The initial idea of buying a Kindle got my eyes rolling to ceiling and back. My sister, who can’t shut up about hers, has been bugging me for months to get one. And for months, I refused.

Why? Because of all the familiar reasons: I love the physicality of books — the smell, the flipping of pages, the weight, the cover art, even the act of going inside a bookstore and choosing what to buy.

However, it came to a point where the very reasons I love reading are the very reasons that kept me from reading.

Being a working mom, the only real me time that I have is in the evenings, while I’m putting my baby to sleep. Before the baby, I have successfully limited my mindless phone scrolling before going to bed, my social media screen time, and feeling sorry for myself because all my friends have these fantastic lives.

But when you have a baby latched on to you in the middle of the dark, with nothing but your nightlight and your phone, it’s inevitable to fall back into old, bad habits. It did not get out of hand but it got me bored. It got me so bored that it got me irritable when my baby is having a hard time sleeping. So, ignoring my sister’s “I told you so” triumphant smile, I succumed and got myself one. 

It’s a pre-loved Paperwhite 4 10th Gen in black, but still works perfectly. Not a dent or a scratch.

It turned out to be one of my best purchases of 2021!

And it actually got me out of my reading hiatus hibernation. In just a span of 5 months, I was able go read 12 books in total! My Goodreads is active once more and I found myself enjoying writing book reviews.

As much as I love the whole experience of reading an actual book, my Kindle gave me the thing that I need the most right now that no other book can: convenience. 

Most importantly, it got me back to one of my favorite hobbies: reading.

It’ll take a while before I start reading an actual book again. Aside from the light limitation, I can’t bring myself to think about crumpled and/or torn pages courtesy of the litol one’s very curious hands. So for now, I’m thankful that I have my Kindle with me.