E-books, Kindles, and Low Vision Reading

Giving me a printed book is not a good idea. It would be like giving a monkey a calculator!

I can't see the words!

I mean, really, what am I supposed to do with it? You see, my eyes are such that I could actually read it but very slowly, with perfect lighting and much eye strain. But fear not, fellow bookworms! I have found the answer! And the answer for me is e-books!

I’m more than what would be considered an avid reader. I’m a full-on book nerd. Every day I read for 2 to 4 hours. I’ve always loved reading. Goodreads and BookBub track my reading, and last year I read over 87 books of 400-700 pages or more. Reading allows me to enter into exciting and fascinating realms and come back out with no bullet holes or injuries. All my adventures are vicarious, but I still get a thrill from imagining what it would be like to take real risks.

What type of books do you enjoy?

What type of reading do you do? What genres do you prefer?  Do you like fiction or nonfiction?

Personally, I like thrillers, mysteries, action/adventure fiction. For nonfiction, I delve into military aviation, naval operations, and special warfighting units like SEALS, Delta Force, Green Berets, and other Tier 1 operators. Don’t worry, I’m really a peaceful guy and find war abhorrent, but I do respect and admire our “Sheep Dogs” who watch over our flock. Another major portion of my reading is about our shared plight, eye disease. Know your enemy, right?

I can’t tell you how much I have learned just from our site, MacularDegeneration.net. It is vast and deep if you haven’t already learned to use the search function. It will open a new world of information for you.

E-book adventures

About 9 years ago, when my vision was starting to wane, I discovered eReaders. I started out with the Kindle Fire, then the Kindle Paperwhite, and am now enjoying the Kindle Oasis. I also have apps on my iPad and iPhone but have gravitated to the Oasis and really love it.
Some advantages of e-book readers include:

• Adjustable fonts: Lighting, letter size and more
• eReaders have built in AI (artificial intelligence): They learn your preferred genres and authors and suggest books you may like.
• Series: After you finish a book it will offer the next in the series. You can binge read an author much like you could binge watch a series on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
• Free books! There are thousands of books in your area of interest that you can “borrow” as many as 10 at a time depending on the site! You simply return a book you have finished and get a new one in its place.

My decision to upgrade from the Paperwhite to the Oasis took me a while. As the Oasis is more than 2 times more expensive than the Paperwhite. The Oasis offers an adjustable warm light, their largest 7” 300 poi display, page turn buttons for one-handed reading, and much more. Back to the warm light, my favorite feature of the Oasis. You can adjust the screen from white light to a warm amber and variations between these shades.

So perhaps you can enhance your reading enjoyment with eReaders, especially if you are like me and suffer from low vision. Not mentioned are audiobooks, which I have yet to delve into but maybe in my future. Wishing you well in our shared journey.