Ways of Reading – Kobo

When I decided to eread, I went, without research or review, to Kobo. I chose Kobo as I am a fan of Chapters and they are linked. So, the reader was chosen based on the bricks and mortar store. Go figure. As a Canadian, it’s been nice using a reader that works well in Canada and as a reader it’s been easy to use. This post is a look at how Kobo works in a few formats, including options I enjoy and wishes I have for each app.

I don’t own a e-reader. I carry around enough in my purse that to add in another device would just be overkill. Instead I read on my ipad mini. I also have kobo on my Android (Samsung Galaxy 5) phone. This one is set up to access the

account my son uses, just in case he runs out of books and doesn’t have anything else while we’re out and about. It has come in handy. There are some differences in the apps, nothing major but enough for me to notice. I’ve taken screen shot from both – the one with all the 39 clues books is from my phone, the one with all of the obviously summer relaxation reading is my ipad.

When you open up a kobo app, you are greeted with your library. This is a list of books (and magazines and other reading materials) you have purchased from kobo. You can add other books you have obtained in pdf form to your library, but you are primarily limited to

books from kobo. In the iPad app, you cannot access the store (or, if you can, I can’t figure it out and it’s something I’ve looked for!). You can access the store in the android app by accessing the home menu. If you are using your iPad, you have to purchase from the website. Once book are purchased,the next time you access your app, the covers for the books will appear in your library. They will have a small grey circle in the bottom right corner. You touch that and it begins downloading. You will need access to the internet for this to happen. When you download a book it will take up space on your device so you’ll have to make decisions on what is kept in your library. If you’re reading a book for class, keep it there once you have finished it. If you’re reading for pleasure, you can ‘close and remove’ books once finished. To do this is different on both android and iPad. Android asked you if you want to close the book. You then need to select the cover by holding down on it and choose remove – either from device (which means you can download it again later) or from library (which means you don’t have it anymore). Personally, I take advantage of the removing it from device on either platform. Makes it easier to access books I want to read again without taking up space on my device. You can keep as many books as you want in your library; it’s all about the space on your reading device. I tend to download a large number of books when I travel in case I don’t have wi-fi in my hotel and don’t want to use up roaming data. Otherwise, I tend to just have the book I have reading housed in my library.

You can personalize a kobo to look how you want. I personally pick a black background, the smallest font and then bump up the brightness. Each option was chosen based on my reading style and my eyes – the black background is the easiest on them.

You can choose from a variety of different options in ipad and can choose from three options in android, but really, it’ll come down to personal preference – like your books paper coloured? Sepia or White? Want it darker? Play around and figure out what works best for your eyes. You can also chance options such as how your page turns and how big you want your text. I keep it small but find there are some books that are not set up for a small font – the lines overlap, the words merge. Upping the font helps with this. Kobo has lots of options for your personal preferences, both with android and iPad. If you are new to e-reading, you need to determine what you like.

In the iPad app, there are options given to highlight and make notes in your book. I’ve used this when teaching – put notes in and then put it on the board, or simply use it while teaching. It has replaced my post it notes from years past.

To make notes, you simply highlight the word or phrase you want to make note of and a menu will appear. This gives you the option to add a note or to highlight. You can even choose the colour of your highlighting if you’re picky about that kind of thing. Given that I used to use specific coloured post-its for different factors in a novel (characters, conflict, symbolism, etc), different highlighting colours is perfect. Kobo allows you to keep your notes private or make them public – if public, anyone reading the book can access them. You can also choose to read notes others make public – I stopped doing that when too many squeeing fans exclaimed when their favourite character appeared again, but do find myself turning that option back on when I am reading a classic I am teaching.  You can also search for phrases; kobo will search the web and their built in dictionary to help your understanding. This is very useful, especially when books make reference to historical figures and events that are less than familiar to you. I’ve used this several times when reading historical fiction and non fiction. You will need access to the internet for this option, so if you are on a plane or you are out of data, it won’t help.

One nice thing about kobo is that it gives you awards based on your reading. They have thirty eight different awards, from ‘Book Lover’ to ‘I eat books for lunch’. I have earned all but five of them. It’s a nice little perk when you start out using the kobo – having notifications pop up stating that you won an award is fantastic. As well, Kobo keeps track of your stats – you can take a look at how much you are reading, the types of media you read, how long it takes you to read a book and other such stats. If you are like me and like to know how much you read (I’m doing a reading challenge) this is fantastic. I especially like to see how many pages I’ve turned – right now it’s over a million and I’ve only been e-reading since the end of November 2013. With the awards and the stats, Kobo has set itself up to give positive reinforcement to their users – if you can measure your reading through awards and positive stats, you might feel good enough about it all to keep using their product.

Kobo is my main choice for an e-reader and I use it extensively. One account option that works nicely for me is that I can add a children’s account – my son has an account linked to mine and to which I add money for him to buy books. I get the receipt when he does that so I can keep track of what he’s doing. However, I do not like that I cannot share books with him – if there is a book I’ve read that I’d like him to read he either has to use my device or we have to purchase it again. However, this is something I can hope for in the future. As for now, my e-library is always with me and I am adding to it constantly. I do wish the iPad option had links to the store and the android option had more options for adding notes; between the two they make a great app. Both apps were free and easily available. you also have the option of reading on your computer, if that is your preferred option. There are often coupon codes and promotions that direct me to books I had never previously considered or heard of. All in all, the switch to kobo was a positive one and one from which I have not looked back.