Book Reading Accessories You Should Not Live Without

As readers, we tend to be madly in love not only with the actual activity of reading, which, let’s face it, is pretty great, but with books and other reading-related accessories and gadgets. While gadgets seem to have taken over our lives in the past decade, with all kinds of cool gimmicks like smartwatches, fitness bracelets, smartphones, wireless headphones, and literally tens or hundreds of others, readers are the specific target audience for some accessories as well. 

Book reading accessories are not exactly new, as they were part of the reading experience long before smart gadgets were even around, but they did become infinitely more interesting and useful in the past decade or so. And while some of them are pretty useless, others became so common and beloved that most readers can no longer live without them.

What are reading accessories?

The accessories for book readers are defined as items specifically designed for reading enthusiasts with the purpose of enhancing the reading experience one way or another. From electronic devices to simple objects and even apps, these accessories are extremely varied both in terms of functionality, price, and purpose, but the one thing they have in common is that they will get any bookworm or reading enthusiast giggling and wishing they had them since the beginning of time.

While some might think that being a bookworm starts and ends with finding the right books, the truth is that readers tend to love many other things that are reading-related. A nice accessory can make a huge difference in how enjoyable a reading session is or how good the reading performance is.

Yes, our true love is reading, but who says we have to limit ourselves to that? Making the reading experience better through a couple of gimmicks doesn’t hurt anyone, on the contrary. Some of these accessories for reading are actually great for improving your reading speed and overall performance. The secret to a great reading session is to really enjoy it. And reading accessories do just that.

What reading accessories can bookworms not live without?

Out of the plethora of interesting readers’ accessories, there are some that stand out. Some are so ingenious and useful that once readers get their hands on them, they instantly become must-haves they simply can no longer live without. Here at Basmo, we take reading seriously and we are very determined to teach you everything there is to know to make the reading experience something you enjoy every single day. 

Here is what reading accessories we discovered as being absolutely life-changing.

Reading pillow 

While most of us find reading an easy activity to do in pretty much any position, the truth is that most of us do it wrong. The ideal reading position according to ergonomics experts is sitting up on a chair, with the book placed at a comfortable angle that allows your eyes to easily focus on the words you are reading, with your feet planted comfortably at a 90-degree angle on the ground. 

But what are we supposed to do when we want to get some reading done in bed before going to sleep? Well, reading pillows are the answer. They are designed to support us while sitting up in bed in a way that puts no unnecessary pressure or strain on our back and shoulders and even offer us lateral support to ensure that our position is as correct as possible. 

Reading lights

The importance of lighting in our reading experience is well-known and quite obvious. Reading in poorly-lit rooms can result in shorter reading sessions due to eye muscle strain and fatigue. If you like to read in bed with the lights dimmed in order to allow yourself to get sleepy quicker, using an additional light source may be a good idea. 

Reading lights are pretty ingenious accessories for book readers and they can be extremely useful if you want to keep reading while your partner sleeps next to you. This way your book will be adequately lit and your partner won’t be disturbed. They are easy to use, as they run on batteries or can be charged via USB, and they can be simply clipped on the book you are reading.

Reading tracking apps

Sometimes, the best reading accessories are quite different from what you might have imagined. Reading tracking apps, for example, have a plethora of benefits for readers and some might hardly think of them as a reading accessory.

The truth is that for the modern reader, having a reading tracking app like Basmo is essential. Here’s why.

With Basmo, you can have your entire reading experience at your fingertips.

You can set reading goals since we know that everybody wishes they would read more.

On top of this, you can use our app to take notes while reading.

As if that wasn’t enough, Basmo can also be used to improve your reading habits.

Blue light glasses

For those of us who prefer to keep our homes clutter-free, reading digital books may sound like a great solution. Well, it is, to a certain extent. Reading on our phones or tablets may seem comfortable, cheaper, and definitely a clutter-free option. The habit of reading on mobile devices does come with some pretty serious drawbacks though.

It can put an unnecessary strain on our eyes due to the fact that the font we will be reading is going to be considerably smaller than the one in actual books. And on top of that, since all mobile devices these days are backlit through LEDs, they emit quite a dangerous amount of blue light. This can affect our eyes and our sleep. 

That is why reading glasses with blue light filters have become pretty popular these days. Even though the studies suggest that there is not much evidence that they do filter out the harmful blue light, they certainly won’t hurt either. People who use them swear by their effectiveness, despite the results of the scientific study I quoted above. Whether that is just a placebo effect or not is not clear, but as I said, blue light reading glasses certainly won’t hurt your reading experience and if there is a chance that they filter out even as little as 10% of the harmful wavelengths in the blue light, they are certainly worth having and using. 

Reading table for bed

Those of us who love reading in bed already know that it can get uncomfortable after a while. Reading pillows do help to a certain extent, by allowing us to sit in the correct position, but how are we supposed to hold our book?

Well, reading tables for the bed are generally a must-have for those who do their reading in bed and they can be quite useful. First of all, you should know that most of them are actually foldable and take up very little space when they are not being used.

Also, they are designed to allow you to place your book in a position that is very comfortable for reading, allowing you to adjust the height you are placing the book at, as well as the angle it faces you at. This provides you with all the necessary options to ensure that you don’t put any strain on your eyes or neck muscles while reading, and you don’t even need to use your hands to hold the book. You can just sit in a perfectly relaxed position and do your reading with minimal effort. You are just going to need to turn the pages. 

Noise-canceling headphones

Not all of us have the luxury of being able to set aside an hour of complete silence in our home for our daily reading session. And reading in a noisy environment can be both frustrating and ineffective. We lose our focus, we end up re-reading the same paragraph multiple times to understand it. 

Luckily, headphones or earphones with noise cancellation can provide us with some much-needed quiet for our reading sessions. Whether you use them simply to tune out the annoying sounds that surround us, or even add music to the mix, they can completely change the way we experience our reading. If you’re reading on your commute to work, for example, a noisy subway train will become a perfect reading spot by just using the (preferably active) noise cancellation or putting on your favorite reading playlist.

E-readers

Despite the tragedy the recent mobile usage statistics may seem to portray, technology is not a reader’s enemy. Or at least it doesn’t need to be. E-readers have been around for a good couple of years now and for some, they are simply irreplaceable.

A tiny device slightly bigger than a smartphone can hold thousands of books at a time, it provides a very comfortable reading experience thanks to the well-designed backlight system, and weighs less than 100grams. Even though some readers will argue that the only reading experience that can satisfy them includes the smell of a book and the pleasure they feel turning the pages as they progress through the story, the benefits of an e-reader are irrefutable. 

Final thoughts

Book reading accessories can completely change the reading experience for most of us. But the truth is that while most of them do have a very good and specific purpose, the one you truly need is a reading tracking app like Basmo.

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