Thank you readers, old and new, for coming to us for your pen, ink and stationery content. We love what we do but you have made this project a true joy and life calling.
May you have time today and this holiday season to be able to tell the people in your life how much their love and support means to you.
Best wishes, may you eat what you love and drink to your heart’s content surrounded by people (or creatures) you love.
This week we have a few gift guides and — be prepared — next week will be the (somewhat) annual Pen Addict Gift Guide podcast episode with an appearance from yours truly! I’ll have a link for you for it next week. Stay tuned!
Thanks for making it to the end of another edition of Link Love. If you haven’t joined our Patreon, please consider joining. You will help support this site and get cool perks like printables, podcasts and even a book club/zoom meet-up. Thank you! And love to all our Patrons! You are awesome!!!
With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I wanted to embrace the russet colors, crunchy leaves, pumpkin spiced world of the autumn season for just a little longer before Santa and his red-and-green posse take over. I’ll be ready to embrace peppermint mochas and icicles and such in a few days but I’m just not ready to abandon fall quite yet. It’s my favorite season so I hope you enjoy a last little peek and maybe find something you can’t live without.
Thanks to my sponsors for providing some of the images I use for Fashionable Friday. Please consider making your next purchase from one of the shops that support this blog and let them know you heard about them here. Thanks for your support and for supporting the shops that help keep it running.
We were surprised and saddened by Anderson Pens‘ announcement last week that they will be closing at the end of the year. They were a lovely pen shop, and an active participant in pen shows when we started attending. They will be missed.
You can learn more about their closing (including the last day to place orders, December 21st), in this episode of AP TV (start around 12:30 for the announcement).
If you’re thinking of doing some holiday pen and stationery shopping, keep Anderson Pens on your list this season.
We wish Brian and Lisa all the best and look forward to seeing where they land next!
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for the Chicago Planner Conference 2024 Swag Bags. We wish we had enough for everyone, but alas our two winners are Amy and Katie:
Winners have been contacted via email. More giveaways and holiday fun coming soon!
I finally made a decision in my long research for an ereader to replace my old and out-of-date readers. I purchased a Kobo Clara BW ($129 might be on sale for Black Friday) I get the irony of buying a new ereader from Amazon but shipping was quick, free and the device was returnable should I decide it is not right for me.
I chose the Kobo for a lot of reasons.
It is not tied to the Amazon/Kindle ecosystem. While I can buy Kindle books and convert them to use on my Kobo, I am no longer stuck in Amazon’s ecosystem.
Kobo devices have Overdrive built-in. I don’t have to check out library books through the Amazon website before they appear on my device anymore. Books can be searched, downloaded or added to my holds list directly on the device when connected to a wifi network. I can also return the books I check out on the device without having to do any additional steps.
I was able to side load my own screensavers (no ads!!!) or I can select current book as my screensaver instead of the ads on Kindle. I know other devices don’t have ads but I had to make a choice and the Kobo accommodated my desire to not have weird, not-for-me books advertised to me every time I opened the device.
From left to right: my original KOBO ereader (dead battery), my Amazon Kindle Paperwhite circa 2019 and my new KOBO Clara BWFrom left to right: my original KOBO ereader (dead battery), my Amazon Kindle Paperwhite circa 2019 (WITH ADS!!!) and my new KOBO Clara BW (custom screensaver)
I could have purchased the Kindle Basic model which has similar specs (no warm light setting though) and is a little cheaper (with ads! or the same price with the ads removed). However, I am glad to be less reliant on the Amazon ecosystem. I know I won’t be able to completely distance myself from Amazon (there are some things that I can only buy or access via Amazon) but a Kobo ereader means Amazon doesn’t own my whole life. No shade to anyone who loves and stays with Kindle. Its an easy option and Kindle Unlimited is often where many popular books can be found.
I spent a lot of time on the r/Kobo reddit reviewing ways to port over books I had purchased on my Kindle over the years as well which required learning to use Calibre but for the most part, it’s just a one and done conversion and upload since my future purchases will largely be made through the Kobo ebook shop or elsewhere. On the rare occasion that a book is only available via Kindle, I will purchase and convert it via Calibre.
I debated buying one of the newer color e-ink devices but they were considerably more expensive than the Clara BW and until I see one in person, the comments about less contrasty screens, yellow streaks and “screen door effect” make me hesitant to consider one.
In the end, I absolutely love the Clara BW. It is small, long battery life, good storage and it’s “just an ereader”. I don’t need another “do everything” device. I want to easily read books without being buried under more paper books. I want to check ebooks out from the library. The Kobo checked all those boxes. The only thing I wished I could have gotten is the Kobo Libra 2 with the slightly larger 7″ screen and page turning buttons but Kobo is no longer selling the BW version and only offers the Libra in a color model.
This wraps up my adventure with technology for reading. I am happy with my choice and now I just want to enjoy a cup of coffee and curl up with the latest book I downloaded from my library. Any guesses what I’m reading right now?
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