Best Reading Gadgets to Make Reading Easier and More Fun

Gadgets for reading on screens
Kindle: I get physical books whenever I can, but sometimes my Kindle has been a lifesaver. It's a super easy way to take unlimited books anywhere and a single charge lasts weeks. The e-ink display is very easy on the eyes and you have built-in highlighting, dictionary and web browsing.

Blinkist: My favorite book summary service. They have a web and phone app, over 5,000 non-fiction titles, audio for over 80% of them, built-in highlighting, plus features to sync your highlights with Evernote and send summaries directly to your Kindle. I've written in-depth reviews on both the web app and phone app, and Four Minute Books readers get an exclusive 35% off their first year.

Evernote: It's a digital filing system, but its genius is that you can use it as both a second brain and your own private Google. For most people the free version is enough, but make sure to install the web clipper. You can use it to cut out articles, or pieces of them, images and anything else you find online. The software makes all text searchable, meaning you only need to memorize a few keywords to find anything, anytime. I've written a complete guide on how to use it here.

Spritz: If you want an innovative way to read online, Spritz may be for you. Instead of reading a coherent block of text, their app shows it to you word by word. Since your eyes don't need to move, you can read much faster. It's really weird at first. However, once you get used to it, it's great for news or other content you want to consume quickly without missing anything.

BeeLine Reader: This fascinating tool adds a color gradient to the text you view online. This helps your eyes move through it more quickly by dragging them from one important part of the structure to the next.

iReader: Most blog posts are filled with clutter around the edges. Some browsers have a built-in reading mode, but if yours doesn't, you can use this Chrome extension to change any article into a sleek, text-only view.

F.lux: This is a must if you work on screens early or late at night, but especially for reading late at night, it's important. F.lux changes the color of your screen to a more reddish color at night, resembling the sunset and removing blue light. This helps your body not interrupt its production of melatonin, which is a sleep hormone. Even if you stay awake longer, you won't have as much trouble falling asleep. If you're using a Mac or iOS device, this feature is built-in and called Night Shift.

Pocket: Timing matters. Sometimes you come across a great article without having time to read it right away. Or maybe you're not sure it's the right advice at the right time. Pocket takes care of it. Simply send content from anywhere in this universal folder to read later and decide another time. It comes pre-built into Firefox, but simple to install as an extension on other browsers.

Resources that will improve your reading skills
The Complete Guide to Remembering What You Read: The system I personally use when reading nonfiction books. Includes everything from previewing content, to how you should breathe while reading, to a selection of note-taking systems and how to condense it all.

Time 2 Read: This is a free 14-day email course I created to help you make reading a habit. Maybe you've fallen off the wagon or are no longer completely in love with it. This is to help you get back on track. In retrospect, I would shorten the lessons, but I'm proud of the blend of storytelling and science there. It's definitely worth a look, I've also included a whole bunch of bonus features.

10 Days to Faster Reading: This is a book by Abby Marks-Beale that introduces you to the concept of speed reading. I'm not a big fan of this idea, because no matter how fast you get, the consequence is always that you will miss information. I prefer to filter what to read first. Again, this can be helpful for reading that you need to do, but aren't really excited about. Tim Ferriss also wrote a scientific guide on this subject.