Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
The Ereader Setup That Got Me Reading Every Night Again
42
items Somewhere between doomscrolling and falling asleep to Netflix reruns, I completely stopped reading. Books sat on my shelf collecting dust and I felt guilty about it every single day. This is the exact ereader setup — device, accessories, and reading ...
Sections
11
The Ereader That Replaced My Phone at Bedtime
Sleepcovers and Cases That Actually Stay On
Comfort Accessories for Late-Night Reading Sessions
Ebook Series I Couldn't Put Down Once I Started
Nonfiction That Actually Kept My Attention
Fantasy and Sci-Fi That Pulled Me Into Other Worlds
The Ereader That Replaced My Phone at Bedtime
Every night I'd tell myself I was going to read, then I'd pick up my phone to ‘check one thing’ and suddenly it was midnight. Switching to a dedicated device broke that cycle in about three days.
Grab this if you're the type who reads in bed with the lights off — the warm backlight doesn't blast your eyes like a phone screen, and I actually started falling asleep faster within a week.
Kobo Clara 2e
Switched to this after wanting page-turn buttons instead of tapping the screen. Physical buttons sound like a small thing but they made one-handed reading on the couch so much more comfortable that I stopped reaching for my phone entirely.
Kobo Libra Colour | Rakuten Kobo eReader Store United ...
Use this if you're a note-taker who highlights everything — the stylus support means I actually engage with nonfiction now instead of just glazing over paragraphs like I did on my tablet.
Kobo Sage | Rakuten Kobo eReader Store United States
Perfect for anyone who reads a lot of PDFs or textbooks alongside regular books. The 10-inch screen meant I stopped squinting at charts and finally finished that economics book that had been haunting me for two years.
Kobo Elipsa 2E | Rakuten Kobo eReader Store United States
Sleepcovers and Cases That Actually Stay On
Went through two cheap cases that kept sliding off before I landed on ones designed specifically for these devices. A good cover also triggers auto sleep/wake, which saves battery for days.
Snag this before your ereader gets its first scratch — I waited too long with my last device and the screen looked like it survived a bar fight. This one snaps shut magnetically and puts the reader to sleep automatically.
Kobo Clara Colour/BW SleepCover
Try folding this back into a stand while you eat breakfast — that's when I started squeezing in an extra 20 minutes of reading I never had before. Fits like a glove and doesn't add much bulk.
Kobo Libra Colour SleepCover
Get the one with the built-in stand if you read at a desk at all. I propped mine up next to my coffee every morning and it became a ritual that replaced checking Twitter first thing.
Kobo Sage SleepCover Case
For anyone worried about tossing a big ereader into a work bag — this kept mine safe through daily commutes stuffed between a laptop and a water bottle that leaked once. Still no damage.
Kobo Elipsa 2e Cover
Comfort Accessories for Late-Night Reading Sessions
Reading for two hours in bed sounds great until your arms go numb and you drop the device on your face. These solved that embarrassing problem.
Pair this with your ereader on a nightstand and you can read lying on your side without holding anything. My wrists stopped aching after a week and I genuinely read longer because of it.
Lamicall Multi-angle Adjustable Tablet Stand for Desk
Toss this on your lap if you read on the couch — it angles the screen perfectly and I stopped getting that weird neck cramp from looking down for an hour straight.
MoKo Tablet Pillow Stand Soft Linen Cotton
Wear this on the back of your ereader if you read standing on the train. Before this I had a death grip on my device every commute and my hand would cramp by the third stop.
MoKo Soft Hand Strap for 6-8" Kindle & Fire
Keep this on your nightstand for when the built-in light isn't enough. My partner used to complain about the bedside lamp — now I clip this on and read without waking anyone up.
Glocusent
Ebook Series I Couldn't Put Down Once I Started
Restarting a reading habit needed books that hooked me fast. Literary fiction wasn't going to cut it — I needed page-turners that made me say ‘one more chapter’ at 1 AM.
Grab this if you think you don't like mysteries — four retirees solving cold cases sounds cozy but the plot twists kept me up way past midnight three nights in a row.
The Thursday Murder Club eBook by Richard Osman - EPUB
Try this when you want something that feels like watching a movie. I read it in two sittings and texted three friends about it before I even finished the last chapter.
Project Hail Mary eBook by Andy Weir - EPUB
Perfect for anyone who needs a protagonist to root for hard — I started this on a Sunday afternoon and didn't move from my chair until I was done. My coffee went completely cold.
The Maid eBook by Nita Prose - EPUB
Switch to this when you want something that makes you laugh and then suddenly punches you in the feelings. I ugly-cried on a plane reading the last fifty pages and regret nothing.
Anxious People eBook by Fredrik Backman - EPUB
Nonfiction That Actually Kept My Attention
Most nonfiction made me fall asleep after ten pages, which defeated the whole purpose. These read more like stories than textbooks and that made all the difference.
Use this as your gateway back into nonfiction — every chapter felt like a separate mind-blowing conversation and I kept pausing to tell my wife random facts about ancient humans.
Sapiens eBook by Yuval Noah Harari - EPUB
Bring this energy into your reading rotation if you like learning weird facts. I now know more about the human spleen than any normal person should and I'm weirdly proud of it.
The Body eBook by Bill Bryson - EPUB
Grab this specifically because it's short and actionable — I finished it in three nights and immediately used the habit-stacking trick to lock in my nightly reading routine.
Atomic Habits eBook by James Clear - EPUB
Start here if audiobooks are usually your thing and you're skeptical about reading — it's so conversational that it feels like someone is telling you stories at a dinner table.
Born a Crime eBook by Trevor Noah - EPUB | Rakuten ...
Fantasy and Sci-Fi That Pulled Me Into Other Worlds
When real life was stressful, I needed books that yanked me somewhere else entirely. These made my brain stop spinning about work within the first few pages.
Try this on a rough week when you need something that feels like a warm blanket. I started it angry about a work email and within two chapters I'd completely forgotten about it.
The House in the Cerulean Sea eBook by TJ Klune - EPUB
Ditch whatever you're reading if it's boring and pick this up instead — it's short, strange, and the reveal at the end made me immediately flip back to the beginning to reread clues.
Piranesi eBook by Susanna Clarke - EPUB
For anyone who thinks sci-fi means spaceships — this is quiet and heartbreaking and I thought about it for a solid week after finishing. Read it before someone spoils the ending.
Klara and the Sun eBook by Kazuo Ishiguro - EPUB
Keep this queued up for when you want found-family vibes in space. It's like if your favorite cozy TV show took place on a spaceship and every character felt like someone you'd want to hang out with.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - eBooks
Short Reads for Nights When I Only Had 20 Minutes
Some nights I was exhausted and a 400-page novel felt like homework. Having short books ready meant I still read something instead of defaulting to my phone.
Snag this for those nights when you have zero energy but still want to feel like you accomplished something — it's under 130 pages and hits harder than books three times its length.
The Old Man and the Sea ebook by Ernest Hemingway
Get this bizarre little novel for a single-sitting read. I picked it up at 10 PM thinking I'd read a chapter and finished the whole thing by midnight feeling genuinely unsettled in the best way.
Convenience Store Woman eBook by Sayaka Murata - EPUB
Try this if you haven't read it since high school — it hits completely different as an adult. Took me one evening and I spent the next day at work staring out the window thinking about it.
THE STRANGER eBook by Albert Camus - EPUB
Toss this into your library for when you want nonfiction that takes under an hour. Twenty short lessons, each one sharp enough to make you put the ereader down and think for a minute.
On Tyranny eBook by Timothy Snyder - EPUB
Reading Tracker Tools That Kept Me Accountable
Telling myself I'd read more wasn't working. Adding a tiny bit of tracking — nothing obsessive, just enough to see progress — made the habit actually stick.
Use the stats tracker already on your device — seeing that I'd read 45 minutes yesterday made me competitive with myself and suddenly I was trying to beat my own streak every week.
The best ways to track your reading | Kobo Books Blog
Set a goal of one book per month, not some crazy number. I did 12 books my first year back and hitting that felt better than any of the ambitious 52-book goals I'd failed at before.
The best ways to track your reading | Kobo Books Blog
Pair this app with your ereader sessions if you like seeing charts and data. Watching my weekly reading time climb from 30 minutes to 3 hours over two months was honestly motivating.
Book Tracker and Reading Tracker: Bookly
Grab a physical journal to jot one-line thoughts after finishing a book. Sounds old-school but flipping through six months of mini-reviews reminded me how much I'd actually read and kept me going.
Reading Journal Digital Kobo
Subscriptions That Kept My Library Full Without Overspending
Buying ebooks one at a time added up fast and I'd hesitate before every purchase. Finding flat-rate options removed that friction completely and I started reading more because of it.
Switch to this if buying individual ebooks makes you overthink every purchase. Flat monthly fee means I try books I'd never risk paying full price for — found three new favorite authors that way.
Kobo Plus eBook & Audiobook Subscription
Use your library card to borrow ebooks directly on your device — free books that return themselves. I felt genuinely silly when I realized I'd been paying for books my library already had digitally.
Borrow eBooks from the public library using your Kobo ...
Toss long articles from your browser into Pocket and read them on your ereader instead of your phone. This single trick cut my screen time by an hour a day because I stopped opening Chrome to ‘finish that article.’
Use the Pocket App with your Kobo eReader
Settings Tweaks That Made Reading Way More Comfortable
Out of the box my ereader was fine, but spending five minutes adjusting fonts and margins made it feel like a completely different device. Small changes, big difference in how long I could read comfortably.
Swap to this font immediately — it was designed specifically for screens and my eyes stopped feeling strained during long sessions. The default font is fine but this one made a noticeable difference after about 30 minutes of reading.
Editing the Bookerly font to work on Kobos (so it doesn't ...
Ditch the blue-white screen after 8 PM and crank the warmth up. My brain actually started winding down while reading instead of staying wired, and falling asleep got easier within the first few nights.
About Dark mode
Try widening the margins and increasing line spacing by one notch — sounds trivial but it made pages feel less cramped and I read faster without even trying. Took me embarrassingly long to discover this.
Adjust page margins, line spacing, and more on the ...
Gifts for the Friend Who Says They Don't Read Anymore
Half my friends said the same thing I used to — ‘I just don’t read anymore.' Handing them the right device or book changed that for three of them so far.
Grab this for the friend who keeps saying they'll start reading again ‘someday.’ Handing them a loaded ereader worked better than any recommendation list I ever texted. Two friends are now in a book club because of this.
Kobo eReader bundles & ACOTAR eBook set
Get this instead of picking a book for someone with picky taste. My brother used his to buy a fantasy series I never would have chosen and he's read four books since — more than the previous two years combined.
eGifts & Gift Cards - eBooks, Audiobooks, eReaders
Pair this with an ereader gift if the person you're buying for is a skeptic who needs a practical reason to read. They'll start reading to fall asleep better and accidentally develop a whole habit.
Why We Sleep eBook by Matthew Walker - EPUB
Toss this recommendation to anyone switching from another platform — it walks through transferring libraries and setting up the device so they don't get frustrated and give up on day one.
KINDLE TO KOBO MADE SIMPLE: How To Convert, ...