How I got back to reading books?
Plus, how I repaired my near dead tablet to become a good little ereader…
I used to be a kid who read a lot. And I mean a lot. A 1000 page long book? It was for breakfast. I love good stories and characters. Later down the road however two kind of visual storytelling stole the spotlight, TV shows and video games. Both are capable of long storytelling, and with games I can be in the center of it! How cool is that? Especially since gaming went through a lot.
I will be honest that I was ashamed that I haven't read any book in the past couple of years. It's like I couldn't get into it for some reason. Sometimes it felt slow, or I got quickly got disinterested. Even when I got my first tablet 4 and a half years ago; Youtube, Twitter and other social media won versus books. And it's not like we don't have books to read at home. We probably have a few thousand books, and I bet not even my parents read them all.
What changed this year?
There is a great game series that I have never finished, despite started them 2-3 times. Partly because I didn't have a good machine for it back then.
Cohhcarnage's Metrothon inspired me to start playing these games again. The Metro games are somewhat based on the novel series by Dmitry Glukhovsky, of the same name. In short: at the beginning of the 21st century the world is gone to shit, everybody is nuking everybody and the people of Moscow are found their new home in the underground metro station. People still fight with each other, but there are new enemies below and above ground thanks to the radiation that's still strong even after 20 years of the devastating world ending events…
Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light are impressive games. This is not from some AAA studio that has virtually limitless resources. Amazing world building, little details that's worth slowing down and just listening to conversations of other people.
That inspired me to pick up the books and start reading. Especially since the young Artyom - the protagonist of both the games and books - seems like a very mature young man, as we can read his thoughts about the events in his diaries in the first two games…
How I fixed my old tablet?
I have a 4,5 year old tablet which has a bad, unusable screen, 90% doesn't work, however the screen itself is physically good, not a scratch on it.
It was sitting on a desk for many months, uncharged. I had to try to make it work for the last time…
I charged a little then I realized that I have F-Droid on it. F-Droid is essentially a repository of open-source applications for Android. While could have installed it directly from FD, I wanted to charge the tablet and save battery, so I transfered some apps and books from my desktop. Which is according to ASUS is not possible via cable on Windows. Good thing I use Linux only. xD I don't use any Google stuff on tablet.
After many try I've found the Cool Reader app, that works very well. It has impressive customization options, and works even on older machines, like my Android 4.2.2 tablet. I seriously love that program.
I also turned off wi-fi, and turned on energy saving, since the only use of this tablet will be reading.
What's next?
My long term goal is to get a dedicated ebook reader. I want either a used Kobo (even the cheapest ones are pricey for me), or a cheaper Pocketbook. I don't want a Kindle or other Android-based readers. I also prefer physical buttons and not a touchscreen. This is probably my Christmas wishlist (other than good health for me and for people I know of course).
For now my little used tablet is perfectly fine as long as I can charge it and transfer books.
Check out my reading list, to see what I am reading currently or what I plan to read in the future.