so for my 17th birthday, I asked for a kindle paperwhite because I had started taking reading a tad bit seriously again, and thought it was a good way to keep my books in one compact device. the fact that you have to then buy individual books to read was sort of annoying but hey, at least they were cheaper than their physical counterparts. I had the kindle for a while and took it with me on holiday and even used it for college. I bought and read Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson, Carry On by Rainbow Rowell and Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. alongside these, I downloaded a number of samples for other books that I had on my TBR or just caught my interest.

but I also began missing the feel of physical books, continuing to buy more of those than try to stick purely to an e-reader.

the kindle accompanied me when I started university and into my second year until COVID-19 hit and I had to return home. it wasn’t until August 2020 that I was able to clear out my dorm room. but one thing was definitely off when I began searching for my kindle, thinking it must be with all my other belongings that were finally back in my bedroom at home. then I tried to remember where I last saw it and couldn’t think of anywhere I may have left it… it was literally nowhere to be found. so then began a period of mourning for my kindle paperwhite, lost somewhere out there.

there was a brief time when I considered buying a new kindle in secret as no one else knew about the fact that my original was lost. but since they cost quite a lot, I refrained and decided to save up more money first. I pretty much had fully given up at this point.

but in 2022, something incredible happened…

I noticed a message from someone on Instagram: it was a girl who was now living in my previous dorm room and while searching for her AirPods… she had found my kindle!!!! there was also a notebook and a note from a friend/flatmate from first year that was also left behind and the latter having my name helped her find me :’)) the amount of gratitude I have towards this girl is still grand. I expressed this gratitude and with help from another friend, the kindle, notebook and post-it note made their way back into my arms through the post ❤

I have been guarding the kindle immensely since so as not to lose it again. for a brief time though, I didn’t feel like reading because I wasn’t bothered to spend more money on e-books again. but this summer, I went on holiday with my family and some family friends and it coincided with the release of ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ on Amazon Prime. since the novel was on my TBR for some time and I preferred to read it before watching the film, I caved in £4.99 to finally read it on my kindle. the amazing part? I was immersed into reading once more, wanting to keep turning the page and into the next chapters, a feeling I had not had much over the last few years 🙂 I even crocheted a sleeve for my kindle to make it extra special and protected.

these days, I see reels on my Instagram explore page of people buying and/or decorating their own kindles. there are stickers, a clear case and pop sockets being used on almost all of them. so the kindle paperwhite has become part of a lot of people’s lives again. mine was through a miracle and I’m glad I’m re-entering this kindle girl era.