True, I have 3 book lights scrambled at different rooms in my home, and still managed to forget all of them for a recent trip.

But the only more modern reader I've used (Onyx boox, white backlight) did its job at night, but still felt a bit straining for my eyes. Maybe it gets better with a yellow-ish or orange backlight, these feel better for me on the clip-on lights, but I haven't tried one for backlight.