For so long, I considered myself one of those people who turned up their nose at the advent of digital devices, proclaiming and affirming my lifelong commitment to physical books. The touch, the smell, there’s nothing that compares to the feeling of walking into a bookstore (or library) and feeling the weight of a book in your hands — or the satisfying snap of the spine as you turn the last page at the end of its journey. “Tapping” a book closed on a screen sounded like the most unsatisfying way to finish a book (IMO).

My affinity for “REAL” books was so profound I refused to even acknowledge the existence of eReaders for decades.

And then, I moved in with my boyfriend.

My bedtime routine has always included reading. I have a hard time turning my brain off (my bf calls it ‘Lousomnia’) and I love to read late into the night. It’s calming and soothing (basically my adult version of a pacifier). However, leaving the lamp on due to my rabid reading habit soon became problematic as it severely affected his sleep schedule.

The solution came in the form of finally learning to embrace eReaders.

I was sold on the Kobo Libra H20 when I discovered it automatically adjusts the blue light during the day (which prevents the release of melatonin) to a soft orange candlelit screen at night that doesn’t require you to have a light on or affect your melatonin levels (if anything it calms me and helps me fall asleep easier). Most importantly it won’t disrupt your partner who’s trying to catch some zzz’s.

Incorporating an eReader into my reading routine has made me realize that I don’t have to choose one vs. the other (physical vs. digital books), as they are the perfect compliment to one another.

In addition to helping my nighttime reading, they’ve been useful on my commute to/from work and traveling on vacation so I don’t have to tote multiple heavy books in my backpack or purse. They’re waterproof, which is KEY for me (case in point: my copy of Sapiens got stuck in a torrential tropical downpour on vacation and is currently a ruined puff pastry on my bookshelf).

It took me thirty years, but I finally…FINALLY…have embraced eReaders and — something I never thought I’d say — I truly cannot imagine my reading life without them.