I've defected to the Kobo Glo

I was a bit late to the electronic book party.  I guess I was a purist, I liked to feel the pages of a paperback between my fingers and my eyes never really felt comfortable reading a screen for any length of time.

Kindle Touch v's Kobo glo

I bought my Kindle Touch when I started writing seriously again.  I wanted to be able to review what I'd written sitting in the comfort of my armchair instead of propped up at the PC.  The Kindle Touch seemed like the perfect thing for me.  It was easy to buy books from Amazon and my DH was pleased that I wasn't cluttering up the house with yet more paperback.

I really liked my Kindle.  OK, it was a bit grey and boring but I bought a snazzy red case to brighten it up.  It was light and fitted in my handbag so I took it everywhere with me.  It killed time in hospital waiting rooms and it provided anonymity when I was reading *those* books.  Still not sure why I bothered but curiosity and all that...

Anyway, the Kindle was great but there was a small problem.  I found myself straining to read the screen in the evenings.  I needed a light.  I did a bit of research and found you can get cases with lights on but I they looked like more trouble than they were worth.  I also researched the Kindle Paperwhite.  It looked like it would fit the bill and until I read the reviews.  They weren't very convincing.  The more I read about faulty screens, bulb shadows and weird colour casting the more I realised it wasn't going to be the one for me.

Grey Kindle, pretty blue Kobo

I'd never really considered any of the other eReaders because they weren't Amazon, but I'd seen some reviews of the Kobo Glo and people were raving about it.  I popped into my local W H Smith store and had a play.  I was sold!  The screen was clearer, the page turns were faster and best of all at the touch of a button the page lit up and I could read at night!!!

I decided to get the blue one.  It wasn't available online but thankfully they had it in stock in W H Smith at Meadowhell  (and no, that's not a typo!).  I got it out the box and fell in love!  It's so cute in blue!  It took a little while to set up on the computer but buying books is just as easy as getting them from Amazon.

I did have a little panic when I realised I could only put books on it that I'd bought from the Kobo website but then I remembered reading about Calibre and pretty soon I'd downloaded that too and I had all my other books on my new beloved Kobo Glo.

I am so loving it.  I can read in the conservatory when it starts to get dark, I can read in bed without turning the lamp on, and I can adjust the brightness so it's perfect for my eyes.  So, I'm sorry Kindle, you're relegated to reading old books in the bath because I've defected to Kobo :D

Its glow in the dark!