E-book or real book? Thoughts aloud:)
For last 5-7 years I use e-book 70% of my reading time. I have a small "Pocket book" model like the one below, and I'm completely happy with it. It's light, it's tiny and fits any bag, and it's really convinient to use.
But I also love "old fashioned", paper books. Since being a child I remember a huge library in our family house, and it was so awesome. I always read a lot since I've learned how to do it, and I read really fast. I can read whole "Lord of the Rings" in two nights. So having a lot of books is a vital necessity. But now I try to have less books in appartment. The collect dust, take too much place... So I left only thouse which I really love, of thouse that are valuable, and gave the rest to the library.
Stars in my book collection are artbooks. It's really the ones that I need in paper version, for work and for pleasure. High quality illustrations are something I can't live without. But Iif I want to sence pages, to read a real book - I'll go to the ligrary and will take one, it's easier. And it feels like shopping:)
So, advantages and disabvantages, IMHO:
- 1. You don't have to turn pages in e-book - important for me. I usually I take so complicated poses when reading in bed that I can't use both hands.
- 2. E-book takes less space. I have a whole library on mine.
- 3. E-book can power down... That never happens with real ones.
- 4. With e-book you don't have "the old reading experience". I mean the smell of the paper, the sound it makes. But I have a perfume with sell of a library:)
- 5. If the book has illustrations - it's nearly no interest to look at them in a e-book.
So, my choise is e-nook for reading and real ones for work and pleasure.
What about you?:)
Thank you for watching:)
Love, Inber
Book to enjoy.
E-book to pinpoint search and good for carrying
:)
Books really rule:) But in our rushing world e-books are more convinient:)
Me being me, I really, really thought I'd be totally and completely all over ebooks.
Didn't work out that way. It had something to do with constantly losing my spot on the screen but I think that's to do with working on a massive screen with small font most of the time and not having to scroll to read massive chunks of text. I don't even know. But I don't have the same problem with a book. So maybe it's just small screens I don't like XD I also have the opposite problem with you with the odd positioning in bed, I can manipulate a book into whatever position to be readable but can never get the tablet weighted correctly and when I do I usually accidentally press some button that shouldn't be pressed XD
And totally agree on the books with illustrations. I have an animal encyclopedia and usually an "Anatomy for the Artist" book (thoroughly well worn and I know it so well I can usually open very close to where I need at the time) on my desk but I think the latter got replaced when my mother in law came and cleaned the house.
I do like electronic for searching though. I find it easier though book purist friends of mine would disagree XD
Anatomy for artists always take a special place:)
You said it well - books collect dust and take a lot of space :) Sure, they look cool but after I first read a book on my old kindle, I can never go back. Now, I have a pocket book and I am super happy that I can take my collection of books with me when I am travelling. Plus, I am somewhat protecting the environment :)
Thanks for posting this.
Oh yes, I forgot about saving trees! Thanks for notifying!:)
;-)
You hit the nail on the head. E-book for transportable work reading but for pleasure, ahh...nothing beats the smell of a real book. The texture of the paper and the rustle as you turn the pages. Much better for relaxing to my way of thinking :)
The perfume is really close:) But the touch - yes... Especially with old books:)
Personally I love paper books, I had a e-book and just had to purchase hard cover. Maybe it's because I look at screen all day at work and just want something else hehe.
After a few time of reading I just dive so much into it that I no more notice the "fake book":)
That is a good question. I used to read a lot when I was younger, but I barely do anymore. I blame it on my work and all these things I have to do, but the truth is, I don't try to make time for it. I think if I had one of these e-books it would make it easier to carry around at all times, and just choose the best read at the best time.
On the other hand, I like to see my books on their shelves, I like to spot one and remember reading it, what I thought, etc. I don't see that possible with an e-book.
In the end, still very much on the fence about buying one, and still very much not trying to read, so I guess it can still wait!
That's another way to go:) The shelf is nessesary, I think< it's really something to have in your house, but earlier there were tousands of books on mine... So I left a few:)
I hope you'll find your time for the pleasure of reading!:)
For me it's ebooks. I can never find paperback versions of what I like to read and if I do it's too expensive. I also do not like that I can't sufficiently hold a book in one hand and read it, while an e-reader is much easier to use one-handed. The only paper books I have are large, information books with lots of photographs.
Have the same problem. I love "tasty" editions, on great paper, with illustrations and with a great cover
Physical books reign supreme for me @inber! Yes of course there the advantages of taking up space and so on. However, There is something satisfying about lok at the huge stack of pages you just read! lol also, looking at the LED screen can be very adverse to your REM sleep cycles! I definitely recommend that you take a free program you can download called f.lux ! You won't regret it! :)
By the way looking on a huge stack of read pages really is a pleasure!:)
I agree with you that both have their own advantages..most of the time I read e-books but still like to read normal books in a library.
You can check my last post about Chinese futuristic library and some of my thoughts on e-books and regular books.
and thanks for your post!:)