A few months ago, I reached a milestone birthday. I’ve never been the type to do elaborate birthday celebrations or host parties, so usually I have simple ones spent doing my favourite activities and having a meal with family and friends. Since it was a milestone birthday though, I decided I could treat myself to a gift! You would think that I would have opted for a watch or a bag that’s on my wish list, but while the thought did briefly crossed my mind, I ended up getting myself an e-reader!

I did a ton of research online and read and watched a lot of reviews before finally deciding on the Kobo Clara HD! * After using it for a few months, I’m really loving it! Not just the device, but the whole e-reading experience too! Most days, my e-reader is in my bag, so that it goes with me whenever I head out and I love to catch up with my reading over lunch! :)

It’s wonderful because 1. I cut my phone screen time, 2. I get a mental break from the work day by relaxing over my current read and 3. it’s incredibly convenient and much easier than packing and bringing my physical books out.
*Note: I bought my Kobo e-reader in Singapore from Popular bookstore (Bras Basah Complex). You can check this list from Kobo’s website on where to get one. I got the case from Shopee.

Having an e-reader with me has actually helped me to read more too. Since reading more books is something I wanted to do more of, this works perfectly for me. :) I’ve actually been eyeing e-readers since my university days, when I spotted them in my university bookstore and I was so tempted to get one! I never did, because they were quite expensive and out of my budget then.

If I remember it correctly, I think at the time, both Singapore and Hong Kong libraries did not have e-book resources that were supported for e-readers. But things have changed and good news if you live in Singapore, e-books from NLB are now supported and can be borrowed into and read on Kobo devices!

On the whole physical book vs e-book/e-reader question, I’ve thought about this on and off. As someone who grew up reading books and spending countless hours in libraries and bookstores, I used to be 100% team physical books. But over the years, I’ve concluded that as long as I’m reading, that’s the most important thing, and it’s fine if I choose to do that via different formats. :) Don’t get me wrong, I still have a bookshelf filled with a personal collection of my favourite books and I will always be wandering bookstores and libraries for my next read!

Recently, I chanced upon this post on e-reading from Oh My Book and I really liked what she shared. :)

Speaking of books and reading, I regularly highlight my current read on the panel on the right side of this blog and always link to the book’s page on its author’s website or Goodreads, so do click on it if you want to check it out too! ➡️➡️

P.S. On a separate note, my sister inspired me to re-join Twitter this year! I’ve deleted my old account (as it dated all the way back and I felt like it was too much of a past chapter) and set up a new one – @kylenecitystory! I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I’m just having fun with it and sharing all sorts of random bits and bobs from city life in Singapore, the internet and my current reads. If you’re on Twitter, would love it if you pop by and check mine out? :) Compared to other platforms, Twitter feels more “low maintenance”, you know what I mean? It feels quite easy and freeing to just share whatever and I’m enjoying it so far. Let’s see where this goes~

⭐ Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter for day-to-day updates and my bookstagram for bookish posts! ⭐