As my sight started fading, my partner—the world of books—manifested once more in all its splendor. A joyous reunion! I had to look around for tools to assist me in reading.

There were many options. A monitor under which you could place the book and read it on the screen with adjustable font sizes. A camera with a monitor serving a similar purpose. A handheld device with its own screen that could connect to a monitor. All of these were expensive, and I didn't find them suitable. As an interim measure, I got a camera from a security instruments manufacturing company—a crude one, though—which I linked to my computer to read a few books. One of the books that somehow got etched in my tiny memory space was *The Audacity of Hope* by Barack Obama.

In a few months, I ditched this not-so-friendly companion, and thanks to my sons, I got a Kindle DX, which had been introduced only recently at that time—hmm... 2009, I think. It was a much bigger device with larger fonts. My sight, however, had the uncanny knack of deteriorating, and within two years, luckily, Amazon did a software update that made the fonts even bigger.

This Kindle lasted for a couple of years until I was stranded once again, with bleeding episodes and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) attacking my eyes, as if I didn't have enough issues already.

That was when I got introduced to Apple's iPad. No, a disclaimer: I don't have any interests in these ventures. I literally drilled the showroom assistant to explain everything I could do with this device to read comfortably. God has tested me but has also been kind, as He is to all. Kindle e-books gave me a breath of fresh life to my dying eyes. It sometimes took three weeks or even more to complete a book, but I did read and enjoy. I found props to keep the iPad in a comfortable position until I got a wonderful adjustable stand, thanks to my sons again.

Then, after another couple of years, God gave me another boon: audiobooks. What a relief! What a gift! If I had read around a hundred books on Kindle, I have listened to around 20 books in audio format.

My passion stays alive.

To be continued... Bookishly Speaking - Part 6