The modern world as we know it simply would not exist if not for the mind of Sir Isaac Newton. His synthesis of differential calculus and pioneering research on the nature of gravity and light are bedrocks of the scientific method. However in his later years, Newton's interests were admittedly drawn towards a decidedly non-scientific subject, alchemy. Does that investigation invalidate Newton's earlier achievement, asks theoretical physicist and philosopher, Carlo Rovelli in the excerpt below. His new book of correspondence and musings, There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important than Kindness: And Other Thoughts on Physics, Philosophy and the World, Rovelli explores themes spanning from science to history to politics and philosophy.  

Riverhead Books

From THERE ARE PLACES IN THE WORLD WHERE RULES ARE LESS IMPORTANT THAN KINDNESS: And Other Thoughts on Physics, Philosophy and the World by Carlo Rovelli published on May 10, 2022 by Riverhead, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2022 Carlo Rovelli.

In 1936 Sotheby’s puts up for auction a collection of unpublished writings by Sir Isaac Newton. The price is low, £9,000; not much when compared to the £140,000 raised that season from the sale of a Rubens and a Rembrandt. Among the buyers is John Maynard Keynes, the famous economist, who was a great admirer of Newton. Keynes soon realizes that a substantial part of the manuscript writings deal with a subject that few would have expected Newton to be interested in. Namely: alchemy. Keynes sets out to acquire all of Newton’s unpublished writings on the subject, and soon realizes further that alchemy was not something that the great scientist was marginally or briefly curious about: his interest in it lasted throughout his life. “Newton was not the first of the Age of Reason,” Keynes concludes, “he was the last of the magicians.” 

In 1946 Keynes donated his unpublished Newtoniana to the University of Cambridge. The strangeness of Newton in alchemical guise, seemingly so at odds with the traditional image of him as the father of science, has caused the majority of historians to give the subject a wide berth. Only recently has interest in his passion for alchemy grown. Today a substantial amount of Newton’s alchemical texts have been put online by researchers at Indiana University and are now accessible to everyone. Their existence still has the capacity to provoke discussion, and to cast a confusing light over his legacy. 

Newton is central to modern science. He occupies this preeminent place because of his exceptional scientific results: mechanics, the theory of universal gravity, optics, the discovery that white light is a mixture of colors, differential calculus. Even today, engineers, physicists, astronomers and chemists work with equations written by him, and use concepts that he first introduced. But even more important than all this, Newton was the founder of the very method of seeking knowledge that today we call modern science. He built upon the work and ideas of others — Descartes, Galileo, Kepler, etc — extending a tradition that goes back to antiquity; but it is in his books that what we now call the scientific method found its modern form, immediately producing a mass of exceptional results. It is no exaggeration to think of Newton as the father of modern science. So, what on earth does alchemy have to do with any of this? 

There are those who have seen in these anomalous alchemical activities evidence of mental infirmity brought on by premature aging. There are others who have served their own ends by attempting to enlist the great Englishman among critics of the limitations of scientific rationality. 

I think things are much simpler than this. 

The key lies in the fact that Newton never published anything on alchemy. The papers that show his interest in the subject are extensive, but they are all unpublished. This lack of publication has been interpreted as a consequence of the fact that alchemy had been illegal in England since as early as the fourteenth century. But the law prohibiting alchemy was lifted in 1689. And besides, if Newton had been so worried about going against laws and conventions, he would not have been Newton. There are those who have portrayed him as some kind of demonic figure attempting to glean extraordinary and ultimate knowledge that he wanted to keep exclusively for himself, to enhance his own power. But Newton really had made extraordinary discoveries, and had not sought to keep those to himself: he published them in his great books, including the Principia, with the equations of mechanics still used today by engineers to build airplanes and edifices. Newton was renowned and extremely well respected during his adult life; he was president of the Royal Society the world’s leading scientific body. The intellectual world was hungry for his results. Why did he not publish anything based on all those alchemical activities?

The answer is very simple, and I believe that it dispels the whole enigma: he never published anything because he never arrived at any results that he found convincing. Today it is easy to rely on the well-digested historical judgment that alchemy had theoretical and empirical foundations that were far too weak. It wasn’t quite so easy to reach this conclusion in the seventeenth century. Alchemy was widely practiced and studied by many, and Newton genuinely tried to understand whether it contained a valid form of knowledge. If he had found in alchemy something that could have withstood the method of rational and empirical investigation that he himself was promoting, there can be no doubt that Newton would have published his results. If he had succeeded in extracting from the disorganized morass of the alchemical world something that could have become science, then we would surely have inherited a book by Newton on the subject, just as we have books by him on optics, mechanics and universal gravity. He did not manage to do this, and so he published nothing.

Was it a vain hope in the first place? Was it a project that should have been discarded even before it began? On the contrary: many of the key problems posed by alchemy, and quite a few of the methods it developed, in particular with reference to the transformation of one chemical substance into another, are precisely the problems that would soon give rise to the new discipline of chemistry. Newton does not manage to take the critical step between alchemy and chemistry. That would be down to scientists of the next generation, such as Lavoisier, to achieve. 

The texts put online by Indiana University show this clearly. It is true that the language used is typically alchemical: metaphors and allusions, veiled phrases and strange symbols. But many of the procedures described are nothing more than simple chemical processes. For example, he describes the production of “oil of vitriol” (sulfuric acid), aqua fortis (nitric acid) and “spirit of salt” (hydrochloric acid). By following Newton’s instructions, it is possible to synthesize these substances. The very name that Newton used to refer to his attempts at doing so is a suggestive one: “chymistry.” Late, post-­Renaissance alchemy strongly insisted on the experimental verification of ideas. It was already beginning to face in the direction of modern chemistry. Newton understands that somewhere within the confused miasma of alchemical recipes there is a modern science (in the “Newtonian” sense) hidden, and he tries to encourage its emergence. He spends a great deal of time immersed in it, but he doesn’t succeed in finding the thread that will untie the bundle, and so publishes nothing.

Alchemy was not Newton’s only strange pursuit and passion. There is another one that emerges from his papers that is perhaps even more intriguing: Newton put enormous effort into reconstructing biblical chronology, attempting to assign precise dates to events written about in the holy book. Once again, from the evidence of his papers, the results were not great: the father of science estimates that the beginning of the world happened just a few thousand years ago. Why did Newton lose himself in this pursuit?

History is an ancient subject. Born in Miletus with Hecataeus, it is already fully grown with Herodotus and Thucydides. There is a continuity between the work of historians of today and those of antiquity: principally in that critical spirit that is necessary when gathering and evaluating the traces of the past. (The book of Hecataeus begins thus: “I write things that seem to me to be true. For the tales of the Greeks are many and laugh‑ able as they seem to me.”) But contemporary historiography has a quantitative aspect linked to the crucial effort to establish the precise dates of past events. Furthermore, the critical work of a modern historian must take into account all the sources, evaluating their reliability and weighing the relevance of information furnished. The most plausible reconstruction emerges from this practice of evaluation and of weighted integration of the sources. Well, this quantitative way of writing history begins with Newton’s work on biblical chronology. In this case too, Newton is on the track of something profoundly modern: to find a method for the rational reconstruction of the dating of ancient history based on the multiple, incomplete and variably reliable sources that we have at our disposal. Newton is the first to introduce concepts and methods that will later become important, but he did not arrive at results that were sufficiently satisfactory, and once again he publishes nothing on the subject. 

In both cases we are not dealing with something that should cause us to deviate from our traditional view of the rationalistic Newton. On the contrary, the great scientist is struggling with real scientific problems. There is no trace of a Newton who would confuse good science with magic, or with untested tradition or authority. The reverse is true; he is the prescient modern scientist who confronts new areas of scientific inquiry clear-sighted, publishing when he succeeds in arriving at clear and important results, and not publishing when he does not arrive at such results. He was brilliant, the most brilliant—but he also had his limits, like everyone else.

I think that the genius of Newton lay precisely in his being aware of these limits: the limits of what he did not know. And this is the basis of the science that he helped to give birth to.

Chinese readers are about to lose some choice in e-books. Reutersreports Amazon is pulling Kindle products from China over the course of the next two years. The company will stop offering Kindle e-readers to local retailers as of today, and plans to shutter its digital bookstore in the country on June 30th, 2023. The Kindle app will leave Chinese online stores on June 30th, 2024, and customers will have until then to download any books they've already purchased.

Amazon will still provide warranty service and other help for Kindle e-readers, and will accept returns for "non-quality issues" for any device bought after January 1st, 2022. Hardware, apps and books will still be usable after the 2024 cutoff.

In its notice, Amazon stressed that this didn't represent a withdrawal from China. The company had a "long-term commitment" that included online shopping and smart home devices. Amazon also told Reuters that this wasn't due to censorship or other government pressure, and that it occasionally "make[s] adjustments" following reviews.

Poor sales might play a role. While Amazon is a frontrunner in the e-reader and e-book markets for numerous countries, it has struggled in China as of late. The country was once the Kindle's largest market, with internal data (obtained by Reuters) showing that it represented over 40 percent of e-reader sales in 2017. The rise of Chinese competitors like Xiaomi andTikTok parent ByteDance eroded Amazon's share, however, and iiMedia Research analyst Zhang Yi told Nikkei that the Kindle brand is now "relatively niche" in the region. The Chinese are more likely to read with their phones, and domestic e-book services like Tencent's China Literature dominate where the Kindle app isn't even in the top 10.

Amazon isn't the only American company scaling back its Chinese presence. Airbnb, LinkedIn and Yahoo (Engadget's parent company) have either limited services or withdrawn entirely. Amazon's exit from e-reading is one of the more prominent examples, though, and illustrates how difficult it can be for US firms to court Chinese audiences.

Book bans are becoming more prevalent in US school libraries and classrooms, making it harder (but not impossible) for students to get their hands on certain texts that might expand their worldview. To raise awareness of such moves and perhaps protest the threat of literal book burning, Margaret Atwood and Penguin Random House are auctioning a one-off, "unburnable" edition of her classic dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale.

The publisher says it's "a powerful symbol against censorship and a reminder of the necessity of protecting vital stories." This copy of the book has been printed and bound in fireproof materials, including white heat shield foil pages and a phenolic hard cover. Atwood put a prototype copy to the test by trying to burn it with a flamethrower.

"The Handmaid’s Tale has been banned many times — sometimes by whole countries, such as Portugal and Spain in the days of Salazar and the Francoists, sometimes by school boards, sometimes by libraries," the author said in a statement. "Let’s hope we don’t reach the stage of wholesale book burnings, as in Fahrenheit 451. But if we do, let’s hope some books will prove unburnable — that they will travel underground, as prohibited books did in the Soviet Union.”

At the time of writing, the highest bid for the book stands at $48,000. The auction will close on June 7th.

All proceeds will go to PEN America to support its efforts to fight book bans across the US. In a recent report, the free-expression organization documented 1,586 bans on individual books in 86 school districts across 26 states.

Penguin Random House notes that censors' targets tend to be "literary works about racism, gender and sexual orientation, often written by authors of color and LGBTQ+ writers, as well as classroom lessons about social inequality, history and sexuality." It argued that such moves violate students' First Amendment rights and hamper education and the flow of ideas.

“We are at an urgent moment in our history, with ideas and truth — the foundations of our democracy — under attack," the publisher's CEO Markus Dohle said. "Few writers have been as instrumental in the fight for free expression as Margaret Atwood.”

It's relatively easy to find coffee table books on music, but how many of them give you the tools to make that music? Korg's does. The company has introduced a bundle that pairs its new NTS-2 do-it-yourself oscilloscope kit with a Patch & Tweak with Korg book from Bjooks (which also made books for Moog and Roland) that explores semi-modular synthesis. You'll find the usual history and artist interviews, but you'll also find guides to help you use the NTS-2 in tandem with synths and other equipment.

The NTS-2 is a companion of sorts to the NTS-1 synth and similar hardware. The pocketable box helps you visualize the signals and voltages from your music-making gear (up to four signals at once), tune inputs, analyze spectrums or generate dual waveforms. You can generate the exact sound you want rather than having to play it by ear. The device runs on either battery power or USB-C, and the DIY design practically begs for customization.

The bundle is a limited edition, and will be available soon for $230 through retailers like B&H. That's not trivial if you're just getting started on music creation, but might be easy to justify if you're hoping to elevate your production skills — and find something to read during your downtime.

Famed electronic instrument maker Roland is celebrating its 50th anniversary today by teaming up with boutique publisher Bjooks to announce a coffee table book that tells its story. Inspire The Music: 50 Years of Roland History is a 400-page tome that delves into the tech, people and culture behind the company.

The book includes several chapters that explore Roland products and their impact on certain music scenes. Roland and Bjooks say Inspire the Music explains the context and history of the Jupiter-8 Synthesizer, Boss guitar pedals, TR-808 Rhythm Composer and TB-303 Bass Line. The book will cover other gear, such as keytars, grooveboxes and V-Drums, as well as how the Octapad SPD-30 percussion pad became a staple of modern music in India.

In addition, Inspire the Music features dozens of interviews with artists and Roland designers. You can expect to hear from the likes of Johnny Marr of The Smiths, DJ Jazzy Jeff, guitarist Nita Strauss, Sister Bliss of Faithless, Orbital, Peaches, Swizz Beatz, Jean-Michel Jarre and Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran.

Bjooks came to prominence through Kickstarter, and has published glossy books on topics such as guitar pedals, modular synthesis and interface design. In 2020, it teamed up with Moog for a book featuring tips and tricks for the semi-modular Mother lineup.

Inspire The Music will be released this summer. Pricing has yet to be revealed.

Roland/Bjooks

The New York Public Library made four banned books available nationwide on SimplyE, its free-reader app. The titles include Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi and Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. The library worked in coordination with the publishers and authors to make the titles available to the public for free, with no wait times or download limits. Normally publishers allow libraries to only lend out e-books to a single person at a time, often leading to long hold times at public libraries.

While the titles are only available for a month (the titles will disappear by the end of May), interested readers don’t need to hold an NYPL library card or live in the region. The books will be released through NYPL’s “Books For All” program, which makes hundreds of titles in the public domain available to anyone nationwide.

The NYPL has voiced its opposition to a recent spike in book banning across school districts nationwide, largely driven by conservative activists groups. Over the last nine months, more than 1,000 books have been banned or temporarily pulled from school districts, according to a report PEN America released this week.

“These recent instances of censorship and book banning are extremely disturbing and amount to an all-out attack on the very foundation of our democracy,” said New York Public Library President Anthony W. Marx.

The 1999 young adult novel Speak, about a ninth grade girl who has refused to talk since being raped at a party, is included in ALA’s list of 100 most challenged books between 2000 and 2009. Parents often voice opposition to its graphic, sexual content. King and the Dragonflies, about a middle school boy who struggles with the loss of his brother and his sexual identity, is the winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, was flagged for removal in Keller, Texas. Stamped was challenged by parents in Round Rock, Texas last year, in part due to a tweet by by its author that criticized then-Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

Angela Montefinise, vice-president of communications and marketing, told Engadget in an email that the SimplyE app had to increase its server capacity three times today to account for the spike in downloads. Currently there are no future plans to release any more banned titles on the app.

“At this point we’re not planning to release more books as part of this project, but we’ll see how things go,” wrote Montefinise in an email.

Over half a decade later, a new Kickstarter campaign has finally eclipsed Pebble's crowdfunding record on the website. Fantasy and sci-fi author Brandon Sanderson set up a campaign to raise $1 million within 30 days to fund four secret books he intends to release every quarter next year. It didn't take 30 days to blow past that goal, though — it took only 35 minutes. And three days on, as of this writing, the campaign has already made $20.4 million, almost $100,000 more than what the Pebble Time e-paper smartwatch raised when it was up for funding.

While Sanderson is self publishing the four books included in the project, he's not a little-known indie author. Raising over $20 million in just three days was possible because he already had a solid fanbase who knows he can deliver, seeing as he's famous for being a fast writer who can quickly churn out new books. He's known for his novels set in the Cosmere universe, which he likens to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archive series. Three of the secret books in the campaign are also set in the Cosmere universe, with each story taking place on a different fantasy planet. Sanderson is known for finishing Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, as well.

The author told The New York Times that one of his objectives for launching this project is to see what it would be like to challenge Amazon. The e-commerce and cloud giant dominates the printed book and ebook market, and it accounts for 80 percent of Sanderson's sales. "If Amazon's grip on the industry is weakened, that's good for the publishers — they are very much under Amazon's thumb right now. I don't want to present this as 'Brandon versus Amazon.' Amazon's great. But I think that in the long run, Amazon being a monopoly is actually bad for Amazon. If they don't have competition, they will stop innovating," he said.

To get Sanderson's secret books, fans will have to pledge a minimum of $40 for ebook copies. The audiobook versions will set them back $60 at least, while they'll have to pledge a minimum of $160 (not including shipping costs) for the premium hardcovers. Sanderson plans to release one book each in January, April, July and October 2023.

Those interested can either go in blind and just wait for the deliveries or read an excerpt from the first book on Sanderson's website. They can also listen to him read the first book's opening chapter on YouTube.

It feels like only last week that Samsung was taking the covers off its Galaxy S22 series of devices, but that's because it was literally only a few weeks ago. Of course, the company isn't stopping there and is using MWC 2022 to reveal the latest iterations of its Galaxy Book laptops. 

The Galaxy Book 2 Pro series was the major announcement this year, encompassing three new laptops. There's the convertible Galaxy Book 2 360, the clamshell Galaxy Book 2 Pro and the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360, a high-end 2-in-1. They all sport 13-inch screens, with the Pro and Pro 360 also getting 15-inch versions.

While there's no phone news, these laptops will have cross-device support for your other Galaxy devices, as well as further Bixby voice assistant features. Dive into all the full details in our highlight reel below.

Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!

Samsung may be best known for its Galaxy phones, TVs and household appliances, but I think its laptops deserve more recognition. At MWC 2022 today, the company unveiled the next generation of its Galaxy Book series of PCs. Last year’s models brought vibrant AMOLED panels while maintaining strikingly sleek profiles. This time around, the new Galaxy Book 2 series offers upgraded webcams and processors, improved S Pens and a gorgeous new burgundy color option

At the moment, there are three models in the lineup: the convertible Galaxy Book 2 360, the clamshell Galaxy Book 2 Pro and the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360, which is not only a mouthful of a name but also a high-end 2-in-1. They all sport 13-inch screens, with the Pro and Pro 360 also coming in 15-inch versions. A fourth “Business” model is coming later this year, and it’s the only 14-inch option of the lot, which is interesting given the laptop industry has generally been moving towards that size.

Like most computers launching this year, the Galaxy Book 2s run Windows 11 and come equipped with Intel’s 12th-gen Core i5 or i7 processors. But Samsung’s strength is, as always, in its displays and this year's AMOLEDs can hit up to 500 nits of brightness, making for easier viewing in challenging lighting conditions. At a recent hands-on one evening in New York, I wasn’t able to take the machines out to read under direct sunlight as the sun had already set. In the brightly lit demo space as well as under our spotlights, though, it was easy to watch videos on the Galaxy Books.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Like I said last year in my review of the Book Pro 360, the new model’s 16:9 aspect ratio feels outdated in an era where most laptops have shifted to 16:10 screens. This leaves a thumb-wide bezel below the display that could otherwise display a few extra lines of text at least. Still, they all run at 1,920 x 1,080 which is probably a more power-efficient option than 4K for machines that are this thin and light.

I also enjoyed the vibrant colors on the AMOLED panels (which support HDR), almost as much as I enjoyed scrawling “I love cake” on them. The Book 2 Pro 360 comes with an S Pen, while the 360 supports it but doesn’t ship with one. The Pro, meanwhile, isn’t touch-enabled and doesn’t work with the stylus. There’s not much new about the S Pen here — Samsung says it's improved the latency, though it hasn't shared details beyond that. The pen is still a separate accessory that you might leave behind by accident. I miss when Samsung included a smaller version of it in an onboard slot in the Galaxy Book Flex.

Besides the new chips and brighter displays, the main upgrade for this generation of the Galaxy Book is higher-resolution webcams. Specifically, all three models now offer 1080p cameras that, based on my limited experience so far, already take better pictures than their predecessors. Samsung had aggressive beauty filters built into last year’s Galaxy Book Pro 360 for some reason, resulting in poorly exposed pictures from its 720p camera. This time, thankfully, the camera app looked like the stock Windows version with no strange filters on my face.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

In fact, it seems like Samsung’s cleaned up its software in general. Things from previous models like a faux privacy screen and a security feature that would snap pictures of people making failed login attempts were nowhere to be seen. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re gone — I didn’t have time to hunt them down during the hands-on. But the demo units presented a fairly clean Windows 11 experience, from what I saw.

The last new offering in the Galaxy Book 2 is a burgundy color option (limited to the Pro 360) and I am ashamed to admit this might be my favorite thing about Samsung’s latest laptops. It’s the same shade as you get in the S22 Ultra, and after covering boring silver, black, white and even copper laptops for years, I’m just grateful for something that’s not just different but that’s beautiful. Samsung’s notebooks have been some of the more colorful around, like its fiery red Chromebook or the cobalt blue Book Flex. I never knew I could lust after a burgundy laptop, but here I am coveting a PC for its color.

I also really liked how light and thin the Book 2 Pro is (13-inch version weighs 0.87kg or 1.91 pounds), and in spite of its daintiness it felt premium and sturdy. Samsung’s laptops might not look as elegant as HP’s Spectre series, but they certainly give Dell’s XPS or Microsoft’s Surface products some competition.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

But back to features that will make more of a difference in your daily workflow. The 15-inch Book 2 Pro 360 has a comfortable, spacious keyboard and gigantic touchpad that was responsive during my time with it. I hardly ever use numpads anymore, but the larger models come with them, which could be handy for those working with numbers a lot. I also enjoyed typing on the 13-inch versions of the Galaxy Book 2 — there’s enough travel and satisfying feedback.

My main gripe with the Galaxy Book 2 is the $50 price hike. The Book 2 Pro 360 starts at $1,250, up from last year’s $1,200, and I’m not sure a brighter screen and sharper webcam alone are worth the difference. I’d also need to test these devices out for longer to gauge their real-world performance and determine things like battery life and thermal efficiency. The good news is there’s still time — pre-orders start on March 18th, with availability beginning on April 1st. The Galaxy Book 2 360 starts at $900, and is only available from April 1st onwards, while the Book 2 Pro goes for $1,050.

Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!

From time to time Engadget editors take time out to talk about what they've been buying for themselves, with their own money. This week, Commerce Editor Valentina Palladino gives her take on the Kobo Libra 2 e-reader.

I’ll be honest, the pandemic took a toll on my reading habits. A lot of the time I previously spent reading was now spent doom- and hate-scrolling on my iPhone. I didn’t want to drag that habit into 2022, so I deleted the biggest scroll-hole culprits from my phone (Instagram, Twitter) and decided to upgrade to the Kobo Libra 2 as a gift to myself.

The Libra 2 isn’t my first e-reader – an old Kindle Paperwhite still languishes in my drawer – but I wanted a change that would both get me out of a physical reading slump while also lessening my dependence on the juggernaut that is Amazon’s Kindle store. I came to this decision late last year after pulling out my old 2018 Paperwhite and reading a book on it. The experience was noticeably laggy, taking several minutes to properly sync my books and fetch titles I had borrowed from my local library. It was also apparent to me how annoying the Kindle was to hold. I primarily read with the device in my right hand, and because the Paperwhite’s size bezels are quite thin, that meant I was often accidentally turning the page when my fingers brushed the screen’s edge.

Enter the Libra 2, one of the company’s latest e-readers whose larger chin is home to physical page buttons. I knew I wanted one with this design, and if I had wanted to go the Amazon route, I would have been left with only the Kindle Oasis to consider. On top of the fact that Amazon’s devices support a limited number of file types, I just didn’t want to drop $250 on an e-reader. Kobo, on the other hand, has four devices with this design, with the Libra 2 being the most affordable of that bunch at $180.

Valentina Palladino / Engadget

The practicality of the larger chin and page-turn buttons can’t be overstated; they’re some of my favorite things about the Libra 2. My hand doesn’t cramp anymore when I read because I can easily switch from one hand to the other depending on if I’m at my desk, curled up on the couch, or peeking an eye out from under the covers in bed. Landscape reading mode has become a favorite, too, and I also like the tactical feel of the page-turn buttons so much that I rarely, if ever, tap the screen to progress in my current read.

The screen on the Libra 2 is also noticeably sharper than that of my old Kindle Paperwhite. It’s a seven-inch E Ink Carta 1200 touchscreen with what Kobo calls “ComfortLight Pro,” which just means you can adjust the brightness and color temperature. I keep the temperature adjustment on the “auto” setting so the screen’s lighting becomes less blue and more yellow as the day goes on, making it my most comfortable screen to stare at right before bedtime. Plus, the numerous font, font sizes, line spacing and margin options let me customize text to my liking, making the entire reading experience more comfortable and enjoyable.

The Libra 2 is also waterproof, but it’s one of those features I don’t actually use every day and I’ll only fully appreciate it if the e-reader gets an unexpected dunking in a hotel pool. Same goes for the audiobook feature: I listen to books primarily through Overdrive's Libby app, so I haven’t tested the Libra 2 as an audiobook machine yet. However, the USB-C charging port is something I can appreciate in my day-to-day as it charges the device from nearly zero to full in a couple of hours. So far, the Libra 2 has lived up to its promise of having a weeks-long battery life as I’ve only had to charge it once in the month or so that I’ve had it.

So the Libra 2’s hardware has proven to be just as good in practice as it was on paper. But in addition to hardware, Kobo’s Overdrive and Pocket integrations were two big things that made me seriously consider making the switch from Kindle. Having all of my reading material in one place – specifically a place that’s not my phone – would surely stop me from falling down a scroll hole every night, right?

The answer is yes – mostly. (I still scroll sometimes, I’m but a mere mortal.) Saving articles to Pocket throughout the day is super easy and I can turn to them at night when I have more time to read. But the kicker for me is Overdrive, which I can browse directly on the Libra 2 and borrow titles from my library with just a few taps. I also use the Libby app in conjunction with this – when Libby and my Libra 2 are signed in with the same library card, any e-book I borrow via Libby automatically shows up on my Libra 2 like magic. Holds also show up on the e-reader with the amount of time I have left to wait; once it’s my turn, a cute little “borrow” button pops up, allowing me to get reading almost immediately. While Amazon’s Send-to-Kindle feature is also an easy way to get library books from Libby to a Kindle, I find this direct integration more convenient.

Valentina Palladino / Engadget

Where this becomes a bit cumbersome is if you have multiple library cards attached to your Overdrive account (which I do). You’ll have to sign out on the e-reader and sign in again with the specific library you’re trying to access. Most people will probably never have to do this, but just be aware if you’re like me and frequently check out multiple libraries’ catalogs with the hopes of getting the shortest wait time possible for your next read.

I try to use my library as much as possible, but it’s also worth noting that buying books on the Libra 2 is also convenient. You can purchase titles directly on the device from the Kobo store and I’ve yet to find a book that I want to purchase that Kobo doesn’t have. I frequently dump titles that none of my libraries have into my Kobo wishlist, and I was surprised to find that it had lesser-known books like This Green and Pleasant Land by Ayisha Malik along with anticipated upcoming titles like How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. 

If you live in the US, you’ve probably been fed the idea that Amazon’s Kindle book store is the most formidable on the web – and while that may be true, it’s not the only option available. Same goes for Kindles themselves: they may be the most ubiquitous e-readers, but if you’re even remotely interested in loosening the vice-grip Amazon has on your reading life, a Kobo device could do the trick.