Literati eReader by Sharper Image

I’m certain that in a past life I was a librarian. I can walk into a library or bookstore and get lost in there all day. So when I enrolled in college, it was no question that I would graduate with an English degree. I reveled in reading 4-5 novels at once because I “had to” for class.

My bookshelves overflowed and it wasn’t until we had Kora & Logan that I even contemplated donating some of my books or even selling them.

Tired Dad Dave was always amazed at the quantity of books I had and how happy they made me. Unfortunately for him, he was the one who had to lift and lug all those boxes and boxes of books every time we moved.

He also didn’t understood why I kept them all, but never read them more than once.

I’ve tried to explain that the incredible amount of fantastic new novels continually being published make it tough to find time to go back and read old favorites. Besides, when I pass by the ones I have read I often find myself saying, “I read that one when…” or “I could really identify with the main character in that one because at the same time I was going through…”. How can I get rid of all those books when they’ve become connected to my memories?

Now we have the best of both worlds.

I recently got the Sharper Image Literati eReader.

The thought of carrying around hundreds of books with me on something smaller than an iPad makes me so happy.

Having an entire bookstore of books at my fingertips, ready to be picked up and read at any lull in the day is just so fun!

Not only that but I think our house has doubled if not tripled in size (at least it feels like it) without all the overflowing bookshelves. I also don’t have to worry about losing those memories either because they are all right there on the eReader and I can scroll by them any time I want.

The Sharper Image Literati eReader is the first eReader I’ve owned (if you can’t tell by my excitement about it). Some of the pros include:

• Being able to carry around more than one book at once
• The 7″ full color screen which is amazing for cookbooks, kids books, & magazines
• The adjustable screen brightness and font size
• The digital bookmark which allows me to turn off the device & have it open back up where I stopped reading
• The wireless connection allows me to make purchases from the Korbo store
• The endless section at the Kobo store
• The Kobo Books eReading App which allows you to pick up your book where you left off on your smartphone, desktop, and laptop

And I really love how sleek, small, and convenient it is to slip into a bag or purse:

I must also mention the case that comes with the Literati. It’s a sturdy, but thin case that makes me feel the eReader is well protected:

While, again, I’m very happy to have an eReader, some of the things I think could be improved upon include:

• The size of the directional pad – it’s so tiny, I found it difficult to manipulate and it was nearly impossible for Tired Dad Dave to use
• Having to use the directional pad to basically “tab” over from selection to selection is time consuming and feels a little archaic
• The keyboard is not backlit – when reading at night with the lights off (one of the guilty pleasures of owning an eReader) if I want to change the font or brightness of the screen, or even check out the table of contents, I have to turn on a light to do so.

Those are some of the pros and cons, in my opinion of the Literati. However, it feels to me that this is just their first release of this device and many improvements are right around the corner.

When I first opened the Literati, there was a postcard noting that the Literati will automatically prompt me to update as new enhancements and features are made available. So while this won’t change the exterior design issues I have with it, I am excited to see what they have in store.

It did state that they will soon be including magazine and periodical subscriptions in their bookstore as well. I thought this was a brilliant idea, especially with the color screen and can’t wait to try it out.

All in all, I really love my Literati and would recommend it but would let future buyers know of the few outward design points that could be improved upon. I think the positives far outweigh the negatives, and it really is so wonderful and fun to be able to carry more than one book around with me and to read at night with the lights off.

In fact, I can’t wait for my next airline flight because I will definitely be bringing my Literati. It will save me so much room in my bags, I won’t have to rely on those overhead plane lights that always seem to point in odd directions, and I’ll be able to start, continue, or finish any number of books or magazines.

I recommend the Sharper Image Literati to anyone looking for a simple and affordable eReader because at $159 (with rumors of a price drop after Black Friday) it’s an incredible device for any book lover.

I can’t end this post without including an image of the box. It was so neat and designed to look like a giant book – of course!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of The Sharper Image and received a Literati eReader to facilitate my review.