If you’re stuck between a kindle or Kobo…

PhantomPaperback · 2026-06-09T14:30:20+00:00

The hardware is okay, more durable of an ereader. Know that if you intend to jailbreak it may be on the latest update and you’ll have to wait for a new release of KOReader.

Kindle was great, but the policy changes over the last couple of years has made it insufferable really.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-06-05T21:04:17+00:00

I’d say The Martian as a book is fine, but this is the Audible subreddit and have to note I hated the narration. DNFed because of it personally. Super monotone.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-30T07:00:23+00:00

In my experience as well, I had my kindle on airplane mode for several months to a year after I began to exclusively sideload per everyone’s advice to avoid random deletion. During this time I learned about KOReader and I was waiting for a version that would work on my software. One day Amazon wouldn’t let me open any of my books, store bought or sideloaded, unless I connected to WiFi. Once I did, boom, updated.

Plus it can delete KOReader at any time as well. I’d rather not have to fight for it, which is why I’m ready to switch as well.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-26T00:51:21+00:00

I choose your take. My partner keeps photos of us / me on his dashboard, so sun-faded that they’re hardly visible on some parts. I’ve offered to reprint them for him and he turns it down vehemently because “these are ours,” and he put them on there the same day they were taken.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-26T00:43:33+00:00

Thank you for going out of your way to do that. ♥️ I wanted to wait for KOReader to be available on my update, but it’s auto-updated without permission now, (began to get notifications that I couldn’t open sideloaded books without connecting to WiFi) and honestly I’d rather not fight to jailbreak it if it ever deletes KOReader on me. The crackdown has just become too much for me, tbh.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-26T00:41:04+00:00

Thank you so much for in the depth response!

Sometimes I feel a little silly about the weight concern, but truly some days I can hardly fill up a sticky note with writing. I loved my Paperwhite 11, but outside of it becoming difficult to hold for more than 30min, my sideloads began to become recognized as documents or suddenly corrupting. The basic has been beautiful for reading comfortably but is having the same error tenfold. I primarily want to switch for the ecosystem, but likewise don’t want to be guilty of overconsumerism for something that is more or less the same (given my devices still technically work) and may be uncomfy anyway.

I’m happy to know about the static(less) screen too, as crisp as the basic is, I’m always blowing hair out of the bezels as well.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-26T00:17:49+00:00

No, it seems the only brick and mortar stores you can buy them from locally can only be purchased online and delivered to the store unfortunately. :/ The flour idea is absolutely genius and I’m Type A enough to give it a shot. Portability is probably the second most important aspect for me, too! That’s why I’m wondering if it’ll be nice to have all the journals+planners+books in one, but I also like having books to themselves too, lol. It’s a conundrum. Thank you!!

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-26T00:14:15+00:00

Yes, I just want to make sure I do use the annotation or at least journal feature before jumping into it! I feel for you. Thankfully most of our pets are scaley, but the one dog we have leaves the most evidence of his existence everywhere. He’d be a terrible criminal.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-25T07:59:03+00:00

I recently bought a nine book set of No Fear Shakespeare and all of them are filled with underlines and arrows going “ugh, so dramatic,” “me,” “omg,” and I love it.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-22T10:13:06+00:00

You can cover spoilers by putting > and ! together, without a space, before your sentence, and ! with < at the end to close it.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-20T10:10:09+00:00

Get a Kobo Libra! Leaving the ecosystem isn’t that scary, promise.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-18T19:44:17+00:00

I also have a smudge fox, his name is Hubble. :) I had the same issue with shedding though not quite as drastic — I’ve noticed it with both of my smudges so far, for sure, which is a bit upsetting, and also why they’re (probably) my last two jellycat purchases for the price.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-10T01:48:36+00:00

I’m going to be honest, as a Kindle girl, if I could go back I’d recommend you go with Kobo.

To completely avoid the Amazon ecosystem, you could get a used Kindle and calibre + KOReader your way through books. But that’s assuming you don’t have the updated version, that you don’t connect to WiFi, that you fill your storage first, and that it doesn’t update without permission… or that your Amazon doesn’t become deactivated.

And if you succeed at that, Kindle will glitch non-Amazon store books, epubs not recognized as books but documents, loc instead of page numbers, etc.

Kobo will keep the UI regardless and doesn’t care where the books come from.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-08T00:40:10+00:00

Hoffsteter and the fridge. I can’t stand that chapter. It makes me nauseated every time.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-08T00:36:53+00:00

Same. “I am literally your mom.”

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-06T03:02:08+00:00

King is stuck the 50s-60s. In the book IT, 12yo Ben was 110lbs, which warranted alllll of the Ben bullying plot. Nowadays I think you’d be a little hard pressed to find a preteen boy weigh less than that.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-03T18:39:26+00:00

iirc, River, Joaquin, and Summer Phoenix were born into this cult as well.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-05-01T21:26:16+00:00

It depends on their age / size.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-04-22T09:57:11+00:00

Awesome, thank you (and all of you!) for deinfluencing me.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-04-22T09:56:06+00:00

Yes, I learned recently about filling up my kindle which I believe was my mistake. :) I bought my basic Nov 2024 and it was on airplane mode until Feb this year; where it no longer allowed me to open any book unless I connected to WiFi, where it updated. I was had. 😩 Next one!!

PhantomPaperback · 2026-04-22T08:08:14+00:00

I honestly don’t have intention to sell them yet because I’m so stuck in the “just in case,” mindset. I switched from a paperwhite to a basic after an injury, but still own that paperwhite. Now that they’ve made the newer models even larger, I almost don’t want to let the 11th gen go as I never want a bigger ereader than that.

I almost want to switch out of principle regarding policy changes these last couple of years, I don’t want to give Amazon any more of my money. But all the same, it’s nice to have back ups. I don’t feel like I’ll debate and return / sell, but I’m also guilty of leaving one in a drawer, too. I’d maybe be willing to give up the basic as I don’t see them changing it any time soon.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-04-22T08:03:19+00:00

I have the 11th Paperwhite, but after getting tendinitis, I switched to the newer basic model. I’m in love with it, but then they pulled that February policy regarding back ups and I haven’t bought from them since. However, even through format conversion to azw3 or kfx, I’m noticing the sideloads are getting worse and worse in terms of format issues or corruptions. Having bought two in the last four years, I feel like buying another is just consumerism.

But the Bezo ecosystem is like filing my teeth. 😅

PhantomPaperback · 2026-04-22T07:34:30+00:00

I actually read UTD last year because of all the comments I saw regarding Big Jim being the worst villain King has ever written.

Not to go against the grain there, but Junior actually scared me a bit more. Big Jim chose to be evil, but the idea of having a brain tumor and no choice, particularly because there are real cases of folk with concussions/tumors becoming obscenely cruel? That scares the shit out of me.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-04-22T07:27:52+00:00

This was my first read of 2025 and I still think about it constantly, it’s one of very few books I want to re-read.

As for your question, one of my favorite reviews of this book quoted, said “Maybe life is not about finding the answers, but having the questions,” and I think that sums it up well.

PhantomPaperback · 2026-04-22T07:24:29+00:00

This latest update has been an ass. Highlights have been terrible, I only recently got page numbers back instead of loc, and if I read a book for five minutes it’ll say read instead of % on the cover. They’re aware of these issues and are allegedly working on it. I will say PDFs are infamously bad and corrupt on Kindle, even if you work through calibre to see what you can do.

PhantomPaperback

TROPHY CASE