Over the last few months, I have rediscovered my love for reading, specifically with my Kindle Paperwhite. As a child I always loved to read. I have fond memories of reading Encyclopedia Brown, The Hardy Boys, & Archie Comics. As an adult I continued to read more & more but what I was reading really changed. With the internet coming into my life more & more, I spent less time reading books and more time reading web articles, forum posts, & social media posts. There is so much to read online that I unwittingly stopped reading books almost entirely. in 2022 I set out to change that. While I love reading things online, I don’t want that to be my sole category of things I read.

The first thing I realized, is that for me, trying to read books on my iPhone or iPad is not ideal. There are too many distractions with those devices that keep me from getting fully engrossed in my book. While I love reading magazines & comics on my iPad, I didn’t enjoy reading books on it. I also am not interested in owning all of my books physically. I know that to some people, this is the only way to read but I have enough collections of physical items as it is. I needed something digital. The answer of course, was in my desk drawer, covered in dust and in need of a charge. It was my old Kindle Paperwhite.

The Kindle Paperwhite was the perfect solution for me. It is cheap, compact, has great battery life, and has the perfect screen for reading. The e-ink technology used for the screen is unmatched for reading books, especially outdoors. So I charged it up, updated the software, downloaded a couple of books that seemed interesting, and away I went! I can’t overstate how great of an experience it is to read on this device. It is proof that there is still room in the market for a great single purpose device. I have been trying to make reading more of a habit this year and I must say, my life has been better off for it. While I have been reading a ton of short form content, it has been really nice to read more longform content this year. I would like to end this post by giving a brief summary of the last few books I have read.

NBA Jam by Reyan Ali: I loved this book covering the making of the classic arcade game NBA Jam. It was a fascinating look into how games were made in the early 90’s and I was enthralled the whole way through.

The History of the Future by Blake J. Harris: This was a fun read as well, It covers the origins of modern day VR, specifically Oculus, all the way through the Facebook acquisition.

This is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick: This was a great book about finding ways to love wherever it is that you call home. This book inspired me to get to know my town better and to find all of the good in it.

The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman: An awesome time capsule of a read for anyone who like me, grew up in the Nineties. I couldn’t put this one down. It was a great nostalgic trip.

Disrupting the Game by Reggie Fils-Aime: The most recent book I finished. As a huge Nintendo fan, I couldn’t help but read this book written by the Regginator himself! It was a short read but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Currently I am reading through Ready Player One again as I have been wanting to read the sequel. This book is pure fan service for nerds like myself and I won’t pretend it is anything else. However, I love it! I think it is perfectly fine to balance your more serious reading with something fun every now and then. What about you? Do you enjoy reading? Have any recommendations for me? Feel free to drop a comment down below. Thanks for reading!