I believe that words, “I prefer paper books, because they are REAL books!”, are familiar to you. I have heard many people saying that and I have said it myself too. But after time things change, I am not saying that anymore, because the e-book devil has me in its possession!
Electronic book readers offer possibility to change the colour of text and background, set the brightness and contrast, regulate the font size and margins to fulfil your needs. That is very good for regular people, but for people with eye problems and for those who prefer to read big or small pieces of text the perks are really nice – it is basically an option to design your own book to your own liking.
The downsides of this is that blind people can’t use it (but so they can’t also paper books that aren’t in braille). You lose the weight, smell and size of the book, the chance to have a visual impression of how much you have left in book (which is sometimes pretty good actually). And you pay more – an empty reader will cost more than a book, obviously.
To read a paper book we need light, which means that sunlight might be enough, but in evenings we might prefer to use electricity. Electronic book reader and Audio book reader means that you actually need to have enough battery (electricity) to stay on track and be able to read or listen to your book, which is a shame of course, because no battery means no book, but in paper book case – no light means no book.
Both Electronic and Audio books have the perks of having huge libraries to choose from, which means that you can always have all or part of your books with you and you can read/listen to whatever you wish, while with paper book, you just have to stick with that one book that you might not want to read.
Many also talk about the perks for nature – e-books are obviously easier to make, they have existed always (ok, I won’t go as far as to say that the ones typed on typewriter also were e-books), because that’s what publishers have before publishing the story, just now they are making them available, because we have this wonderful thing called an e-reader. But who chops off more trees?
Audio books definitely take more battery life than any other types of books. And although we need to charge those readers of ours, paper books are still losers, because not only trees are chopped, you also use the electricity for lights to read… and I guess the amount by which one is better than the other, is how much you use your electronic device and not buy the paper version, meaning, if you read one electronic book and then never use the device again (and alternatively would have read just one paper book), obviously there’s no point for having pollution from the making of the device. But, if you read hundreds and hundreds of books, it saves a lot of trees in exchange for little pollution. Do you know how many years a tree has to grow? And trees make what…? Yeah, they help us survive.
Audio books, as I mentioned, are awesome for busy people (because Audio book is faster), for people with visual impairments and for people who enjoy to hear someone else read for them. And it is a life changer for many people who have thought of themselves as disabled, because the more popular Audio books become, the more there are actually made, giving a wide choice.
But let’s return to the main question, why I started this ramble – which is better?
Although I personally still prefer paper books, I love e-books as well. I was one of those people who said ‘never’ to the e-book reader, thinking that it will never completely substitute ‘real’ books for me, yet slowly my reader has bigger and bigger meaning in my life.
I like to go around the tree problem by sometimes buying second hand books, which seems like a good solution, because those trees have already been chopped and owned once and no one will register me buying the paper thing when calculating the amount of paper/e-books to release next time. But… they take space. I’m currently moving (yes, I know I’m saying that a lot, but by the September I will be in the new place, I promise!) and God, the books are frustrating. There are so many of them, besides, I don’t even want to keep more than half of the books I read. So, yes, I’m turning to the dark e-book side, they have ‘delete’.
Audio books on the other hand is something I don’t like. I don’t like to listen to someone else read to me something I could be reading myself. I can’t concentrate and start floating away, because the voice and sound is just a background and they make me sleepy. I have tried knitting or doings something while listening, but my mind simply drifts away and there’s no point to do it. And unrelated to this – I hate it when people, who listened to audio book, write a review and not mention the fact that they listened to the book. Listening and reading are two different activities and it brings to different experiences. You can’t say ‘when I read this book’, if you listened to it.
I believe that e-books are the best solution. Readers offer so much flexibility that gradmas will have to think of different reasons for not reading, because ‘the letters are too small’ won’t work anymore. Also, with the newest tech advancements, readers that won’t make your eyes hurt are starting to appear (but let’s be honest, many people have gotten glasses from reading paper books in the dark as well, so that’s not really worth a discussion).
Audio books are great for some, but not for majority of people, and paper books are a great memory, but, if we talk of practice, obviously more people could be able to read an e-book in a reader rather than a paper book.
So what are your thoughts? Which is your favourite format of books? Why? Are there more reasons I didn’t think of? Please, bring it on in the comments below!
August 16, 2016 at 20:26
The e-book devil has me too!! Great post- I love ebooks cos they’re so accessible- though I was reluctant as well once about them!
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August 17, 2016 at 15:38
As someone who travels a lot and lives in small spaces, ebooks have made a huge improvement in my reading life. Instead of carting around 2 or 3 books everywhere, I have my phone, so I can catch a few pages of reading no matter where I am. I still love paper books, but these days? I find I prefer ebooks unless the print edition is something truly special. Like a illustrated edition or leather-bound. Ebooks have allowed me to only keep the paper ones that really speak to me on my shelves and the endless stream of fiction in my pocket.
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August 19, 2016 at 01:46
I wish I could love ebooks as much as regular books. However, I find that they don’t keep my interest as well, regardless of the story.
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August 22, 2016 at 08:21
Wow, it seems like it’s for you with e-books what I have with audio books – I just flow away and can’t concentrate on the story at all!
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August 22, 2016 at 15:21
That happens to me with audio books too.
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August 19, 2016 at 21:59
I’m all about audiobooks. Life is busy and it’s tough to get reading done. I can work, drive, clean my house, and even shower while tackling my “to read” list. Audiobook production has improved in the past few years, and performance quality is much better.
There is something rich and fulfilling about actually reading a paper book, but audiobooks are much more functional.
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August 22, 2016 at 08:18
Yes, it is pretty awesome that people can do ‘two things at the same time’, such a pity I can’t concentrate on them. 😦
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August 27, 2016 at 17:42
I am an e-book fan. blush
I used to buy hundreds of paperbacks (most of which from my local charity shops) but hate to give them away, so my shelves are bulging (as is my attic). Since swapping to Kindle I can download to my heart’s content; my holiday suitcase is so much lighter and my hubby is much happier (he was the clever soul I would ask to build me another shelf)
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August 30, 2016 at 08:09
Sooooo, sooo understand you! 😀 I was the same, before the Universe opened its wisdom to me and I realised that I don’t need those books. It’s one thing knowing it, but other actually doing something about it. I was in your place for years. 😀
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August 28, 2016 at 19:17
I think e-books make a lot of sense, especially for those who do a lot of travelling. But my heart will always be with actual paper books. I love the smell of them, the feel of them, the look of them on a shelf. Not very environmentally friendly, I’m afraid… 😦
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August 29, 2016 at 23:39
I love them all–any way I can get them. I use audiobooks for my commute. There have been times after sitting in bumper to bumper or being cut off by a crazed driver that the audiobook has grounded me. It’s been a tremendous escape. Except for The Passage when it almost felt like there were times when I became too engrossed in the book. I have never been one to say I’ll only read bound books. I love my kindle app/epub app on my tablet. Makes packing easy. I always have a book. 🙂
I do appreciate difficulties with audiobooks, however. It took many months before I came to accept them and even then if it’s not a good narrator…it just blows the whole experience.
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August 30, 2016 at 07:55
I am a bit confused by all the people who go vacationing and pack three books, there are so many in the comments. When I go somewhere, I barely touch a book (in the airport is the only place), because there’s always something to see and somewhere to go and if I don’t go and see, I usually am exhausted from going and seeing.
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August 30, 2016 at 20:36
I guess it depends on where you go. If I’m going international, I will read on the flights and will finish off at least one book each way (going to the UK). You’re right, though, once there I don’t read. I’m too busy, enjoying the sights or being with family. However, if I’m going to the beach where I go frequently, it’s a relaxing and reading vacation.
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August 31, 2016 at 10:05
I am often finding hard to concentrate on reading, because the person next to me usually is moving around a lot and there’s noise, I love those blissful flights when all the people next to me read! 😀
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September 4, 2016 at 09:29
There is certainly an attraction to curling up with my iPad in bed. It’s lightweight and easy on the eye. Hard copy books have a much more tactile level of satisfaction. The one area where hard copy is definitely better (for me) is where there are maps, or lists of characters (e.g. Luna by Ian McDonald, which has a mine of information at the front) that would be useful to flick back to. I find that much easier with an actual book.
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September 5, 2016 at 14:38
I actually am no reading a book with end notes and find e-reader to be really not helpful enough with that! I am definitely going to look out for hard copies whenever I am planing to read again a book with notes.
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September 29, 2016 at 10:59
Audiobooks seem to have become really popular recently; sales have increased massively. I’ve never tried them though; I like curling up with a paperback too much.
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October 13, 2016 at 13:37
I can say one thing for sure. Audio books are not for me. Once when I was in college I had to read a pretty hefty book one weekend for a class. Problem was I was also planning to spend 6 hours each way on a bus to the city to see Ed Sheeran play Madison Square Garden. I get motion sickness when reading in buses so I decided to download the audio book. Would you believe listening to the audio book gave me car sickness as bad as I would have had just reading the book? I listened for about 5 minutes before I had to shut it off. I ended up just reading the paperback once I got back to campus on Sunday. Missed a nights sleep but better than attempting the audio book again.
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November 17, 2017 at 23:03
My day job has me staring at screens all day – so definitely paper books for me 🙂
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November 18, 2017 at 10:08
There is Kindle Paperwhite, have you tried that?
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November 19, 2017 at 02:08
Ooohh no I haven’t! I got given a Kobo and probably should use it more than I do…
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