#kobo books

[abybweisse]

Ch212 (p0), Cover and title pages

Now that I have my own copy from Kobo.

[thelattechronicles]

Going from Kindle to Kobo: My Thoughts and how I settled on the Clara BW

I've had my one and only e-reader: the 4th generation Kindle since 2011. That's quite literally over a decade old- 13 years, to be exact.

It's been deemed old enough to justify an upgrade. Not that I had even been needing one, or considering getting a new one; rather, the Kindle had just started glitching on me and freezing this past September. After 13 years, I'd say it's an accomplishment that it took this long for the tech to finally start breaking down on me. Believe me when I say that this Kindle had not been babied by any means whatsoever.

Now, it's been exactly 30 days since I've gone from my Kindle 4th gen 2011 model (thanks Mom and Dad) to the new Kobo Clara BETWEEN. Read on to see what my thoughts are on this upgrade!

I don't think I can go back to the Kindle UX and world, and I truly do see what people are saying about Kobo just being overall better.

For starters, here are the specs between both as a comparison:

(Side note: the 4th gen Kindle is SO old that I had to dig around for a review of it, and found one on The Ebook Reader dot com)

As you can tell from the glaring number of red X circles, the basic Kindle 4th gen does not have as much much going for it compared to my new Kobo Clara BW. But that's okay! Here are some things I LIKED about the Kindle:

The e-ink screen

The physical page turning buttons on the side - I still love the page turners and how I just need to press down on the side. The buttons are very streamlined and a part of the side plastic framing.

The wallpapers when the device is turned off

The battery life (once upon a time, one charge could last me a good 4 months I stg)

The size of the screen (was not willing to go smaller, but was open to go bigger)

Straightforward system and user interface (turn on, find book, read.)

Being able to email epubs and PDFs to the Kindle directly via the Whispernet

Here are some things I DISLIKE about my Kindle today:

Its current extremely short battery life (I don't think a charge can last me two weeks now)

Being locked into the Kindle Amazon storefront and ecosystem - yes, I purchased each and every book on Amazon that I have on my Kindle...

Not being able to make Libby work on the Kindle (as a Canadian reader)

Lack of backlighting options

Anything to do with any sort of typing (I had to physically press the arrow buttons and wait until it landed on the right letter to press enter, then move on to the next letter, rinse repeat. Needless to say, it gets exhausting real quick trying to type out a short word, let alone a title of a book you're trying to find in your Kindle library storage.)

Lack of ad-free options with today's Kindle models (I got lucky with my Kindle 4th gen, where the home screen goes directly to my storage, listing all the books and collection folders I created. I hear this is no longer a thing, and the home page is the Amazon Kindle storefront. Ew.)

So, the Kobo Clara BW does a lot of what I liked about my Kindle - and more! It has quite a lot going for it: a long battery life, multiple backlighting options (reg vs warm lighting), bluetooth (if I wanted to do audiobooks, but I do that on my phone anyway so it's just a bonus for me). The Kobo Clara BW has crisp displays (I've read some manga and comics on it), and the zooming in and text font/size adjustments are super easy to navigate.

I know, I know. No physical page-turning buttons. I still lament the loss of my buttons. I know there are some Kobo models such as the Libra that have the buttons, but I strongly believe that the Kindle 4th gen buttons are superior. I liked that they were a part of the side, rather than a blocky-looking extension, like the buttons on the Libra are. The touch screen was a bit of an interesting thing to navigate in the beginning, but as we use touch-screen phones, it was very easy and quick to get used to it.

Why not the colour option?

Granted, the Kobo Clara colour as well as some other colour alternatives did come out. Why did I not choose the colour option? Yes, colour e-ink and e-readers are pretty to look at, but for someone who uses e-readers purely to read novels and text-heavy documents, it seemed unnecessary for my purposes. In store, I did a side-by-side comparison of the Clara Colour and BW and actually found the lighting to be drastically different at max brightness and warmth. Here's a picture I found online that gives you an idea of what I mean:

As you can see, the Clara BW version (right) has a crisper and whiter background, and the Clara Colour (left) looked a bit orange-red-toned overall.

ABOVE ALL: the Kobo ecosystem has been fantastic for me.

As someone who has been pitifully buying every single e-book on Amazon thus far or loading janky PDFs with too-small-text, the Kobo Clara BW is a breath of fresh air. It was very easy to connect my Libby account in the Settings. I now have an automatic delivery of all my ebook loans to my Kobo (!!!!) (A dream come true for Canadian e-readers!). I also have Calibre downloaded on my laptop and with it, can customize my Kobo to no end. You can see that I've gone ahead and gave my Kobo some wallpapers, which include my favourite The New Yorker covers. I'm happy with how much I can do with my Kobo. The Pocket app feature also came as a pleasant surprise! It's nice being able to read articles during work lunches and save any interesting articles on my computer, and those articles get automatically downloaded to my Kobo.

In true The Latte Chronicles fashion, if I were to give my Kobo Clara BW a rating:

★★★★★

If you're like me as a reader and your needs are similar to mine (and maybe your old Kindle is dying on you) I encourage you to make the jump to Kobo! I haven't regretted my Kobo Clara BW purchase at all. In fact, I've already finished 13 books since I booted up my Clara.

J

[rosesutherlandwrites]

I just found out A Sweet Sting Of Salt has been shortlisted for Ratuken Kobo's emerging author prize in the romance category. I am going to require some time to pick myself up off the floor, I am thrilled, and honoured....and also gobsmacked, I was not expecting to be nommed for ANYTHING at this point, let alone make the shortlist.

[phantompoetess]

Shattered Heart is available on Amazon & Kobo(links are on my posts)🤍 If you'd like a sneak peak of the book, it's on Wattpad(@authornikitaleigh)

[commoncolloquialism]

E reader vs physical book

I prefer reading on an e reader by like a lot and it makes me feel like less of a bookworm sometimes. I wondered how many people actually use them.

[saige-alastair]

What is happening with Kobo? I can only buy it as pre-order for some reason, I can't open it and They Say that it was released yesterday.... WHY...

[kitty-is-writing]

Dragon's Teeth snippet

sharing a bit of my new book, Dragon's Teeth! if you like what you read here, you can grab a copy of the book on Kobo, Google Play, Amazon or my Ko-fi shop!

The floating dummy hovered midway down the garden, its button eyes staring in a way that made Enkarini a little nervous. “What do I do?” She looked sideways to Ustin, hoping for some clear instructions.

“I just want to see how you naturally use your ability. Do whatever feels right to you, and we’ll go from there.”

She took a deep breath, looked back at the dummy and tried to remember what she’d been taught so far. She hadn’t used her magic since the dragon attacks back home, and something within her seemed to be holding back. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t forget the feeling of being taken over, when the dark cloud she’d always thought of as protective had pulled itself into her, building on itself to become something overwhelming, powerful enough to defeat three rampaging dragons and totally out of her control. She missed being able to just call it up, mess with it a little, maybe make different shapes with it, and let it fade. Maybe if she just relaxed and thought about how fun it had been when she first started learning, she could use it without losing control again.

She let out her breath slowly, called up her cloud and tried to make it into a ball shape, which she intended to bounce off the dummy’s head. The ball formed just fine, but as she sent it away from herself the shape began to flicker slightly. Panic crept in, and she tightened her grip on the shadow ball. She felt it strain against the binds she was trying to put on it, and it exploded into a mass of writhing tendrils that rapidly spread across the garden. She yelped, desperately trying to bring it back under control, but the harder she tried to hold onto it the more it wriggled away.

“Calm down!” Ustin barked. She turned towards him, to see him standing firmly, arms outstretched and gently gathering in the stray wisps of shadow. “Panicking will only make this worse. I’ve got it, you need to let go and calm yourself.”

With a considerable effort, Enkarini released all the magic she had pulled up and tried to settle herself down. As her breathing and heartbeat slowly returned to normal, she watched Ustin rein in her uncontrolled burst with efficient skill. When all the extended bits were gathered back into a rough ball shape, he lowered it to the ground and gradually allowed it to dissipate into faint wisps of smoke, which blew away in the wind. “Sorry,” she said in a very small voice.

Ustin looked at her, his head slightly tilted. “You had much better control before, when you first opened the gateway. Something happened that made you a little uneasy, uncomfortable with using your magic.”

Before she knew it, the entire story poured out of her; how her home town Tewen had been attacked during the midsummer festival and how she’d got lost in the mayhem; her desperate call to Maldor for help, trying to find her father; finally managing to reach him only to see him die saving her; how her magic had reacted and spiralled out of her control, leaving her exhausted, confused and unsure how much of the damage her own outburst had caused. Even the confrontation with Aila and her mob in the aftermath, and the accusations of using dark magic that had been thrown at her by the superstitious over the last couple of years.

There were a few moments of silence before Ustin spoke again. “I can see how that would unsettle you. That inner turmoil is likely affecting your magic, too.” He led her back towards the house and sat her down in one of the weathered garden chairs on the back porch. “Shadow magic is closely connected to the wielder’s spirit, more so than most other types. It means any emotional disturbance will have some impact on your casting. It also means that your magic will reject any use outside of your own nature – the fact that you’re so concerned about being evil tells me you have a kind heart, and the shadow magic will pick up on that. It won’t allow you to use it for cruel or harmful things, because those things aren’t in your nature.”

She drank in the reassuring words, longing to believe them and let go of her fears and doubts, but years of sermons and temple-influenced gossip stood in her way. She’d always been told that magic was good when it came from intense focus, concentration and effort, but her dark, uncontrollable bursts were something else, something wild and dangerous. She had to make it obey her, otherwise someone might get hurt. She still wasn’t entirely convinced that her father’s death hadn’t been her fault, and would never be able to forgive herself if one of her friends was caught up in another violent eruption of shadow magic.

taglist: @write-with-will @eli-t-spoon

[pandoramedusa]

We’re back with my chaotic interests of the week. Reading books my friend recommended, book recommendations by @lit_laugh_love on instagram and more notes about everything.

As you can see, I can not stick to an aesthetic for my notes. But whatever.

[somethingboutme]

Omgggg, I’m super happy and excited!!! I’m so tankful 🤍 📖

[arctic-hands]

Does anyone I trust know where i can get a kobo books apk I converted the Amazon fire to android but the android it's running won't let me download it from the Google play store

[abybweisse]

Ch209 (p1), Cover and title page

Yeah, there's a lot of deception going on....

"A sinister smile that spells trouble" oddly refers to both of them here. "Smile" (our earl) isn't smiling, but that was the name he was given, but "Black" is smiling, and we know his sinister nature.

More to come soon, but I'm still reading.

[inkandoatmilk]

cozy night vibes, reading and listening to my favourite reading music!

[megaeralwrites]

The Shabti is very on sale right now on Kobo. A whole 75% off from now through 9/1!

[phantompoetess]

Heavy hearts bleed less than the light of heart because a heavy heart does not know how to let go of all it holds but,

the light of heart know only how to let go.

If only it was so easy for me to let you go.

You see I have a tendency to hold on a little too much, for a little too long.

I tend to hold what is dearest to me too close, too tight.

How can it not be heartless if I let go?

I could not possibly let you go.

Heavy hearts hold on too tight to those it loves.

That is why the mind is above.

It assists the heart because it cannot survive alone.

I cannot survive alone.

You live in my heart and I carry you along but here is not where you belong.

You left the home I built for you and now it stands empty, filling with dust and spiderwebs.

Will you ever come visit me?

The wind comes and blows the leaves by, everything settles into dust once more.

It is nothing like before.

At least not anymore.

Nikita Leigh, Shattered Heart

Available on Amazon & Kobo🤍 A sneak peak is freely available on Wattpad as well(@authornikitaleigh)

[falling4fall-xoxo]

Changed my kobo inserts up and started Lightlark!!

[alwri-tes]

Book Distribution Update!

Yesterday, I made a rapid announcement about working with a distributor to get my books sold at more locations, and now I'm here to fill you in on that more.

I started working with a company called Draft2Digital, and now, ebooks of Shadow's Hidden Blade are available from retailers like:

Barnes and Noble

Rakuten Kobo

Apple Books

Tolino

Baker & Taylor

Odilo

Vivlio

Borrow Box

Gardners

...with more to be added to the list very soon! You can check out all the places it's available here!