We converted, and now we’re obsessed.

Back when e-readers came out, I worked at Chapters. I thought the Kobo was a cool concept but, like many people, I love buying, holding, having books. It had been suggested that I buy an e-reader, but I’d always declined. In my mind, nothing can beat a real book, in my hand, and then on my bookshelf to be perused and re-read in the future.

When we moved to Phnom Penh, this became something of a problem. I couldn’t take books with me to Phnom Penh, but I felt silly buying books there because I couldn’t take them with me when I left either. I had lots of time to relax, so I did buy a handful of books, but the selection was terribly limited. In one case, I actually bought a book that I knew was sitting unread in my parents’ garage.

And that’s when I realized: e-readers are perfect for travelling or living abroad.

When I came home at Christmas, I went out an splurged on a Kobo. I loaded it up with books, and was reading non-stop once I got to Portugal.

After a couple of weeks, Kevin picked it up, then asked to borrow it. Within a couple of hours he was hooked.

I hopped online and looked up e-readers in Portugal. The best option was to buy a Kindle from Amazon.com, and that’s just what I did, saying to Kevin “I’m ordering you a Kindle, but I’m keeping it for myself if it’s better than the Kobo”.

It is, and I did.

So now we have a set of e-readers and we rarely leave the house without them.

I’ve read 34 books so far this year. That’s probably more books that I’ve read in the past 3 years combined.

Kevin concurs, having read 30 so far.

We’ve always been big readers. As kids we were total library nerds, and we consume a hefty amount of internet reading, and readings for school. But actual books, fiction in particular? We haven’t read this many in years.

We never thought we’d say this, but we would never part with our e-readers.