For years I resisted getting an e-book reader because I figured it wasn’t something that I needed. Now that I have one I can say that they just make sense for someone with fibromyalgia. Besides the core aspects, there are nifty features that are great for fibro fog days! Things like dictionary and web look up, highlighting and note taking capabilities.

I’d say one of the biggest advantages is that you don’t have to worry about keeping a book open. I can remember many times when I’d be reading and I’d have to keep rearranging how I was holding the book because my fingers, hands or wrists were hurting. They mostly would hurt because of having to apply pressure to keep the pages open. I even bought a thumb page holder device to see if that would help (it didn’t much). Of course, changing positions often can make concentrating on what you’re reading a bit harder. With an e-book reader you only have to make sure it is balanced somewhere or that you’re holding it just enough that it doesn’t fall. This allows you to read in even more positions.

Another benefit is how much lighter in weight e-book readers are. I used to rarely bring books with me unless I was 100% sure that I’d be reading them. I find that with my Kindle I bring it with me anytime I think I might want to read. The lighter weight contributes to it being easier for my body to hold, than a book. Besides being lighter, it is also smaller than many books so it doesn’t take up as much of valuable space in a purse or backpack. Since e-books can be downloaded anywhere, you can easily download your next book when you’re ready – even if you’re on vacation. Many libraries offer e-books for checkout too.

If your eyes struggle while reading there are a few key options many e-books offer. Pretty much all e-book readers let you change the font size. I’ve seen people that don’t have good enough vision to be able to drive easily read on a Kindle DX. Some e-book readers use e-ink, which doesn’t give off glare and refreshes less, making it less fatiguing for eyes than LCD screens. E-ink is also easy to read in natural light and gives amazing battery life. Some e-book readers also offer text-to-speech autonarration which takes your eyes completely out of it!

What type of e-book reader do you use/want?

My Kindle Keyboard 3G