Holiday reading: paper book, Kindle or audiobook?

What to take on holiday: a quick guide

For each situation, here's what I think works best. Kindle takes you to an Amazon search (an affiliate link); paper and audiobook jump to their sections further down.

1. 🏖️Beach, blanket, sun lounger📖🏖️ Beach, blanket, sun loungerKindlethe screen doesn't glow like a phone, so it's readable in full sun
2. ✈️Plane, carry-on only📖✈️ Plane, carry-on onlyKindlehundreds of books in a device that weighs about as much as one novel
3. 🗓️Long holiday, fast reader📖🗓️ Long holiday, fast readerKindlefinish one book and the next is already waiting
4. ☕Hammock, rainy afternoon📚☕ Hammock, rainy afternoonPaperthe smell of paper, turning pages, nothing to charge
5. 🏊Things left on the blanket📚🏊 Things left on the blanketPaperno expensive gadget to keep an eye on
6. 🌙Night, lights out🎧🌙 Night, lights outAudiobookeyes closed, no light in anyone's face
7. 🚗Car, long drive🎧🚗 Car, long driveAudiobookthe whole family listens to one story
8. 🚲Cycling, walking, chores🎧🚲 Cycling, walking, choresAudiobookhands and eyes free, the book keeps going

Kindle on holiday: hundreds of books in one device

The biggest advantage of an e-reader on holiday is simple: you take hundreds of books, and in your suitcase they take up as much room as a thin notebook. Amazon says the 16 GB version holds “thousands of books”. You don't have to decide which three novels come along and which stay at home.

You feel the difference in weight, too. According to Amazon, the 2026 basic Kindle weighs 140 g (4.9 oz) and the 2024 Paperwhite 211 g (7.4 oz); Amazon says the new 2026 Paperwhite is lighter still. A thick paperback novel can weigh 250–300 g (8.8–10.6 oz), so five books for a two-week holiday easily add more than a kilogram (2.2 lb) to your luggage.

And you can read anywhere: on a beach blanket, on a lounger by the pool, in a hammock, at the airport and on the plane. An e-paper screen doesn't glow like a phone; it reflects light the way a page does, so it stays readable in full sun instead of disappearing in the glare.

Water, sand and heat

The Kindle Paperwhite is waterproof (rated IPX8). Amazon gives the test result in fresh water: 60 minutes at a depth of 2 metres (about 6.5 feet). Seawater and sand are a bigger risk for an e-reader. If it gets wet in the sea or ends up in the sand, wipe it down and don't leave it in a wet towel.

Don't leave your e-reader in the sun on the blanket or in a hot car. When you go for a swim, put it in your bag, in the shade.

Kindle with or without a backlight? Eyes, lamp and battery

I think a Kindle without a backlight is a great thing. My eyes don't get tired at all, especially in the evening after a whole day at the computer. It reads like a printed page, because the screen gives off no light of its own.

Just remember that without a backlight you need a bedside lamp in the evening, exactly as with a paper book. With the backlight on you can do without the lamp, but then the battery runs down faster. Amazon quotes battery life based on half an hour of reading a day with Wi-Fi off and the light set to 13, and notes that it depends on how you use the device.

You can no longer buy a new Kindle without a backlight. The last basic model without a light was the 8th-generation Kindle from 2016, and every new model since 2019 has had one. On a new e-reader, though, you can turn the light down to the minimum and read by a lamp, just as on an unlit one. Older models without a light can still be found second-hand.

There's also a study that points the same way, though it's small: in a paper published in PLOS ONE in 2013, reading on e-paper tired the eyes about as much as paper, and reading on a bright tablet LCD clearly more. It compared e-paper with paper and a tablet, not e-readers with and without a backlight. There were fewer than twenty participants, so I treat it as backing for my own experience, not as hard proof.

Paper books: the smell of pages and nothing to charge

For all the advantages of an e-reader, a paper book has its own charm. The smell of paper, the rustle of turning pages, a bookmark and the stack of pages that shows how much is left. The smell of old books isn't your imagination, either: in 2009 chemists at University College London described it as a mix of compounds that paper gives off as it ages.

On holiday, paper also has very practical advantages. It never needs charging. You can leave it on the blanket and go for a swim: even if it disappears, you haven't lost much. A book you've finished can be lent, swapped on the hotel bookshelf or left behind at the guesthouse for the next guests.

But do we understand more from paper? A large 2018 analysis of 54 studies came out in favour of paper for informational texts, but found no difference for narrative texts alone. So for a holiday novel, choose whichever suits you.

Audiobooks: for bedtime, the car, the bike and chores

At night, the alternative to an e-reader and a lamp is an audiobook. You switch off the light, close your eyes and listen, and there's no light shining on the person next to you.

Audiobooks also work brilliantly in the car and on the bike. Their biggest plus is that you can do other things at the same time: drive on a long trip, cycle to work, even clean the house. The book keeps going, and time that would have passed anyway turns into reading.

Before you leave, download your audiobooks in the app (Audible and Libby both let you listen offline). In the mountains, on a ferry or abroad without a good signal, the book will play without internet.

On the bike I use bone-conduction headphones: they leave my ears open, so I can still hear the cars and other cyclists around me.

E-books for your Kindle: where to get them

The easiest place to get books for a Kindle is the Kindle Store itself, but it isn't the only one. Three more ways that work:

• Kindle Unlimited: Amazon's subscription. You borrow e-books from a catalogue of millions of titles instead of buying them, and they go straight to your Kindle.
• Libby (your public library): in the US, most Libby loans can be read on a Kindle e-reader. You borrow the book in Libby with your library card and send it to your Kindle.
• Send to Kindle: EPUB files bought in other stores without DRM go to your e-reader by email, through Amazon's website or through the Kindle app. Files with DRM from another store won't open on a Kindle.

Do it at home, on Wi-Fi: load your books onto the e-reader before you leave. There'll be no Wi-Fi or computer on the beach, and Kindle Unlimited and library books also need Wi-Fi to download to the reader.

Which Kindle for a holiday, and what else helps

Nobody paid me for this article. The “See on Amazon” buttons are affiliate links: if you buy something, BookRank earns a small commission, but that doesn't change what I write here. Below are types of gear, not a ranking of models.

• Kindle (basic, 6-inch)Good for: backpack, plane, daytime readingThe lightest: 140 g (4.9 oz) for the 2026 plastic version. It has a front light, but no warm light. Amazon quotes up to 6 weeks of battery life at half an hour of reading a day. Check the product page to see whether a given version is waterproof.See on Amazon →
• Kindle PaperwhiteGood for: beach, lounger, evening readingWaterproof (Amazon gives a test in fresh water), a bigger 7-inch screen and warm light for the evening. Amazon quotes up to 12 weeks of battery life at half an hour of reading a day.See on Amazon →
• Clip-on reading lightGood for: an e-reader without a backlight or with the light at minimumClips onto the cover of your e-reader or book and shines mainly on the page.See on Amazon →
• Kindle Paperwhite caseGood for: beach bag, suitcaseProtects the screen from sand and scratches in your bag. A case fits only one model and generation: check that it matches your e-reader.See on Amazon →

What to read on holiday?

If you're looking for something for your holiday, browse the new releases with reader ratings, the rankings by genre or the book finder, which matches a title to your mood. For a long drive, multi-book series work best: we've set out their reading order.

Questions and answers