I love reading but rarely have the time to snatch more than a few minutes with my treasured books unless I am on holiday. Holidays present all sorts of opportunities to spend quality time relaxing with a book but also throw up other issues not the least of which has always been how to cram enough reading matter into my luggage!

E-Readers

The luggage issue has been completely solved by investing in an e-reader. This is a device that I thought I would hate but have fallen in love with. I have struggled to read books in some lighting conditions even with my reading glasses in place but e-readers are much clearer than print and can even be read in the dark. They are very compact and light making them easy to accommodate in my luggage and have the ability to hold a vast amount of material. I will certainly never run short of books again whilst away and in the unlikely event that I do more material can be uploaded in seconds. Inevitably, though, my new e-reader has led to further expenditure. Isn’t that always the way? You solve one problem only to find you have created all sorts of new ones! I have got so used to the convenience of the device that the few occasions on which I can’t read it have become a major annoyance and I have sought out what I need to solve the problems. It appears that e-readers, like mobile phones, have spawned a massive accessories industry.

Water

Even a paper book doesn’t like being dropped into the water but at least such an incident will only result in the loss of something of little value. Soaking an e-reader would be a much more expensive disaster and so I didn’t dare read in the bath or in the Jacuzzi on holiday. They don’t like sand much either which was problematic for days on the beach but naturally someone had already thought of that and produced a watertight plastic bag which will also keep out the sand. With my new bag I could read literally anywhere as long as the sun wasn’t too bright!

Sunshine

The glare from the sun is a major issue regardless of what some television adverts say. There is no way to read comfortably without sunglasses which means I had to put these over my reading glasses and sit around with a mound of plastic on my head. Thankfully I then discovered that special spectacles were available which has sorted that issue only to create another yet again. I can now read my device everywhere and so my battery runs out on me at the most provoking moments. There is nothing worse than getting to the pivotal part of a good story only for your device to give up the ghost. I now have to invest in a portable charging unit to ensure uninterrupted service. I wonder what I will need next. Something to stop the thing overheating probably!

Conclusions

E-readers are undoubtedly a good thing, especially on holiday, and I certainly love mine. I only wish I had seen all the problems coming before they actually happened! If you are considering buying an e-reader do be aware that you will need accessories too. If I have to buy many more I am going to have a luggage problem again!

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Article by Sally Stacey