I love my Kobo!

Dear Scribblers

Have you delved into the world of the e-book reader yet?

I must say, seeing as I like to touch and hold and feel, and adore the smell of books, I was a little skeptical of the lure of e-ink. Then I thought about it in the same way as writing, I keep a daily journal written with proper flowing ink, but I also blog, tweet and Facebook. I often make handwritten notes, but I also jot down ideas on my iPhone. I sometimes write out stories by hand, but also go great guns directly onto the MacBook.

This follows through to my crafting, I sometimes scribble my journalling, other times print out font. I even go the whole way and make complete digital pages. If I can be a hybrid-scrapper and writer, why not a hybrid-reader?

After checking out all the e-readers in the market place, I finally found my perfect match!

The Kobo Touch. It's a fantastic e-reader, with a responsive and easy to read touch screen, with only two buttons - on/off and home. Kobo Books is an amazing book store including plenty of free books and previews. You can even buy books elsewhere for use on it (drag and drop - including pdfs, plus Adobe Digital Editions), and loan e-books from your local library, if they offer that facility.

There's a whole social networking scene called Reading Life, including collecting rewards of virtual stickers as you read and then send them onto Facebook, and where you can also check your reading stats too.

The casing is very tactile and easy to hold, not to mention chic. Its quilted back reminds me somewhat of a very expensive designer handbag, that most of you will know is very close to my heart!

It can sync via your computer (PC and Mac, which is a bonus) or via WiFi, up to your own account at Kobo Books. If you've got an iPad or iPhone, you can app it to sync to that as well.

There are a couple of options I would like added though. These include being able to access the dictionary and notes sections directly, not just via a book, and also a crossword solver would be nice. There is already a sudoku game, plus sketchbook and internet browser in their extras section under experimental functionality.

In my opinion, it's so much better than anything that the other companies offer in the UK.  

I know this sounds like an advert, but it's not! I'm in no way connected with Kobo, nor am I getting any payment for writing this post. It's just I love it! I'm hooked on the free classics on my e-book reader.

It won't replace all my lovely books on my shelf, but it's a brilliant way to carry books with you, plus I've downloaded some of my long-term favourites which I can have with me at all times.

Happy Scribing... and Reading - however you do it!


NB: The extract shown on screen is from the free preview of 'The Eyre Affair' by Tom Fforde.