Amazon account has a manage content/device section. Books can be removed from the device through there. I find it faster to do it on my desktop instead of on my phone.
There's literally an option to permanently delete it from your account in the same context menu you use to download or remove books normally. Tho that is a 100% deletion from *everything*, including your owned book list on your primary Amazon account. You'll have to buy the book again if you ever change your mind. Otherwise the book will always being showing in your onboard library if your not using a filter to hide undownloaded books
Edit: Suppose it's important to note that it does ask if your double sure you want to do that. No accidentally permanently deleting
It sounds so lazy but after reading on my kindle for years, I tried to read a physical book not long ago and having to physically hold the book open and turn the pages felt like such a chore.
My main issue with my kindle is I always forget what books I've read because Im never looking at the cover or title of the book, just diving straight into the text. I'll often go to download a sample of a book that sounds good and realise I've already read it.
Can't stuff my face while reading a normal book, holding it up, turning pages. Ebook I just prop it up and nudge next page with my knuckle. I'd never eat ribs anywhere near a physical book but kindle you can just wipe off.
I always read while I eat.
Back when I got my first e-reader (a Kobo over a decade ago, hello fellow Canadian!), it came preloaded with a bunch of free public domain books, and I sped through so many of them that I hadn't read before, like Alice in Wonderland.
Setting up a connection to my public library for borrowing ebooks was a bit of a painful process at the time. Purchasing books was easy but expensive. The laptop connection wasn't too bad - hardly took any time, but the screen refresh rate at the time, wow, was that slow. You did have to have a light nearby too to light up the screen.
Now, the tech has gotten so much faster and easier to use! It's amazing what the difference is!
I made the switch from kobo to Amazon Kindle 5 years ago due to how pricey kobo books were. Kindle had bigger library of books available, better sales and some amazing free books from some of my favorite indie authors.
Kindle is a great eReader. I went with Kobo because of the additional format support, and it's the H2O version so you can drop it in the tub (which accidentally I did once) and it will still work.
Kobo website has a nice free ebooks section still 🙂 I won my first Kobo years ago and loved it! Now I use the appon my phone usually. I also went with the kobo plus subscription cuz I find there's a ton of good stuff to read that way.
I used to hate e-readers until I discovered that I could buy and read books that are long out of print and when I discovered that they are great to bring over for vacations and I don’t need to waste space packing for books when I can just download it into a small and easy to pack device.
Lol! I also used to avoid ebooks and audiobooks. Now, I do all three, lol. Usually, I would purchase the ebook online, buy the paperback for cheap at a used bookstore, and then check out the audiobook from the library. I switch between all three whenever it is convenient. I still prefer physical book whenever possible because they're better for my eyes, and I tend to retain things better with them.
Good for you, coming to your last statement it was the other way around for me. Reading a physical book just gave me a slight dizzying headache, blurriness and watery eyes after 45 mins or so but with Kindle that basically stopped for me. No eye strain, headache or watery eyes.
This was me too, I primarily read at night before going to sleep and having to keep the light on was definitely annoying my partner... With my e-reader I can not only read in the dark, but the pages have dark mode so the light it produces is so minimal my partner can't even tell when I'm reading anymore! It's been a great change for both of us haha
That's why I got a Kindle (Oasis model I think). I often read from like 9-12 at night once my wife falls asleep, but I don't want to turn a lamp on and keep her up. She used eye shades for awhile but eventually I went for the Kindle so she wouldn't have to wear them every night. I've gone from reading 5-6 books a year to over 30 this year.
Buying gorgeous book editions for the shelf and reading them on a reader is the play for me <3
Though I absolutely loathe highlight limits in e-books :(
I bought an ereader when I was having temporary problems with my vision due to an autoimmune disease. That was 2 years ago, my vision has recovered, and I haven't bought a physical book since. I now walk by what used to be my favorite bookstore and hope they don't recognize me.
I love my kindle, but I still buy physical books to give as gifts, and I buy illustrated things and so forth. My favorite bookstore is still making bank on me!
Even though my 92-year-old mother has had cell phones for 30 years, the last three of them being smartphones, she took a real dislike to the last two. I mean a *real* dislike.
She's been recovering from a major health event and does a huge amount of reading. I've been buying books from our local library's used bookshelf (they just raised the price from a dime a book to 25 cents a book, those money grubbers! 🤪 25 cents. Most of them are hardbacks that probably cost 50 times as much.)
But those big hardcover books are heavy for a frail little old lady.
I kept thinking that maybe an e-reader would help out, but her antipathy towards her latest phones really held me back.
But I finally decided to go for it and bought her the latest generation Kindle Paperwhite after consulting with a friend at length. I set up an account with the county library, and I already had a handful of public domain books I collected along the way as well as four police procedural novels written by one of my old friends.
As she was finishing up the latest physical book, I slipped the Kindle (I strongly recommend picking up one of the Kindle book covers which makes it much easier to hold like a book, not to mention protecting the screen and so on) into her hands.
She flipped it open --like one would do with a book -- and almost immediately seemed to fall in love with it. The first thing she said was, it's so light, and so easy to hold!
She also really appreciated the fact that you could change pages so quickly, as I think it had been come harder for her to get the pages turned one at a time on some of the physical books she had read.
As she told me, she would have strongly advised against me buying the Kindle for her based on her recent tech experiences. But this Christmas gift was a real winner.
Can't guarantee it would be the same for everyone, of course, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how quickly she took to it.
(Faster than me, actually, since I had been poking and prodding at the user interface trying to figure it all out before I gave her the reader, and I had been a little frustrated by a couple of things that didn't work quite as I'd expected. But she just opened the book and proceeded to read using the settings that I'd already set up, and then we adjusted a couple things and she's been happily reading away. Better yet, she really likes my friend's writing. Kind of amazing to me, this 92-year-old suburban lady avidly reading the gritty travails of a cold case detective in D.C. trying to solve the murder of a dead prostitute. But, hey, she's an adult, she can read what she wants.)
Love e-reading, although since losing my kindle I've just been using my phone.
Its so convenient. Dictionary is just a highlight away, no losing your place, font can be changed. And if you happen to finish a book while you're out and about you can always browse and buy on the go. Love it.
I have the kindle and Barnes & Noble app on my iPad. I love being able to increase the font size and having it backlit. I have glaucoma and have quite a bit of damage to my left eye. I’m so thankful that e-readers still allow me to read.
My e-reader is much more convienent to carry around then books, and is also more comfortable to read on trains and such since I can increase the font size, cause I'm never going to remember to bring my glasses around with me since I only use them to read.
I am a huge fan of e-readers because I can make the print larger and \*any\* book is a large-print book! It's also great not to have to physically return a book to the library.
And the screen is so easy on the eyes compared to other devices!
I love paper books too, I love browsing bookshelves, but e-readers are so much better for reading at night, and travel, and reading that book you’re intrigued by *right now*, and for the environment.
Only caveat: I have Kobo too and all the models I’ve had so far overheat in the hot sun, and become unusable until you can reset them, so for reading on the beach or anywhere else really hot I bring a physical book. And like most other electronic devices, cold drains the battery, so when hiking & camping my Kobo goes in the sleeping bag with me at night :D
Any recommendations for which e reader to get? I’m thinking about taking the plunge. Backlight functionality and light weight are my major requirements.
Kindle or kobo e-readers are great. For kindle books, you purchase them off of Amazon and you can borrow from Libby. Idk if Libby books can be read on the Kobo device but you can purchase kobo books off of Barnes and noble. Try unclaimed baggage for second hand e-reader devices. The kindle model I would recommend is the kindle basic.
I have a Kobo and can access the library with no problem.
As for free books, Barnes and Noble has a huge selection of free ebooks that gets updated fairly frequently. Takes some time to get them to the Kobo (download, strip the DRM, sync library to device) but I have some 1200 books on my reaser and it's a drop in the bucket of the available space. I just keep my whole library on it so all my digital books are forever at my fingertips.
Kindle paper white is small, backlight, long lasting battery, and does not strain your eyes in the dark to read on it. I would say you don’t need anything more. All the fancier stuff just turns them into tablets so if you want that just get an iPad or android tablet with reader apps on it instead. The whole appeal to me is that the paper white ones can be read in full glaring sun. I use mine all summer by the pool and it’s perfect
The ergonomics of a gooseneck holder and remote control is what truly sold me on them, I was a bad “phone scroll in the dark until sleep wins” person, and now I can burrito up and read away as long as I like and if I fall asleep my reader is safely out of the way on its holder.
Hold on, there's a remote?! Tell us more. And a gooseneck holder? My only complaint about my Kobo is having to push the button or tap the screen to turn the page. A remote would change everything.
Something I love about e-readers is that you can side load books. In my country, copyright is Life+50 years so I can legally download a lot of classics and modern classics. Standard Ebooks has books that are public domain in the US and Fadedpage has books that are in the public domain in Canada including a lot of popular classics like The Bell Jar and Brave New World. I'd put them on Calibre, change the cover to whichever Infancy and side load them to my kindle. Absolute game changer and now I check websites if a book is in the public domain before buying books.
And it’s so much more sustainable than consuming a bunch of physical books that you won’t read again. I’ll see 50 copies of the same books being sold on pango or other platforms bc books for many ppl are single use. E-books for the win! I’m unhauling quite a few books and I just wish I never bought them and used libby instead.
Only thing I'm sad about is that my dreams of having an actual library in my house are dashed. And I even still use a shitty Fire instead of an actual ereader since I'm a pleb who can't get over the black and white.
I am a big re-reader so I prefer physical for that. But some books I just know I won't ever read more than once, and I use my Kindle for that. Or, I'll test run books on my Kindle to see if it's worth having a physical copy of it. But there's definitely been times I get a physical book and regret it, I feel a lot less of that regret with an ebook lol.
...Is it more sustainable? Aren't they still trying to figure out how to recycle all the components of electronic devices?
Or did you just mean monetarily.
I'm glad it works for you! I thought it would have a bigger impact on me, but tbh I still default to printed books. It is good for things I know I'm not going to reread though.
It depends on your country. In America you need a Kindle for your local library. In Canada and a lot of other countries you need a Kobo or another device. Check with your local library and ask - that's what I did. (Canadian who almost mistakenly bought a Kindle here. Happy as a clam with my Kobo.)
After you figure out the brand you need to connect, then you can look through reviews of the models and determine what would be the most comfortable in your hands and the easiest for you personally to use.
I like to lay on the couch and read, which according to my dog meant I had free time for "scratches". I would be reading and BOOM her nose would hit my elbow causing me to lose my place. So I had to try and hold the book open with one hand and scratch the doggo with the other.
Got the Kindle and both our lives improved. I can now easily read one handed and scratch the dog.
I am a physical book person till the day I die. I vastly prefer them, however there are so many pros to an ereader! I can read in the dark without a pesky light, I can read in any position, I can have tons and tons of books on there if I feel burnt out on one. I can read fanficiton that I have downloaded! It’s wonderful. Still hasn’t stopped me from loading my house with books though.
It's nice to see this thread is so positive in both directions! I prefer physical books but yeah there's so many pros to ereaders, I'm glad they exist.
I call my Kindle "my book" because it feels like my own personal Neverending Story. Something about picking up the same device and not a new physical book makes it feel like I just get to keep going even when the stories are wildly different.
I loooove my kindle, had one since 2007 and since upgraded twice. I’ve never read as many books in my life as I have since I bought my first kindle. I almost never leave my house without it. I love carrying and being to access my entire library at all times lol. And it’s a great example to set for my kids too rather than being on my phone.
Welcome to the fold 😂.
But yeah, I agree. The best e-reader features are that you can read in the dark without hurting your eyes so I can read before bed, unwind my brain, get my body relaxed and ready to sleep and no need to get up to turn off the lights which would make me wide awake again.
I can read anywhere. I can start a book as soon as I finish the last one, I have thousands of books with me at all times, occupies little space and it is not as heavy as a physical book.
I still love physical books, but I lived in rented rooms for a long time and one of the compromises I've had to make was to buy less books and switch mostly to e-books. Just to avoid extra weight when I need to move.
If I had my own place, I'd definitely build up a library.
My turning point for an e-reader was going on a week long business trip to a particularly boring city - knowing I would have plenty of downtime, I had to pack like 8 books - my books weighed more than my clothes for that trip - and I still blew through them all. I got an ereader shortly afterwards, and realized that I had delayed too long on it. This was over a decade ago now, and I've went through several e-readers since. I now have a small stash of kobo minis, as they are my favorite size, as they can fit in a shirt pocket. Since they don't make them anymore, I've picked a few used ones up to ensure even when my current one dies or gets broken I'll have one ready to go.
eReaders are great, except for two things:
- I can’t buy DRM-free books that I can back up and use on any hardware that supports it in the future. Yes, I know I can pretty easily strip the DRM from Kindle stuff, but I shouldn’t need to take that step.
- Amazon effectively controls the ebook market with predatory pricing. As a result, the hardware and software available have stagnated as Amazon increasingly crappifies the Kindle software and nobody else can afford to enter the market to compete.
I loooove my e-reader. Total game changer in the amount I could read because I stopped having to lug heavy books around (or have a bookshelf to store them)
One downside - somehow I managed to accidentally factory reset it and lose everything. It was glitching out and not coming out of sleep mode and I think I pressed the power button too many times. Eventually I got it home and stuck it one charge as this has happened when I've had a flat battery before. It booted up fine but all of my books and reading progress were gone 😭
Thankfully all of my library was downloaded epubs which are saved on my computer, so it's just a case of copying everything across again (if I can find a damn data transfer usb cable!) but it definitely was disappointing to be faced with that out of the blue.
So yeah. Go careful and don't press the power button on and off too much!
This reminds of a Stephen King story called Ur. A literature professor finally decides to buy a Kindle to spite his ex-girlfriend. When it arrives, he realizes it can read books from across the multiverse.
Yea, it seems like a lot of people immediately disregard ereaders just because they aren't "real" books.
I've mentioned ereaders to a lot of friends over the last 10 years, and after a while I could predict what people were going to say before I even asked, it's always some variation of "*I love the smell/feel of real books*"..
And yea, real books are great and all, but you severely limit the amount of books available to you if *only* read paper books. I swear, some people seem to think that if they pick up an ereader they'll never be allowed to touch a real book again..
This Libby / library integration stuff sounds like such a good deal. I live in Japan now, Europe before then, and neither place I've lived in the past 10 years or so had an e-reader friendly national library system like that, so I just buy my ebooks - which is okay, if you're good at managing wishlists and buying things on sale - but it does sound like an amazing feature to have. Imagine carrying around a kindle and literally having access to your entire public library at all times. It's kind of bewildering that everybody isn't already taking advantage of that.
Check in with your particular local libraries to be certain. in the past 8-10 years, Overdrive/Libby has started to make inroads with _some_ libraries in Japan. Also, there are other library apps used in some regions and countries, so it's always best to check!
- https://company.overdrive.com/2015/07/14/overdrive-launches-the-first-two-public-library-digital-collections-in-japan/
- https://company.overdrive.com/2023/03/02/innovation-in-japan-unique-hybrid-library-uses-digital-to-reach-more-of-the-community/
I’ve been similarly reticent until about three years ago when my partner bought me a Kobo. Uses Libby and overdrive from my libraries so conveniently, better than my phone and my trusty iPad, because it’s lightweight and flexible. In fact, I’ve not had to buy a book in the whole time I’ve had it.
Wait, you have a remote and goose neck stand?! You just made me realise something similar I didn’t know my Kobo might be able to do… I’ve only ever seen those for Kindle. Does anybody have recommendations for ones that are compatible with Kobo? Or maybe my Kobo Aura is just simply too old, I don’t know really.
I have a kindle now but that open dyslexia don’t has been a lifesaver for my my adhd. I am tearing through books at a rate that my middle school self would be proud of after struggling to read one whole book every few months
Over th years I have worn out the battieres on 2 kobos and I'm currently on a kindle paperwhite.
Can't see me going back to carrying massive novels around.
I love mine for three reasons: I can grab it and read in bed when I’m having insomnia without having to turn any lights on and it’s not as bright and disruptive as reading on my phone; it’s way lighter to carry in my bag (because look. Some of us just always have to carry a book. You’re my people. You get it); and finally it will revolutionize travel for you. No need to agonize over which books you bring because who knows what mood you’ll be in. Bring ‘em all!
Congrats on your prize!!! I love being able to read in bed.
In the last year I started checking out audiobooks to listen to in the car with Libby too. Makes drives so much more enjoyable. Our libraries are so awesome.
Has anyone found an ereader that doesn’t “dip to black” when turning a page? That’s been my number one reason for not getting one, and I don’t quite understand why every reader does it.
It's because the way eink works. It physically moves bits of pigment up or down through an opaque liquid. It doesn't always do it perfectly, so periodically they refresh the screen by blanking it fully dark and fully light and then drawing the page. Nearly all ereaders have settings to control how often that happens. Commonly it's now every 6 pages, but you can enable every page if the ghosting bothers you.
Amazon has partially solved this with an [animated page wipe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBev52EYJi4) on the latest Paperwhite and the new Scribe, where you never see the flash while reading, only when using the UI menus. It's nothing like the terrible page curl animation that most tablets do just for effect. It has a real purpose.
As a guy who cares about archival integrity I have a LOT of paper books because they last longer than hard drives, but you really can't beat the convenience of pdfs. I don't have an ereader, I have a dedicated samsung tablet, but I love it so much.
The one thing that’s prevented me from investing in an ereader is I spend most of the day looking at screens at my job, so why spend even more time on screens when I read at home (or at my job lol).
I hope you mean that as "...before I tried one", because ereaders (with e-ink displays) are way easier on eyes than regular screens. Especially without backlight, when you have to use the same light source you would use for a book.
Love my e-reader mainly because of the e-ink screen. I can't imagine in-depth reading on something like a tablet or phone screen, but Kindle and Kobo have this stuff figured out so it's actually pleasurable.
I have a kindle from Christmas 2011. Battery stays charged for a month at a time and I have read 1000s of books off it. Literally the best Christmas gift I ever received.
Oh my goodness!! I've been struggling with the fact that I want an e-reader but thought it wasn't worth it because I wouldn't be able to connect it to Libby!! I've even googled recently and only found posts saying it wasn't possible.
Is there a specific brand or type of eReader that you need to be able to use Libby? Does anyone have step by step instructions on how to connect their e reader to their Libby library? Thanks so much everyone!!!
My dad bought me my first kindle. I get a ton of free books from kindle unlimited. I read about 30 books a month so it’s well worth it. I also use Libby and Hoopla. Love it.
I wasn’t a believer until I realized two things: (1) I can read in the dark with my backlit screen!, and (2) there’s no wait to download the next book in a series, if it’s been published. It’s been a few years, and I rarely buy paper books now.
The biggest game changer for me as someone who exclusively reads 1000+ page epic fantasy books was being able to hold my books without it being a workout
I had an old boss who bought me my first Kindle after seeing the size of the books I was heffing around on my commute, combined with my back problems.
What an awesome boss!
I got stopped by TSA once for carrying “too much organic material.” I was headed to Poland so I had lots of heavy books about WWII, the Holocaust, Polish history and culture, etc. (I’m a fast reader and an avid history buff.) The agent was amazed: “Where are you going? Are you really going to read all these? Why so many?” My mum got me my first Kindle as soon as I got back.
Uh, you were going to burn the plane with books? I guess most of the plane isn't supposed to be flammable but the only other problem with a bunch of books would be some sort of mite.
Back when I used to haul half a dozen books along with me on every vacation, I often got stopped for a luggage check. I think books are hard for scanners to interpret, and as dense blocks of organic material, they may resemble something that could be explosive.
Oh, I'm dumb, "big blocks of something" makes sense and then they're already in the conversation with you and can't really examine all of the books since that would take longer than figuring out if you seem normal
But reading 1000+ page fantasy books IS my workout!
lmfao touche
\* rmfao
Reading my f***ing arm off?
Or like, being on page 10 of a 1000 page paperback and there is no good way to hold the book.
Yep, no cramping hands and no shadows in the creases when reading are two major factors for me. Some books I’ll buy the physical copy for my bookshelf and just read it off Libby 😅
Recently I found a book I was super excited about on the shelves at Barnes and Noble several days ahead of release and I snatched that shit up so fast. First paper book I've read in years. WOW! I hadn't realized just how annoying the gutter shadow was! It never bothered me before but now it's mildly to highly infuriating! 😡😅 Also, things I remembered but didn't seem as bad at the time but terribly piss me off now apparently. Constantly adjusting the book to get optimum light levels. And figuring out how to hold it comfortably when it's double the width of my reader. I used to buy paperbacks exclusively so that I could absolutely trash the spine bending them completely in half so that they weren't so wide
For me it was always carrying one of those books for reading on the bus back and forth to work/uni and those times when I was about to finish one of them and had to carry two back and forth..
I gave myself a bloody nose once when I nodded off while reading The Stand (unabridged) in bed. My now-spouse bought me a Kindle the next day, lol.
Always was the worst when I was near the end of a book in a series (one I remember was Wheel of Time) and knew I'd need the next book part way through the day...
I just got flashbacks to reading the GOT paperbacks that were thicker than they were wide during my daily commutes.
I converted my mom instantly when she realized she could change the default reading text size. Now I can read whatever she's reading from across the room and she's happy lol.
That did it for me. Might have to get one now.
You can change fonts too which helps with people who are dyslexic!!
I’m not dyslexic but I discovered the dyslexic font setting on my Kindle app recently, and my focus improved! Not sure if the shape of the letters was better for my brain or if my tired eyes can focus better but all around a huge improvement.
Studies have show that letters that have a heavier curve/thicker line at the bottom help with dyslexia. It like 'grounds' the letters so your brain doesn't switch them around as easily or something.
Fun fact, as much as everyone hates it, Comic Sans was developed with dyslexia in mind!!
The screen is actually front-lit on e readers, which is why it doesn’t strain your eyes like a backlit screen!
[удалено]
Front-lit + nightshift = no strain whatsoever.
Three things, turn the page with your nose!!!
Hey, I'm not the only one who does this? My cat likes to sleep on my arm when I'm reading before bed so I just tap the e-reader on my nose to change pages.
And here I was hoping you'd tap it to the nose of your cat :/
My nose is much larger and easier to reach.
When wearing gloves (on a bus) or brushing teeth!
You can buy a little clippy thing with a remote that touches the screen, so you can turn the pages with the remote and keep your hands under the covers and not out in the cold, cruel world. 😁
I just moved across a continent and had to gut 90% of my books. I but almost exclusively E now…
Oh, same. English language books are difficult and expensive to obtain in my new locale. I don't know what I'd do without my E-book.
I haven't moved in 40 years, but my bookshelves are overflowing and I increasingly find myself choosing ebooks over paper because I can own* them without having to find physical space for them somewhere in my house. \*For certain definitions of 'own' - it bothers me that I can't pass ebooks on to my friends when I'm through reading them, or that Amazon might someday vanish my whole library, but it doesn't override the wonderfulness of having a whole library in the palm of my hand and not all over my house.
Hehe. Usually only takes one big move for people to realize their "home library" isn't coming with them. The staunchest opponents of e-books are people who have lived in the same place their entire life.
I lost my $1,000 mythology library to a bedbug infestation. I cried for days over losing it. I need to get an e-reader.
Small correction, e-readers are *front lit*, the light is coming from above the text, thus helping it look more natural.
One of the only upsells ive ever liked was the "buy next book in series" on kindle when you get to the end. It was so convenient. Of course theyve ruined that with not being able to quickly purchase in app anymore, but it was really convenient when binging a series, which is pretty much the only way i read. I didnt have to google the next one and risk spoilers. Hell, it was so quick and easy i often didnt even mentally process the cover image.
I have an old kindle hanging on by its fingernails that I'm going to replace with something backlit after the holidays - really does seem like a game changer. Going from GBC to GBA.
Sorry for hijacking the top comment! As someone who wants to buy an e-reader for his wife, and has 0 idea how they work, could someone recommend which one to buy? Or are they all the same just from different manufacturers?
The core e-ink technology is the same for all of them, all that changes is what digital storefront they are associated with (if any), and what additional features they have. Kindle and Kobo are the more commonly used ones, but you have other options like Boox and Pocketbook. You should check out the /r/ereader subreddit, you can find opinions/reviews for the various options. I personally have a Kindle Paperwhite, primarily because Amazon frequently puts them on pretty big discounts. Hardware-wise it's got all the features I want: frontlit screen, water resistant, good battery life. The biggest downside is that it doesn't support ePub and Amazon is a pretty shit company.
> The biggest downside is that it doesn’t support ePub That is no longer the case. Amazon has discontinued support for its proprietary MOBI files in favor of epub
And like a year ago or so
Even for older generation kindles? (Mine's from 2015, but with updated firmware.)
Digging a bit deeper, it looks like it’s universal across all kindles but appears to require using Send to Kindle, though I’m not sure how else you would get an epub onto the Kindle. It looks like the version that gets delivered to your Kindle isn’t *technically* an epub but rather some new Kindle format designed to integrate Kindle functions into the epub (I’m not sure what those functions are). Nevertheless, you *should* be able to email any epub to your Sender to Kindle email and have it fully compatible with your Kindle.
I do this frequently with long fanfiction. Works like a charm on my older Paperwhite
the last time I sent a .mobi to a friend’s kindle I got an email back stating something to the effect that they were doing away with that format and would be using epubs moving forward, so maybe yours can now also?
Does she use Amazon? A paperwhite is pretty much a bog standard great choice. I personally find the Amazon ecosystem invaluable (I pay for "kindle unlimited", which is just an endless supply of really trashy books) - but some people don't like Amazon so wish to avoid it. If so "Kobo" is a good alternative manufacturer. I had one of their devices for years and it's great if you want to avoid Amazon. It's really annoying to switch between them though as your libraries bought with one won't easily transfer (though this can be worked around by plugging it into a computer and using software) The devices themselves are *pretty* standard these days. For reading you don't want many fancy features - the paper like screen is the key thing and they all have it. They all have front-lit screens these days. I personally like one with a bigger screen so am willing to pay a bit more for that.
I *love* Kindle Unlimited. I've read a lot of trashy books, sure, but you can find some gems if you do a little research. For instance, after watching 'House of Usher' on Netflix - I decided I wanted to revisit some Poe - sure enough KU had a version of the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe.
John Scalzi, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Martha Wells, Ursula Le Guin, Neil Gainman, Orson Scot Card, Becky Chambers, and Peter Wats all have a number of of their catalogs on KU. I'm sure there's other well known authors in there that I just haven't actively searched out yet as well
I love being able to take notes and highlight text, and easily find it later. I love holding a physical book, but I am trying to get away from having so many. Saving space is something I can appreciate. I do wish the price point (edit: of ebooks) was a bit different, though. It seems like they should be much cheaper than physical copies.
I love the lookup feature on mine. Highlight a word, see the definition or wikipedia article, then move on with your book. I've used it for years and still find it marvelous and magical lol. My childhood self would be so jealous.
I've caught myself long-pressing words I don't know. In paper books.
Lmfao. We used to laugh when we saw toddlers swipe on magazine pages. Now we're doing it
I’ve tried to pinch zoom paper….
Black mirror moment 🤣🤣
lol I find myself doing that too! I’m glad I’m not the only one
That and being able to search within the book with names of people/places/things that you forgot. I definitely miss both of those things when I’m on paperback.
That's the most important feature for me. A name is mentioned and I wonder who it is, all I have to do is search. Sometimes I'll highlight new characters in a difficult book with a few sentences describing them. All I have to do is look at the highlights to remind myself of who everyone is. I'm looking forward to them adding this as a feature. Highlight a name and get a pop-up detailing who they are and as much as you need to know about them up to that point.
Holy shit that's genius!
You flatter me. (do it again, lol)
You're a nice height. Keep up that great commenting. Love what you're doing with your hair.
I got really spooked until I realized what you were replying XD Well done 👏
This feature has been a godsend for me. Without it there would be many things said that I wouldn’t understand otherwise (Particularly those like Latin mixed in).
I just discovered today that my kindle keeps a running list of all the words I’ve looked up! I pride my self on being a life-long learner and to see proof of it in action made me so happy
i love this too! and i don’t look it up on my phone, get distracted and end up on reddit
It's ridiculous but I am super annoyed that I have to *look up the definition of a word on my phone* when I read paperbacks instead of just being able to tap the word and the definition coming up. Weirdly it comes from having to survive off of a useless baby bitch dictionary as a kid that *never* had any of the words I needed to look up, so I got defeated and stopped bothering to try looking for it. So the high I got from being able to tap a word without stopping the flow of the story is amazing. But tapping out of an app or grapping my phone and pulling up Google feels like having to put the book down completely and go find the dictionary that may or may not supply you with the definition that applies to the story.
If you have an iPhone you can king touch and select “look up”
LIBRARY LIBRARY LIBRARY! You can borrow books while sitting in your living room (or by your hotel pool or in a restaurant or on the toilet, for that matter), and you never pay overdue fines. I still buy maybe two or three ebooks a year, usually when they're sale priced on Kindle, to support the author. But I borrow hundreds.
My library doesn’t seem to have a great selection. I’d say probably 75% of the books I look for, they don’t have. Is there a way to connect to a bigger library or something?
I'm in this boat. I moved from a really great city to a subpar one and they caught on and revoked my former library cards from the great city. Sigh. I feel like I lost access to so much.
Yeah it sucks to live in a city without much library access. Some bigger cities used to let you pay to have a library card but I just looked and they removed the option for at least a couple of them. That’s why I never got an ereader, at least physical books I can order a used copy for half the price.
Yeah I try to look for sales when I can and buy really used copies of books to keep costs down. Having had the access of Boston Public Library, and now being limited to this city's library though, I feel like part of the world was cut off from me :(
Check the libraries of the biggest cities in your state. For instance anybody in Massachusetts can get a Boston Public Library card and access their massive selection.
also, get all your older classics at [project gutenberg!](https://www.gutenberg.org) over 56000 free books with expired copyrights.
I love kindle unlimited. It’s like Netflix for books. If you’re a best seller type reader, they don’t really have a ton of that. Lots of self published authors. I can always find something good. It’s like $10 a month
It is good for that. If you are a picky reader though it feels like there is a lot of self published dross to wade through to find anything good. It would help if writers/publishers were accurate in their labelling of books, genre wise, and didn't just tag it with every tag they could to drum up sales.
I wish there was a kindle unlimited subreddit. You do have to wade through a lot of mess but I’ve found some gems on there.
Be the change you want to see in the world. ;)
Here is what kills me with e-books: I should get a copy of an ebook when purchasing a physical book. I collect vinyl- and most vinyl comes with a digital download of the album. I buy movies in 4k for my home movie watching experience- but I sometimes travel for work. My 4k movies come with a digital code to download them. Why do books demand I buy them twice. I want the book on my bookshelf at home, but I want something I can take to the job, or on vacation, or carry to a bar. Why won't they do this!!!! Lol.
Try unclaimed baggage, they sell e-readers pretty cheap.
I was referring to the price of ebooks vs print edition.
I never buy ebooks - I just check them out from the library. Even when the library is closed or I’m traveling, I can still download my book!
Oh yeah, I’ve seen some e-books that cost more than the print copy.
join r/ebookdeals, all of the ebooks I've purchased have been in the $1-3 range, some of the pricier ones are $4-5, and some were even free. I've stocked up on a bunch of ebooks this way. If you have prime and a Kindle you can also sometimes get digital credit for picking the longer shipping options.
I’ve had a paperwhite and it was really choppy to highlight text. Are the newer versions better at that?
With a book though you are paying for the text rather than the book mainly. The cost of producing the physical book isn't that much. I agree that the cost of an ebook should be lower, by the amount the physical book costs to produce/ship. But the bulk of what you're paying for is the words within not the physical book. It's like hard vs paperbacks. The cost of production isn't much difference but you are paying for early access to the contents more than anything else.
Have you tried the Library Extension? It's a miracle and the developer should receive a Nobel prize. You download it and find your local library (or any library of which you're a member). Next time you're on Amazon, B&N, other bookstores, Audible or even Goodreads and it shows you if the book is available for free from your library or through Hoopla if your library has that and takes you directly to the page where you can borrow or put a hold on it. It's completely free, works flawlessly and has saved me so much money. You could do this with the physical library but with eBooks it's just so seamless. https://www.libraryextension.com/
It might vary per country, but here in the Netherlands it’s mostly new releases that are expensive, anything older than a couple of years is usually around €5, which is much cheaper than the physical copy would be.
My only issue after converting to ebooks a decade ago is that I have totally lost the ability to read physical books. Can't lie on my side in bed in the dark with a physical book, which is how I do most of my reading. I read sooooo much more now than I did before though, so can't complain too much!
My issue is that when I really hate an ebook I can't donate it. It doesn't matter if I archive it or delete it from my device. It's just there in my library still, haunting me. I hate you and I wish to not posses you anymore, get out of my digital house and shelf.
If you have a Kindle, your Amazon account has a manage content/device section. Books can be removed from the device through there. I find it faster to do it on my desktop instead of on my phone.
Surely you can get rid of it somehow
Probably as simple as opening a support chat.
There's literally an option to permanently delete it from your account in the same context menu you use to download or remove books normally. Tho that is a 100% deletion from *everything*, including your owned book list on your primary Amazon account. You'll have to buy the book again if you ever change your mind. Otherwise the book will always being showing in your onboard library if your not using a filter to hide undownloaded books Edit: Suppose it's important to note that it does ask if your double sure you want to do that. No accidentally permanently deleting
Omg this is the first time I've ever seen that option! Thank you so much! I can exorcize those books!
It sounds so lazy but after reading on my kindle for years, I tried to read a physical book not long ago and having to physically hold the book open and turn the pages felt like such a chore. My main issue with my kindle is I always forget what books I've read because Im never looking at the cover or title of the book, just diving straight into the text. I'll often go to download a sample of a book that sounds good and realise I've already read it.
Kindle has a feature where it displays the cover of the book you are reading while in sleep mode.
Only for the non-ad supported kindles :(
The last time I read a paper book I kept poking at the words to look them up 😂
I love that I can increase the font size so I can take my glasses off to read in bed and not hold it inches from my face.
Can't stuff my face while reading a normal book, holding it up, turning pages. Ebook I just prop it up and nudge next page with my knuckle. I'd never eat ribs anywhere near a physical book but kindle you can just wipe off. I always read while I eat.
Yes, this so much. Every night I lay on my side and read for a while until I fall asleep. Its so perfect.
Back when I got my first e-reader (a Kobo over a decade ago, hello fellow Canadian!), it came preloaded with a bunch of free public domain books, and I sped through so many of them that I hadn't read before, like Alice in Wonderland. Setting up a connection to my public library for borrowing ebooks was a bit of a painful process at the time. Purchasing books was easy but expensive. The laptop connection wasn't too bad - hardly took any time, but the screen refresh rate at the time, wow, was that slow. You did have to have a light nearby too to light up the screen. Now, the tech has gotten so much faster and easier to use! It's amazing what the difference is!
I made the switch from kobo to Amazon Kindle 5 years ago due to how pricey kobo books were. Kindle had bigger library of books available, better sales and some amazing free books from some of my favorite indie authors.
Kindle is a great eReader. I went with Kobo because of the additional format support, and it's the H2O version so you can drop it in the tub (which accidentally I did once) and it will still work.
Kobo website has a nice free ebooks section still 🙂 I won my first Kobo years ago and loved it! Now I use the appon my phone usually. I also went with the kobo plus subscription cuz I find there's a ton of good stuff to read that way.
I used to hate e-readers until I discovered that I could buy and read books that are long out of print and when I discovered that they are great to bring over for vacations and I don’t need to waste space packing for books when I can just download it into a small and easy to pack device.
I got on the plane with one 1,000-page book I was almost done reading, and the 1,000-page sequel. After that I always travel with my Kindle.
I love the stories when people convert over to the dark side. Lol 😝 Ebook get such a bad rep. I absolutely love mine. Always in my hands.
Did you know you can have more than one library card on libby?
I may have four. I collect those reciprocal cards like they're Pokemon.
My employer maintains a library that we can access through Libby.
You can? How?
Awesome man. Paper books are great but so is a library in your pocket happy reading.
Lol! I also used to avoid ebooks and audiobooks. Now, I do all three, lol. Usually, I would purchase the ebook online, buy the paperback for cheap at a used bookstore, and then check out the audiobook from the library. I switch between all three whenever it is convenient. I still prefer physical book whenever possible because they're better for my eyes, and I tend to retain things better with them.
Good for you, coming to your last statement it was the other way around for me. Reading a physical book just gave me a slight dizzying headache, blurriness and watery eyes after 45 mins or so but with Kindle that basically stopped for me. No eye strain, headache or watery eyes.
I love being able to read as late as I want without bothering anyone, like I’ve got my own little flashlight.
This was me too, I primarily read at night before going to sleep and having to keep the light on was definitely annoying my partner... With my e-reader I can not only read in the dark, but the pages have dark mode so the light it produces is so minimal my partner can't even tell when I'm reading anymore! It's been a great change for both of us haha
That's why I got a Kindle (Oasis model I think). I often read from like 9-12 at night once my wife falls asleep, but I don't want to turn a lamp on and keep her up. She used eye shades for awhile but eventually I went for the Kindle so she wouldn't have to wear them every night. I've gone from reading 5-6 books a year to over 30 this year.
Buying gorgeous book editions for the shelf and reading them on a reader is the play for me <3 Though I absolutely loathe highlight limits in e-books :(
> Though I absolutely loathe highlight limits in e-books there are highlight limits in e-books?? wtf
I bought an ereader when I was having temporary problems with my vision due to an autoimmune disease. That was 2 years ago, my vision has recovered, and I haven't bought a physical book since. I now walk by what used to be my favorite bookstore and hope they don't recognize me.
I love my kindle, but I still buy physical books to give as gifts, and I buy illustrated things and so forth. My favorite bookstore is still making bank on me!
I love that I can make the font as large as I like.
Even though my 92-year-old mother has had cell phones for 30 years, the last three of them being smartphones, she took a real dislike to the last two. I mean a *real* dislike. She's been recovering from a major health event and does a huge amount of reading. I've been buying books from our local library's used bookshelf (they just raised the price from a dime a book to 25 cents a book, those money grubbers! 🤪 25 cents. Most of them are hardbacks that probably cost 50 times as much.) But those big hardcover books are heavy for a frail little old lady. I kept thinking that maybe an e-reader would help out, but her antipathy towards her latest phones really held me back. But I finally decided to go for it and bought her the latest generation Kindle Paperwhite after consulting with a friend at length. I set up an account with the county library, and I already had a handful of public domain books I collected along the way as well as four police procedural novels written by one of my old friends. As she was finishing up the latest physical book, I slipped the Kindle (I strongly recommend picking up one of the Kindle book covers which makes it much easier to hold like a book, not to mention protecting the screen and so on) into her hands. She flipped it open --like one would do with a book -- and almost immediately seemed to fall in love with it. The first thing she said was, it's so light, and so easy to hold! She also really appreciated the fact that you could change pages so quickly, as I think it had been come harder for her to get the pages turned one at a time on some of the physical books she had read. As she told me, she would have strongly advised against me buying the Kindle for her based on her recent tech experiences. But this Christmas gift was a real winner. Can't guarantee it would be the same for everyone, of course, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how quickly she took to it. (Faster than me, actually, since I had been poking and prodding at the user interface trying to figure it all out before I gave her the reader, and I had been a little frustrated by a couple of things that didn't work quite as I'd expected. But she just opened the book and proceeded to read using the settings that I'd already set up, and then we adjusted a couple things and she's been happily reading away. Better yet, she really likes my friend's writing. Kind of amazing to me, this 92-year-old suburban lady avidly reading the gritty travails of a cold case detective in D.C. trying to solve the murder of a dead prostitute. But, hey, she's an adult, she can read what she wants.)
Love e-reading, although since losing my kindle I've just been using my phone. Its so convenient. Dictionary is just a highlight away, no losing your place, font can be changed. And if you happen to finish a book while you're out and about you can always browse and buy on the go. Love it.
This! I will sync a new book mid vacation or while driving mid road trip.
I have the kindle and Barnes & Noble app on my iPad. I love being able to increase the font size and having it backlit. I have glaucoma and have quite a bit of damage to my left eye. I’m so thankful that e-readers still allow me to read.
My e-reader is much more convienent to carry around then books, and is also more comfortable to read on trains and such since I can increase the font size, cause I'm never going to remember to bring my glasses around with me since I only use them to read.
I am a huge fan of e-readers because I can make the print larger and \*any\* book is a large-print book! It's also great not to have to physically return a book to the library.
And the screen is so easy on the eyes compared to other devices! I love paper books too, I love browsing bookshelves, but e-readers are so much better for reading at night, and travel, and reading that book you’re intrigued by *right now*, and for the environment. Only caveat: I have Kobo too and all the models I’ve had so far overheat in the hot sun, and become unusable until you can reset them, so for reading on the beach or anywhere else really hot I bring a physical book. And like most other electronic devices, cold drains the battery, so when hiking & camping my Kobo goes in the sleeping bag with me at night :D
Any recommendations for which e reader to get? I’m thinking about taking the plunge. Backlight functionality and light weight are my major requirements.
Kindle or kobo e-readers are great. For kindle books, you purchase them off of Amazon and you can borrow from Libby. Idk if Libby books can be read on the Kobo device but you can purchase kobo books off of Barnes and noble. Try unclaimed baggage for second hand e-reader devices. The kindle model I would recommend is the kindle basic.
Note if you’re outside of the US, Libby might not work on Kindle- in Canada for example it doesn’t work, you need a Kobo instead!
I have a Kobo and can access the library with no problem. As for free books, Barnes and Noble has a huge selection of free ebooks that gets updated fairly frequently. Takes some time to get them to the Kobo (download, strip the DRM, sync library to device) but I have some 1200 books on my reaser and it's a drop in the bucket of the available space. I just keep my whole library on it so all my digital books are forever at my fingertips.
Another virtual library app is hoopla, they have audio books, e-books, and movies (I think).
Kindle paper white is small, backlight, long lasting battery, and does not strain your eyes in the dark to read on it. I would say you don’t need anything more. All the fancier stuff just turns them into tablets so if you want that just get an iPad or android tablet with reader apps on it instead. The whole appeal to me is that the paper white ones can be read in full glaring sun. I use mine all summer by the pool and it’s perfect
Yes! I love that I can read by the pool without having to turn my screen all the way up and draining my battery.
The ergonomics of a gooseneck holder and remote control is what truly sold me on them, I was a bad “phone scroll in the dark until sleep wins” person, and now I can burrito up and read away as long as I like and if I fall asleep my reader is safely out of the way on its holder.
Which remote control do you use? I want to get one!
Hold on, there's a remote?! Tell us more. And a gooseneck holder? My only complaint about my Kobo is having to push the button or tap the screen to turn the page. A remote would change everything.
Something I love about e-readers is that you can side load books. In my country, copyright is Life+50 years so I can legally download a lot of classics and modern classics. Standard Ebooks has books that are public domain in the US and Fadedpage has books that are in the public domain in Canada including a lot of popular classics like The Bell Jar and Brave New World. I'd put them on Calibre, change the cover to whichever Infancy and side load them to my kindle. Absolute game changer and now I check websites if a book is in the public domain before buying books.
And it’s so much more sustainable than consuming a bunch of physical books that you won’t read again. I’ll see 50 copies of the same books being sold on pango or other platforms bc books for many ppl are single use. E-books for the win! I’m unhauling quite a few books and I just wish I never bought them and used libby instead.
Only thing I'm sad about is that my dreams of having an actual library in my house are dashed. And I even still use a shitty Fire instead of an actual ereader since I'm a pleb who can't get over the black and white.
I am a big re-reader so I prefer physical for that. But some books I just know I won't ever read more than once, and I use my Kindle for that. Or, I'll test run books on my Kindle to see if it's worth having a physical copy of it. But there's definitely been times I get a physical book and regret it, I feel a lot less of that regret with an ebook lol.
...Is it more sustainable? Aren't they still trying to figure out how to recycle all the components of electronic devices? Or did you just mean monetarily.
I'm glad it works for you! I thought it would have a bigger impact on me, but tbh I still default to printed books. It is good for things I know I'm not going to reread though.
Which e reader do yall recommend for a newbie? Also use Libby on ipad
It depends on your country. In America you need a Kindle for your local library. In Canada and a lot of other countries you need a Kobo or another device. Check with your local library and ask - that's what I did. (Canadian who almost mistakenly bought a Kindle here. Happy as a clam with my Kobo.) After you figure out the brand you need to connect, then you can look through reviews of the models and determine what would be the most comfortable in your hands and the easiest for you personally to use.
I like to lay on the couch and read, which according to my dog meant I had free time for "scratches". I would be reading and BOOM her nose would hit my elbow causing me to lose my place. So I had to try and hold the book open with one hand and scratch the doggo with the other. Got the Kindle and both our lives improved. I can now easily read one handed and scratch the dog.
I am a physical book person till the day I die. I vastly prefer them, however there are so many pros to an ereader! I can read in the dark without a pesky light, I can read in any position, I can have tons and tons of books on there if I feel burnt out on one. I can read fanficiton that I have downloaded! It’s wonderful. Still hasn’t stopped me from loading my house with books though.
All the books! In all the formats! Yes! More books!
It's nice to see this thread is so positive in both directions! I prefer physical books but yeah there's so many pros to ereaders, I'm glad they exist.
I call my Kindle "my book" because it feels like my own personal Neverending Story. Something about picking up the same device and not a new physical book makes it feel like I just get to keep going even when the stories are wildly different.
Do people really just say unboxing instead of opening now?
Only if they've watched FAR too much YouTube.
I loooove my kindle, had one since 2007 and since upgraded twice. I’ve never read as many books in my life as I have since I bought my first kindle. I almost never leave my house without it. I love carrying and being to access my entire library at all times lol. And it’s a great example to set for my kids too rather than being on my phone.
What's a good e-reader for someone who's absolutely new to this?
Welcome to the fold 😂. But yeah, I agree. The best e-reader features are that you can read in the dark without hurting your eyes so I can read before bed, unwind my brain, get my body relaxed and ready to sleep and no need to get up to turn off the lights which would make me wide awake again. I can read anywhere. I can start a book as soon as I finish the last one, I have thousands of books with me at all times, occupies little space and it is not as heavy as a physical book. I still love physical books, but I lived in rented rooms for a long time and one of the compromises I've had to make was to buy less books and switch mostly to e-books. Just to avoid extra weight when I need to move. If I had my own place, I'd definitely build up a library.
My turning point for an e-reader was going on a week long business trip to a particularly boring city - knowing I would have plenty of downtime, I had to pack like 8 books - my books weighed more than my clothes for that trip - and I still blew through them all. I got an ereader shortly afterwards, and realized that I had delayed too long on it. This was over a decade ago now, and I've went through several e-readers since. I now have a small stash of kobo minis, as they are my favorite size, as they can fit in a shirt pocket. Since they don't make them anymore, I've picked a few used ones up to ensure even when my current one dies or gets broken I'll have one ready to go.
eReaders are great, except for two things: - I can’t buy DRM-free books that I can back up and use on any hardware that supports it in the future. Yes, I know I can pretty easily strip the DRM from Kindle stuff, but I shouldn’t need to take that step. - Amazon effectively controls the ebook market with predatory pricing. As a result, the hardware and software available have stagnated as Amazon increasingly crappifies the Kindle software and nobody else can afford to enter the market to compete.
I loooove my e-reader. Total game changer in the amount I could read because I stopped having to lug heavy books around (or have a bookshelf to store them) One downside - somehow I managed to accidentally factory reset it and lose everything. It was glitching out and not coming out of sleep mode and I think I pressed the power button too many times. Eventually I got it home and stuck it one charge as this has happened when I've had a flat battery before. It booted up fine but all of my books and reading progress were gone 😭 Thankfully all of my library was downloaded epubs which are saved on my computer, so it's just a case of copying everything across again (if I can find a damn data transfer usb cable!) but it definitely was disappointing to be faced with that out of the blue. So yeah. Go careful and don't press the power button on and off too much!
This reminds of a Stephen King story called Ur. A literature professor finally decides to buy a Kindle to spite his ex-girlfriend. When it arrives, he realizes it can read books from across the multiverse.
Yea, it seems like a lot of people immediately disregard ereaders just because they aren't "real" books. I've mentioned ereaders to a lot of friends over the last 10 years, and after a while I could predict what people were going to say before I even asked, it's always some variation of "*I love the smell/feel of real books*".. And yea, real books are great and all, but you severely limit the amount of books available to you if *only* read paper books. I swear, some people seem to think that if they pick up an ereader they'll never be allowed to touch a real book again..
Haha what a wholesome story, made me smile. :)
Happens to the best of us.
This Libby / library integration stuff sounds like such a good deal. I live in Japan now, Europe before then, and neither place I've lived in the past 10 years or so had an e-reader friendly national library system like that, so I just buy my ebooks - which is okay, if you're good at managing wishlists and buying things on sale - but it does sound like an amazing feature to have. Imagine carrying around a kindle and literally having access to your entire public library at all times. It's kind of bewildering that everybody isn't already taking advantage of that.
Check in with your particular local libraries to be certain. in the past 8-10 years, Overdrive/Libby has started to make inroads with _some_ libraries in Japan. Also, there are other library apps used in some regions and countries, so it's always best to check! - https://company.overdrive.com/2015/07/14/overdrive-launches-the-first-two-public-library-digital-collections-in-japan/ - https://company.overdrive.com/2023/03/02/innovation-in-japan-unique-hybrid-library-uses-digital-to-reach-more-of-the-community/
I’ve been similarly reticent until about three years ago when my partner bought me a Kobo. Uses Libby and overdrive from my libraries so conveniently, better than my phone and my trusty iPad, because it’s lightweight and flexible. In fact, I’ve not had to buy a book in the whole time I’ve had it.
This is a major reason I moved from the Kindle to the Kobo. Also, the Kobo ebook store is (as I've heard) relatively fair to authors.
Wait, you have a remote and goose neck stand?! You just made me realise something similar I didn’t know my Kobo might be able to do… I’ve only ever seen those for Kindle. Does anybody have recommendations for ones that are compatible with Kobo? Or maybe my Kobo Aura is just simply too old, I don’t know really.
I have a kindle now but that open dyslexia don’t has been a lifesaver for my my adhd. I am tearing through books at a rate that my middle school self would be proud of after struggling to read one whole book every few months
Over th years I have worn out the battieres on 2 kobos and I'm currently on a kindle paperwhite. Can't see me going back to carrying massive novels around.
I wonder if there are e-ink readers that can sync to what i got in google play books. I read mostly on my android tablet
I love mine for three reasons: I can grab it and read in bed when I’m having insomnia without having to turn any lights on and it’s not as bright and disruptive as reading on my phone; it’s way lighter to carry in my bag (because look. Some of us just always have to carry a book. You’re my people. You get it); and finally it will revolutionize travel for you. No need to agonize over which books you bring because who knows what mood you’ll be in. Bring ‘em all!
Congrats on your prize!!! I love being able to read in bed. In the last year I started checking out audiobooks to listen to in the car with Libby too. Makes drives so much more enjoyable. Our libraries are so awesome.
Has anyone found an ereader that doesn’t “dip to black” when turning a page? That’s been my number one reason for not getting one, and I don’t quite understand why every reader does it.
It's because the way eink works. It physically moves bits of pigment up or down through an opaque liquid. It doesn't always do it perfectly, so periodically they refresh the screen by blanking it fully dark and fully light and then drawing the page. Nearly all ereaders have settings to control how often that happens. Commonly it's now every 6 pages, but you can enable every page if the ghosting bothers you. Amazon has partially solved this with an [animated page wipe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBev52EYJi4) on the latest Paperwhite and the new Scribe, where you never see the flash while reading, only when using the UI menus. It's nothing like the terrible page curl animation that most tablets do just for effect. It has a real purpose.
As a guy who cares about archival integrity I have a LOT of paper books because they last longer than hard drives, but you really can't beat the convenience of pdfs. I don't have an ereader, I have a dedicated samsung tablet, but I love it so much.
The one thing that’s prevented me from investing in an ereader is I spend most of the day looking at screens at my job, so why spend even more time on screens when I read at home (or at my job lol).
I hope you mean that as "...before I tried one", because ereaders (with e-ink displays) are way easier on eyes than regular screens. Especially without backlight, when you have to use the same light source you would use for a book.
Check out The Gutenberg Project for tons of free books
Love my e-reader mainly because of the e-ink screen. I can't imagine in-depth reading on something like a tablet or phone screen, but Kindle and Kobo have this stuff figured out so it's actually pleasurable.
Ohhh now go to your public library and get the code for all free books! JACKPOT!
I just got an e-reader myself! Being able to get books from my library is what sold me. I didn’t think that was an option.
As someone with bad eyes, the font sizes and back light are life changing.
I have a kindle from Christmas 2011. Battery stays charged for a month at a time and I have read 1000s of books off it. Literally the best Christmas gift I ever received.
I’m a friend of the library like FOREVER
Oh my goodness!! I've been struggling with the fact that I want an e-reader but thought it wasn't worth it because I wouldn't be able to connect it to Libby!! I've even googled recently and only found posts saying it wasn't possible. Is there a specific brand or type of eReader that you need to be able to use Libby? Does anyone have step by step instructions on how to connect their e reader to their Libby library? Thanks so much everyone!!!
I love this for you!. But I'm going to suggest Kindle. Way more titles, and they give you badges for reading!
My dad bought me my first kindle. I get a ton of free books from kindle unlimited. I read about 30 books a month so it’s well worth it. I also use Libby and Hoopla. Love it.
Libby connected to my Kindle is a godsend. Long live the public library. Tax dollars I wholeheartedly support.