Ereader Upgrade - Sort of ;)

Back in December 2016, as I was packing for my 10-day trip to Korea and Okinawa, Japan, I was about to pack away my beloved Kobo e-reader only to discover that my trusted reading companion had died! Blank screen, no response to being plugged into the computer – panic! Between mourning the loss of Kirk (yes, I names my Kobo) and trying to figure out what physical book(s) to bring along with my on my trip, I was distraught.

In the end I grabbed by copy of Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven as my vacation read – it was a great choice, though I finished it rather quickly and happily found myself buying a few additional books at a second-hand bookstore in Seoul. (Namely Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card, and After Dark by Haruki Murakami.)

When I returned from my trip I entered into a long mourning period for my late e-reader and contented myself with reading hard-copy books or reading on my laptop.

However, I totally miss the convenience of an e-reader; a little device that always fit in my purse, allowing me to carry books around with me everywhere. I want to be able to read my electronic books not on my laptop, plus e-books are a cheaper way to satisfying my book-buying addiction! ;)

So, here I am, at roughly the 3-month anniversary of Kirk’s passing, looking to find a new reading companion. I’m calling it an upgrade because I had, up until a few months ago, been using the very oldest version of Kobo, the original Kobo e-reader. I’m excited to re-explore the e-reader market place and see what new devices are now available 7 years after the original release in 2010!

A quick internet search revealed that the biggest e-reader on the market currently is the Kindle, but I was quite happy with my Kobo and decided I wanted to stick with this Canadian company - Yay Canada!

And the fact that Kobo supports EPUB is pretty important to me. Looking at the many e-readers now sold I was thrilled to see that most now feature an illuminated display screen (ComfortLight), and everything is now touch screen! (Maybe my delight at these pretty basic features helps you realize how old my Kobo was!)

After spending a good hour and a bit researching stats, comparing prices, and salivating over pictures of so many beautiful readers, I finally made my choice… I decided to order a Kobo Glo, in blue. The model is rather old, from 2012 actually, but the white e-reader really appealed to me, and the Glo HD was only available in black. The Glo has lots of customizable features pertaining to font and display – many more than the original Kobo which I already appreciated – and apparently has chess and Sudoku as well, which is no book-related, but a fun perk!

The interface looks really nice, it features not just the most recent book you opened like my old Kobo did, but rather the 5 most recently books you opened – which I find pretty awesome!

So that’s it, my Kobo Glo is ordered and on the way; I should get it within the next 2 weeks! THIS IS SO EXCITING!!

What e-reader or electronic reading devices do you use? Have you used others in the past? What do you love about your current device? (If this one is a total disappointment I may be back in the market for another e-reader soon! ;P )