Analog reading “Gadgets”

[[deleted user]]

I just discovered this thumb bookmark that helps hold a book open in one hand! I printed one today and it’s completely genius!

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:271...

Do you guys have any other useful things that help you read?

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

The more I look at that thing, the more I shudder on behalf of the poor book. Is it actually comfortable to hold it like that?

By the time I started seeing those bookmark with light things, I had already moved on to a kindle for reading while out and about, so I never bothered with one, but I always liked the idea of them. Did anyone try them? Were they any good?

[Trike]

People have bought me so many gadgets and gizmos over the years that I’ve lost track. Things to keep books open (hardback and paperback sizes), lights, lighted bookmarks, dual bookmarks (for endnotes), stands, etc.

I’m very appreciative that they think of me and my addiction, but really the only one I use is the stand, which now doubles as an iPad holder.

[Mer]

I've not found anything that works real well for keeping a book open and can sit on my stomach when I'm in my recliner. My hands, wrists, and forearms are becoming unhappy with the weight of books and my big iPhone 6.

I narrated books for awhile and we used good old plastic clamps that I would pick up from Home Depot or Lowes. They had flexible ends and the spring wasn't so tight you couldn't open them or damage the book. They worked well to clip the book to the vertical tray for easy viewing. We also had strips of sturdy leather with weight at the ends that you drape across the open book but those didn't work well for me. Plus you have to slide it around to see the text underneath.

I tried a knob for the back of my phone but the ridges on the phone's protective cover wouldn't allow it to keep a seal. And I just left my cool iphone stand at a restaurant bar *sigh*.

You said you printed it, Jason. As in a 3D printer?

[Mark]

Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth wrote: "By the time I started seeing those bookmark with light things, I had already moved on to a kindle for reading while out and about, so I never bothered with one, but I always liked the idea of them. Did anyone try them? Were they any good? "

I used to commute to work in a van pool. I tried at least half a dozen different reading lights, but none of them were anything more than barely adequate. If they weren't fragile, they were awkward when turning a page.

These days, I save reading print books for a well-lit room. For commuting, I read on my phone.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

The only analogue device I would like is an iPad holder that I could use while sitting in my comfy recliner. It's hard to drink a coffee and read at the same time.

#firstworldproblems ;-)

Mark wrote: "I used to commute to work in a van pool. I tried at least half a dozen different reading lights, but none of them were anything more than barely adequate. If they weren't fragile, they were awkward when turning a page.

These days, I save reading print books for a well-lit room. For commuting, I read on my phone. ."

Reading in a moving vehicle makes me car sick :-?

I just can't do it.

[terpkristin]

I’m so glad that I don’t get car (or air- or sea-) sick, even when reading. Soo many trips as a kid would have been a lot longer-feeling if I couldn’t have read (we would drive 6-8 hours each way to see family about 4 times per year and there were 3 of us in the backseat of the family sedan-with the black lab draped across us...).

When I was a kid, I had a plastic or glass light thing. Basically you could lay it on the page and the entire page would be well enough lit to read by but not so bright as to distract others.

I read almost entirely on Kindle and audiobook now. I don’t know where I would be without my Kindle. It’s more gentle on my fragile joints.

[[deleted user]]

Mer, yes, I 3D printed it.

[John (Nevets)]

Funny enough, I do remember has a young kid, say under age 8 occasionally getting car sick on long trips, but I was fine when I got a bit older. In thinking about that now, I wonder if that had anything to do with not seeing the horizon out the window since we didn’t use booster seats back then.

Since then the only weird thing about me and moving vehicles, is I can’t fall asleep in them unless I’m absolutely exhausted, say up for 30+ hours exhausted, and still it’s not a sure thing. I don’t know what it is, but my body or mind won’t let me actually fall asleep.

As far as gadgets, before I switched to an iPad, I thought the clip on lights looked cool, but I was always worried about them doing damage to the book itself, so I would sometimes use a headlamp, or a mini mag flashlight pinned between my chin and book when laying down. That would typically block enough light not to bother others.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Mer wrote: "I've not found anything that works real well for keeping a book open and can sit on my stomach when I'm in my recliner. My hands, wrists, and forearms are becoming unhappy with the weight of books ..."

I got a book pyramid one year that supports a heavy book or an iPad for more comfortable reading... there are a bunch of different sorts on Etsy and elsewhere on the internet. like a pillow with a shelf.