Check out the Internet Archive (https://archive.org) which is free and for books that are still in copyright you create an account and can borrow them as ebooks from whichever library has made them available. Yes, it means reading them on a screen, but it can be on any device with a web browser (phone, iPad or tablet, or computer). You’ll also find audio, newspapers, video, archived web sites, etc. Have fun exploring!
Also, since you mentioned enjoying being transported to another world, you might look for the author Brandon Sanderson. His Stormlight Archives series or his Mistborn Saga are fantastic! He was the author chosen by the widow of Robert Jordan to finish the last 3 books of The Wheel of Time (14 books).
I have had Kindles for at least 10 years and use my Paperwhite daily, as well as the kindle apps on my iPad/iPhone (on these, color shows up really well). They are fine for books like novels where the flow is generally forward. If you use them for non-fiction books, and tend to go back and forth to verify a fact or re-read a certain part, they are less useful, but not a total loss. They are great for travel. You can have 400 books on the kindle; can’t do that with a suitcase.
Some countries let you download library books to a kindle; in Canada, you cannot do this with Kindle but you can with Kobo (an alternate and reputedly very good choice).
At least for Kindles, you do NOT “own” the book; if you die, you cannot transfer your library to someone else. It is lost. If you want to move to a non-kindle e-reader, you cannot transfer the books over from Kindle. So, if you have an ebook that you really like, buy the hard copy too.
Wow, it’s hard to believe that your e-reader is already ten years old. I can’t even imagine how many books you’ve read on it. I actually had a Kindle once, but only for a few months, because I always found myself drawn back to printed copies. Sometimes I read for hours, and even though the battery seems to last forever, it’s reassuring to know that the book won’t run out. And I can gift the books away afterwards. I think that was also one of the reasons why I switched back. If I ever get an e-reader again in the future, I would want to avoid a closed ecosystem if possible. But I’m really glad that you’re so happy with your Kindle.
The funny thing is that while I like my kindle, it is a like:dislike relationship; I like printed books just as much, if not more. The ‘virtue’ of kindle is its portability. They are light, can easily be read in bed and not bother your partner with the light from a lamp, and can have a lot of books in one device. I rarely pay full price for the books, usually getting them when they are on sale for anywhere from $0.00 to ~ $3.00. It is extremely rare for me to spend >$5.00 on a kindle book. That way, even if you buy a ‘bad’ book, you are not out much money.
