Recently I got a new Kindle!
I’ve been using the same Kindle since 2011, and despite it still being in very good condition (never going anywhere without a case) and I only really used it to read ARCs, my husband has been through like 3 and I was starting to get resentful of my ‘older’ device! It always happens to me! I take really good care of my belongings and they last forever, so I miss out on all the new stuff! I didn’t get a smart phone until 2012! I still have an iPad from 2013! I got my first Game Boy in 1997 and didn’t upgrade to a Nintendo DS (Lite) until 2007!
I wanted a reading device with a backlight, and the newer models also had touchscreens, so it would be similar to the Kindle app I use on my mobile phone.
I knew I didn’t want a Paperwhite, so I got a Kindle Oasis!
And holy moly, it was very expensive. So expensive that for the first few weeks I didn’t want to put it in my bag and bring it to work! But I was reading a library ebook on my phone during my lunch break, so that was OK.

The Oasis uses Collections differently to my trusty older Kindle 2011, so it was a steep and frustrating learning curve getting – all the books I wanted – in the Collections I wanted – on the right device. In fact, I’m still a little frustrated it doesn’t do things the easy way my older Kindle did, but like I said, I’m still learning how to use it. I did use my older Kindle almost every day for 7 years, it’s going to take some time to adjust to the fancy one.
On the plus side, I can very easily access books in my Kindle library not yet downloaded onto the device, which I’m sure will be very handy in the future. My husband and I actually share a Kindle library since we have crossover taste, so he can read my books and I can read his. (This is an old arrangement prior to the Family Sharing system modern Kindles now have in place.)
It’s weirdly balanced with a thicker edge on one side for the battery and other components, and apparently this makes one-handed reading easier because the centre of gravity shifts to the palm of your hand, but I have a case that folds up so you can prop it up and read largely hands-free.
It’s thin and light with a bigger, backlit, rotating screen. That’s right! You can read it holding it in your left or right hand.
Apparently it also has Bluetooth for connecting to a Bluetooth-enabled speaker if I wanted to listen to an Audible audiobook, but since I get all of my audiobooks from my local library, I haven’t explored that avenue yet.
It’s also apparently waterproof for up to one hour to depths of 2 metres but my Kindle isn’t exactly going out in the rain and we don’t have a bathtub, but I wouldn’t take something that expensive into the bath anyway.
All of this is very important so I can keep up with reading my ARCs!
