I don’t want to make you jealous or anything, but summer came early this year on the West Coast. We’re already enjoying summertime fun and planning lots more activities – the water slides, beach outings, a camping trip, regular visits to our local splash pad, and a special parents-only anniversary trip to Las Vegas.
Right behind quality family time, my next favourite thing is to relax and catch up on my reading whether at the beach, by the pool, roughing it in the woods, or in the tub after a long day keeping up with the kids.
I used to carry my current read with me in my purse, wrapped up in a plastic bag to keep it safe. Travelling anywhere meant the same thing on a larger scale: stacks of books tucked into my suitcase and carry on luggage. This was before I discovered e-books and e-readers though.
When I realized I could carry dozens, or more like hundreds and thousands, of books on one little handheld device, it was a complete game changer. I still love the feel and smell of paper books, and I still collect pop-up books (those are pretty hard to reproduce digitally!), but I don’t know if I could go back to paper only. Not now that I can take my entire library with me anywhere, anytime.
While I would like to think of myself as graceful, I know I’m really not, and that’s my one reservation with taking my e-reader with me to the pool, the beach, or in the tub. If I have a klutzy moment, that mass market paperback is easily replaceable. An e-reader on the other hand, is not. What if it gets splashed or worse yet, I drop it in the water?
Luckily, Kobo has thought of that, and that’s why they came out with the Kobo Aura H2O. It’s IP67 certified, which is a fancy way of saying it’s dustproof and waterproof for up to 30 minutes in 1 metre of water with the port cover closed. (Get all the tech and specs here.) That’s perfect for me!
It has a 6.8″ Carta E-ink and anti-glare display to make it easy to read on even the sunniest day, and the front light lets me read at night without disturbing anyone else. All four of us sleep in the same tent when we go camping, so that’s exactly what I need. Speaking of which, where we camp there are no electrical sockets. No charger? No problem! My Aura H2O boasts an ultra long battery life – up to 2 months!
What’s On Your Summer Reading List?
I’m a big fan of Kobo’s selection of over 5 million titles and the robust Kobo reading app. In fact I’ve been using the Kobo app for the last couple of years on a Kobo Arc, iPad, and two Android phones, and it’s always worked smoothly and bug-free for me.
Currently I’m rereading The Family Tree, a post-apocalyptic fable by Sheri S. Tepper, one of my all time favourite eco-feminist science fiction authors. I wholeheartedly recommend her earlier novels too. Favourites include Gibbon’s Decline and Fall and Grass.
Police officer Dora Henry is investigating the bizarre murders of three geneticists. Meanwhile, strange things are happening everywhere she turns. Weeds are becoming trees; trees are becoming forests. Overnight, a city is being transformed into a wild and verdant place.
And, strangest of all, Dora can somehow communicate with the rampaging flora.
A potential civilization-ending catastrophe is in the making. The closer Dora gets to a murderer–and to the truth–the more seemingly disparate events begin to entwine. And the answers she seeks today to the salvation of humankind may lie in afar distant future. . .one which is suddenly much closer than anyone imagines.
And I’ve got Uprooted, Naomi Novak’s newest book and winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, queued up next.
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
I love binge reading an entire series from start to finish too, and since several people have recommended the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon to me, that’s next on my list. Kobo has a bundle of the first seven books and a novella all in one download. Perfect to take on vacation or on a road trip!
The year is 1946. Claire Randall is a British ex-combat nurse on a postwar second honeymoon with her husband in the Scottish Highlands. Walking alone one afternoon, she passes through a circle of standing stones and is hurled back in time to a Scotland simmering with war in the year of our Lord 1743. Catapulted into an intrigue of rival clans and rising armies that threatens her life, she’s obliged to wed James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, as the only way to survive. Thus begins a series of unrivaled storytelling that has become a modern classic.
This bundle includes:
- Outlander
- Dragonfly in Amber
- Voyager
- Drums of Autumn
- The Fiery Cross
- A Breath of Snow and Ashes
- An Echo in the Bone
- The Custom of the Army (E-novella)
Browsing for some summer reading of your own? Visit the Kobo Bookstore to find your next great read! Kobo lets you download book previews before purchasing, and I’ve found some great reads in the Free E-Books section too. Connect on Facebook and Twitter.
What’s on your summer reading list?
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Disclosure: I am part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with Kobo and I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.
Girl On A Train is on my list.
I currently only have the headspace to reread Harry Potter in short bursts while nursing my six-week-old, but this would be the perfect way to read one-handed while nursing!
My next book will be “The heart goes last”, by Margaret Atwood. I might also read some Jodi picoult books that my moms been recommending to me, but I’m not familiar with her writing. It will take me all summer to read a single book.
I have not started a summer reading list yet, but I recently realized I have never read the Harry Potter series, so that might be a good start!
I like nice easy romance novels to read in the summer.
I’m in the middle of re-reading my Agatha Christie collection and I’m on “The Man in the Brown Suit.”
My daughter and I are working through the Chronicles of Narnia this summer.
I am working on the game of thrones series.
I read magazines
have to hit the library and see what’s available. thanks
Ann Rice is on my summers reading list this year.
“Oh Crap!” the potty training book. Fun times!
Quite a few! The Illegal, Dorthy Mist Die and all the bright places!
I will be reading “Grey Mountain” by John Grisham.Thank you for this
awesome opportunity to participate!!
All the Missing Girls – Megan Miranda
The exciting Harry Porter series.
Go Set a Watchman
I will be reading “See Also Deception” by Larry D. Sweazy and “A Hold On Me” by Pat Edsen
I want to read some really good mystery novels!
I will be reading Stephen King’s End of Watch.
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible…
by Jenny Lawson
Hope to read my favorite – Outlander
The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
I will probably reread the Iliad and the Odyssey, my favorite stories.
I’m reading some great beach reads – the Shopaholic series! 😉 I love lighter books in the summer.
Harper Lee’s new book, Go Set a Watchman
I’ll be re-reading the Chelsea Handler collection.
Any true crimes!
The Fireman by Joe hill
I’m not sure what all is on my reading list yet. There is some light reading — Vegetarian Times magazines and a few Christian fiction novels downloaded to my phone. I have some Joe Schwarcz books I’ve been wanting to read too.
I have just started my summer reading with a Canadian book, An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark.
I want to read the latest from Emily Griffin that is due to come out this Summer.
I just started a YA series Lockwood and Co
I am going to read Peter James’ Love You Dead
I’m planning on rereading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.
Doctor Who: The Shakespeare Notebooks
I have been reading a little bit of everything recently – looking for some new suggestions! I just finished Girl At War and Loved it!
A book called decades. It’s about different generations of women and how their stories interweave.
TRUST FUNNEL is on my reading list for sure.
I have the “Year of Yes” by Shonda Rhimes beckoning! Plus several chick-lit authors; Katie Fforde and Kim Gruenenfelder, just waiting to be cracked open.
I’m reading through the Outlander series this summer… Trying to anyway! Takes a lot longer when learning how to be a mom with a newborn!
I have heard great things about the Outlander series and look forward to binge reading them.
Curse of the tenth grave by
Curse of the tenth grave by darynda Jones
I want to get the books I haven’t packed yet read by the end of November. Some are Danielle Steele.
I’d like to read a new series and get some new warrior series for my daughter
Anything I can get my hands on! I love to read and will read most of what is given to me.
I want to read The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
I have been reading lots of different books
Love to try lots of authors
I’m going to read the last two Dark Tower books! I love them!
I have to read often, otherwise I feel like I’m only reading picture books or stories to the kids. Love Jodi Piccoult, or a good mystery.