The capacitive touch screen on my Kobo Sage is rather fickle. Fairly reliably, it fails to respond to long presses if my skin is dry. This is most common after I’ve had a shower, been out in the cold, or done the dishes. Generally, simple taps and swipes still respond, but long-press to lookup in dictionary, and long-press-and-grab to highlight a passage, do not.

This is a known phenomenon called “zombie finger”, most common in cold climates like Canada, where everything is drier, and exacerbated by calluses, which musicians develop on the pads of their fingers if they play a stringed instrument.

This is not only due to the moisture content. I have tried moistening my hands, but it doesn’t help.

However, I have found a comical workaround that is quite reliable: highlight passages with my nose.

My nose is always moist and greasy enough that the screen responds.

I have to go slightly cross-eyed to target the start and end of the sentence or paragraph, but it’s not too hard. And even if I miss by a word, it’s often possible to adjust the grab handles by that much after the fact using my finger.

This post sounds like a joke, and when I do it, it feels like a joke. But it’s not a joke. Try it: it works.

Many a reading session has been saved by taking “having my nose in a book” a few inches further.