I’ve always been a pack-your-paperback-book-on-holidays type of reader.
We already have to to be on our phones for several hours of the day so I figure it’s best to pick up a physical copy of my favourite read to enjoy it.
That is, until I tried a Rakuten Kobo Clara 2E E-reader.
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I quickly realised that it feels very different to read off your smartphone screen than it does off the e-reader, which allows me to change the size and font of the text to best fit what feels comfortable for me to scan across.
It also tracks where you’re up to – a nice touch when you want to keep motivated to read on – and has a vast library of books with just about everything in it to choose from.
The best part? It’s certainly cheaper overall to download books on the e-reader than to buy the paperback or hard cover version and store them on a shelf never to be looked at or read again.
Since getting one I’ve brought it onto trains on my daily work commute, on boats, to the beach and even into the bath – the Kobo I tried is actually waterproof.
The brand has recently launched the Kobo Plus Listen and Kobo Plus Read & Listen subscription plans in Australia and New Zealand.Previously, Kobo Plus was available as an e-book only model.
On August 17 the subscription program expanded with the availability of audiobooks, growing the catalogue to over 1.5 million e-books and 150,000 audiobooks.
This gives readers of all kinds a lot more flexibility on how they’d like to read their books, while still having access to the genres of their choice.Current subscribers can update their plans to include both e-books and audiobooks for $16.99 per month.
New subscribers can enjoy 30 days of free reading and listening by starting their Kobo Plus trial.
So while I was a book snob to begin with, Kobo has certainly changed my mind and now I can’t wait to pick up the lightweight device no matter where I find myself.