Until early 2012, despite the growing popularity of digital books, I was a staunch defender of the physical book, and swore up and down that I would never convert to an e-reader. But Dan got tired of me lugging a ton of books every time we went on vacation, and for Hanukkah 2011, he got me a Kindle. At first I was somewhat reluctant, and figured I would only use it for vacations. But over time I converted to an enthusiastic fan of the Kindle, even more so when I got my second one, which glows in the dark.
Last year, I'd say I read maybe 10% of the books I read in physical form, a handful of books on my phone, and the rest - the vast majority - on my kindle. So, clearly, it would seem, I prefer the kindle. And yet, I just finished reading my second paperback in a row, and I have to say, it reminded me that there's something great about them. And it's funny, because this tends to be my pattern - I'll read on my kindle for months, but when I pick up a real book, I'll often go on a bit of a roll reading physical books because I remember that I do like them after all!
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| The last 2 paperbacks I read, and my Kindle |
That being said, here are some of my thoughts on different mechanisms for consuming books. If I had written this a month ago, I definitely would have led with e-readers, but since I was just reminded that I also enjoy reading physical books, I'm going to start there instead.
Physical Books
There's just something about holding a real book in your hand - the heft of it, the feel of the paper, physically turning the page. Plus, with a real book, you can really see and appreciate a beautiful cover which is kind of wasted with an e-book.
Also, there's something about not reading on a screen that I think can make for a more immersive experience. Maybe it's just that the two paperbacks I read this past week happened to be really good, but I literally couldn't put either one down and tore through each one in just two days. (If you're curious, it's the two books pictured above, both advanced reader copies I won on Goodreads Giveaways - "Flight Season" by Marie Marquardt, a contemporary young adult novel, and "The Broken Girls" by Simone St. James, a gothic mystery which goes back in time between the 1950s and the present.)
I also love that with a physical book, you can not only recommend a book to someone, but literally take your copy of the book and put it in their hands. That is, if the person in question is still willing to read physical books, which a lot of people I know will no longer do! But I finished "Flight Season" and handed it to my daughter, and "The Broken Girls" is in a bag waiting to be given to my friend Sarah.
I also love to see my books on a book case, although this is also in a way a downside of physical books - I've pretty much run out of room on my bookshelves. And I love to peek at bookshelves in other people's houses to see if they are readers and what they like to read. Again, now with digital reading a lot less books can be seen in people's houses, but before that existed I always thought it was weird to go to someone's house or apartment and not see any books there. (Though my parents are such big library people that you usually won't see a single book in the downstairs of their house, unless it's a stack of books waiting to go back to the public library.)
The two biggest cons of physical books compared to on an e-reader, in my opinion, are the lack of portability, and the lack of lighting, both of which I'll discuss more below in the e-reader section.
There's just something about holding a real book in your hand - the heft of it, the feel of the paper, physically turning the page. Plus, with a real book, you can really see and appreciate a beautiful cover which is kind of wasted with an e-book.
Also, there's something about not reading on a screen that I think can make for a more immersive experience. Maybe it's just that the two paperbacks I read this past week happened to be really good, but I literally couldn't put either one down and tore through each one in just two days. (If you're curious, it's the two books pictured above, both advanced reader copies I won on Goodreads Giveaways - "Flight Season" by Marie Marquardt, a contemporary young adult novel, and "The Broken Girls" by Simone St. James, a gothic mystery which goes back in time between the 1950s and the present.)
I also love that with a physical book, you can not only recommend a book to someone, but literally take your copy of the book and put it in their hands. That is, if the person in question is still willing to read physical books, which a lot of people I know will no longer do! But I finished "Flight Season" and handed it to my daughter, and "The Broken Girls" is in a bag waiting to be given to my friend Sarah.
I also love to see my books on a book case, although this is also in a way a downside of physical books - I've pretty much run out of room on my bookshelves. And I love to peek at bookshelves in other people's houses to see if they are readers and what they like to read. Again, now with digital reading a lot less books can be seen in people's houses, but before that existed I always thought it was weird to go to someone's house or apartment and not see any books there. (Though my parents are such big library people that you usually won't see a single book in the downstairs of their house, unless it's a stack of books waiting to go back to the public library.)
The two biggest cons of physical books compared to on an e-reader, in my opinion, are the lack of portability, and the lack of lighting, both of which I'll discuss more below in the e-reader section.
Dedicated E-readers
I say "dedicated e-readers" here to contrast with people who use a reading app on a phone or tablet, which I think is a very different experience. And since Nook went out of business, I guess I'm pretty much talking about Kindles here - which is the only e-reader I've experienced, first with a basic Paperwhite and then with a Kindle Voyage. (I'd say a Kindle Fire belongs more in the category with phones and tablets since it is more akin to a tablet.)
The absolute best thing about a Kindle has to be that all you need is one small light device, and you can carry an enormous amount of content with you. For someone like me who lives in fear of running out of reading material, this is amazing. Before, if I went on vacation, it was not uncommon for me to bring 10 books with me for a week, just in case I somehow read them all. And when I was commuting to work, I would always carry a book, and a magazine in case I finished the book, and if I was close to finishing the book, maybe a second book too. Now all I need is my kindle which fits in even a smallish purse, and I wouldn't run out of things to read for a couple of years. And even if you don't have a massive collection of unread books on your kindle like I do, all you need is wifi or a cell signal and you can always download something new to read. (And on a related note for portability - if you need to be reading with one hand, for example while standing on the subway, a kindle certainly beats a paperback or hardcover.)
My second favorite thing about my kindle is that it glows in the dark - and in a very subtle way that is pretty much not visible to anyone else in the room. Since I like to read before bed both in general to wind down, and especially when I'm having trouble falling asleep, it's so nice to be able to read in bed while Dan is asleep. Sure, with a physical book you can use a flashlight or a book light, but those are both more annoying to use and shed more light in the room that can disturb someone else trying to sleep. In fact, when I'm reading a physical book, I usually have a second book going at the same time on my kindle, just so I can read it in bed in the dark.
It's also so much easier to borrow a book from the library on the kindle, because instead of having to go to the library, all you have to do is go on your computer/phone/tablet, and click, and voila, you can send a library book straight to your kindle. Sometimes you have to go on a waiting list to borrow currently popular books, but that's true at the real library too. And you also don't have to make a return trip to the library to return your books either, or get charged late fees! (Plus if you're reading on an e-reader rather than a phone or tablet, you can just leave the wi-fi off if you're not done with a library book, and it won't disappear even when the lending period is up, until you turn the wi-fi back on!)
A definite downside of the kindle is that you can't loan a book to someone after reading it. And price can be both a negative and a positive I find it pretty offensive to be asked to pay $12.99 for a digital copy of a book I can't then give to someone or put on my book shelf when I'm done. However, it's also pretty easy to get e-books for cheap. As I talked about in my book hoarding post, I now won't even buy an e-book unless I can get it for $3.99 or less. Which is definitely harder to achieve with physical books unless they're used, as they don't typically go on flash sale as kindle books do. And, I get lots of free books from Netgalley, where you can request digital galleys of books that either haven't been published or have just been published.
I say "dedicated e-readers" here to contrast with people who use a reading app on a phone or tablet, which I think is a very different experience. And since Nook went out of business, I guess I'm pretty much talking about Kindles here - which is the only e-reader I've experienced, first with a basic Paperwhite and then with a Kindle Voyage. (I'd say a Kindle Fire belongs more in the category with phones and tablets since it is more akin to a tablet.)
The absolute best thing about a Kindle has to be that all you need is one small light device, and you can carry an enormous amount of content with you. For someone like me who lives in fear of running out of reading material, this is amazing. Before, if I went on vacation, it was not uncommon for me to bring 10 books with me for a week, just in case I somehow read them all. And when I was commuting to work, I would always carry a book, and a magazine in case I finished the book, and if I was close to finishing the book, maybe a second book too. Now all I need is my kindle which fits in even a smallish purse, and I wouldn't run out of things to read for a couple of years. And even if you don't have a massive collection of unread books on your kindle like I do, all you need is wifi or a cell signal and you can always download something new to read. (And on a related note for portability - if you need to be reading with one hand, for example while standing on the subway, a kindle certainly beats a paperback or hardcover.)
My second favorite thing about my kindle is that it glows in the dark - and in a very subtle way that is pretty much not visible to anyone else in the room. Since I like to read before bed both in general to wind down, and especially when I'm having trouble falling asleep, it's so nice to be able to read in bed while Dan is asleep. Sure, with a physical book you can use a flashlight or a book light, but those are both more annoying to use and shed more light in the room that can disturb someone else trying to sleep. In fact, when I'm reading a physical book, I usually have a second book going at the same time on my kindle, just so I can read it in bed in the dark.
It's also so much easier to borrow a book from the library on the kindle, because instead of having to go to the library, all you have to do is go on your computer/phone/tablet, and click, and voila, you can send a library book straight to your kindle. Sometimes you have to go on a waiting list to borrow currently popular books, but that's true at the real library too. And you also don't have to make a return trip to the library to return your books either, or get charged late fees! (Plus if you're reading on an e-reader rather than a phone or tablet, you can just leave the wi-fi off if you're not done with a library book, and it won't disappear even when the lending period is up, until you turn the wi-fi back on!)
A definite downside of the kindle is that you can't loan a book to someone after reading it. And price can be both a negative and a positive I find it pretty offensive to be asked to pay $12.99 for a digital copy of a book I can't then give to someone or put on my book shelf when I'm done. However, it's also pretty easy to get e-books for cheap. As I talked about in my book hoarding post, I now won't even buy an e-book unless I can get it for $3.99 or less. Which is definitely harder to achieve with physical books unless they're used, as they don't typically go on flash sale as kindle books do. And, I get lots of free books from Netgalley, where you can request digital galleys of books that either haven't been published or have just been published.
Phone/Tablet
I know a lot of people who don't have an e-reader, but read books on either the Kindle app or another reading app on their phone or tablet. This is for the most part not my cup of tea. First of all, unless you have all notifications turned off on your phone or tablet, you're going to be bombarded with texts, e-mails, app notifications, etc. And even if you do have notifications off, just the fact that all kinds of other messaging and apps are present on the device is a huge distraction.
Also, phones and tablets have a glossy screen which makes it difficult to read in the sun, and require a lot more frequent charging than a kindle, which can go for weeks, without charging. And if we're talking about a phone, the screen is just too small to fit much text on per page which is annoying.
That being said, as I mentioned above, I usually read a couple of books a year on my phone. Why? Because the best thing about reading on your phone is that it's always with you! So, I usually have a non-fiction book or a book of short stories going on my phone, so that if I'm stuck somewhere waiting - whether on a line at the supermarket, sitting in my car, waiting for my kids, etc. - I can read a few pages to pass the time. In the past 6 months, I also read two books my daughter was reading for her 8th grade English class along with her, and I read both on my phone. Since we were just reading a chapter or two a night, if that, it was easy to just pick up my phone and read the chapter.
I know a lot of people who don't have an e-reader, but read books on either the Kindle app or another reading app on their phone or tablet. This is for the most part not my cup of tea. First of all, unless you have all notifications turned off on your phone or tablet, you're going to be bombarded with texts, e-mails, app notifications, etc. And even if you do have notifications off, just the fact that all kinds of other messaging and apps are present on the device is a huge distraction.
Also, phones and tablets have a glossy screen which makes it difficult to read in the sun, and require a lot more frequent charging than a kindle, which can go for weeks, without charging. And if we're talking about a phone, the screen is just too small to fit much text on per page which is annoying.
That being said, as I mentioned above, I usually read a couple of books a year on my phone. Why? Because the best thing about reading on your phone is that it's always with you! So, I usually have a non-fiction book or a book of short stories going on my phone, so that if I'm stuck somewhere waiting - whether on a line at the supermarket, sitting in my car, waiting for my kids, etc. - I can read a few pages to pass the time. In the past 6 months, I also read two books my daughter was reading for her 8th grade English class along with her, and I read both on my phone. Since we were just reading a chapter or two a night, if that, it was easy to just pick up my phone and read the chapter.
Audiobooks
I have to admit, I've never tried an audiobook so I can't really weigh in on them personally. I love reading, but I just don't enjoy being read to. (Which was a definite drawback when my kids first started reading and either wanted to read for me or needed to do so for school, ha ha.) I know a lot of people say they like to listen to audiobooks in the car, but I like to listen to music in the car. For the same reason, I don't listen to NPR or podcasts.
Wow, I really had a lot to say about this topic! So what about you guys? How do you prefer to read, and why?
Wow, I really had a lot to say about this topic! So what about you guys? How do you prefer to read, and why?
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