After a recent flight reminded me of how terrible it is to travel with my circa-2011 laptop, I took the plunge and bought myself a basic tablet. As tablets go, it’s not particularly powerful, but it doesn’t weigh upwards of 10 pounds, and the battery doesn’t fall out when I move it, so it’s a clear upgrade.

The biggest benefit of my newly acquired tablet? Much easier access to e-books.

I’ve particularly enjoyed exploring Total Boox, a service LPL offers that I hadn’t heard about before I started working here. Total Boox lets you check out as many e-books as you want and keep them for as long as you want — period. You can even check out whole shelves devoted to specific authors, topics, or genres. Just download to your device, and bam! They’re yours to read at whatever pace works for you.

I’ll be honest: if you’re looking for the newest releases by contemporary big-name authors, Total Boox isn’t the best venue for that. What Total Boox offers is an incredibly deep catalog full of hidden gems, making it great for people who like to sample widely. Here are just a few categories to explore:

Are you a romance fan like me? Avail yourself of this excellent shelf, Not Only Jane Austen, featuring 15 classic works of “women’s fiction,” including books by Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Bronte, and my beloved Georgette Heyer, queen of regency romance. Looking for something more contemporary? Try something by Samantha Chase or Carolyn Brown.

Have you been meaning to brush up on the classics? You can choose from dozens of titles that you’ll recognize from literature class. Even really fast readers might struggle to get through “War and Peace” within a single library check-out period, but Total Boox lets you hold on to that e-book for as long as it takes to earn your bragging rights.

Can’t get enough of sports writing? Total Boox has a deep catalog of nonfiction and fiction about sports, including ones that aren’t as popular in Kansas. I’m a huge hockey fan, and I rely on Total Boox to keep me up to my ears in hockey writing. From books about the history of the game to hockey romance novels (yes please!), it’s a great resource to learn more about a topic that can be hard to keep up with around here.

Total Boox is particularly great if you’re looking for books in languages other than English. You can select any genre the service offers, then filter by language – so if you want to read “Ragtime” in Spanish or a contemporary LGBT romance in Italian, you can! And if you’re not quite to the level of reading in another language, yet, you can polish up your skills through Total Boox’s collection of language-learning books.

Happy reading!

-Meredith Wiggins is a reader’s services assistant at the Lawrence Public Library.