Last week, I ranted about book ownership. Today I’d like to tackle another hot topic: ebooks versus paper.
I am often asked why I don’t read ebooks more? Especially given my space issue with my large library. What can I say? I prefer paper. I want to hold the book in my hand and feel the pages as I turn them. I want to browse my shelves and pull books down to flip through old favorites and to search for my next adventure to read. Scanning electronic shelves is not the same. There’s no anticipation of seeing titles from across the room and remembering the moment I found it waiting in a book store for me.
That being said, I do have an account on Goodreads where I store my inventory of books. It is invaluable, mostly when I am out buying books. There is nothing more frustrating than buying the same book twice. Think of the lost opportunity! That duplicate could have been a new book—a new adventure. Instead, it’s a rerun. Not good. Goodreads helps me weed out the duplicates. When you’re talking over 7,000 books, it helps to have an inventory at your fingertips. Plus I love talking books with friends and sharing reviews.
But ebooks? Not so much. I’ve tried them and own my fair share. I even own two eReaders (both gifts) with digital ink for a more authentic experience, but I still prefer paper. But I do see the value of ebooks in specific situations: travel and for book club reads I’m not really interested in, but that’s about it for me. Even travel is a tricky choice for me. I end up taking the eReader, the charger, a battery backup and then paper books in case something didn’t download properly (it happened once and I spent a week without any books! Torture!).
The electronic version will never replace paper for me. Books are either friends (those I’ve read) or invitations to other worlds and lives (those I’ve not). I want my books to live in the real world, not a virtual one. I want to feel the paper and weight of the book in my hands. I want to be able to flip back to review something without issue. I want to avoid looking at another screen—I spend too much time in front of one as it is. And most importantly, I don’t want another thing I have to remember to charge.
Now some of you might be thinking: what about reading on your phone while you wait places? Not going to happen. It is way too small. I prefer to read more than a paragraph at a time. The two times I tried reading on my phone were ridiculous. I felt like I was reading a board book, there were so few words on the screen at a time.
So bring on the paper books. I will continue to fill my library with them. You can have the ebooks. The funny thing is that it seems like a lot of people agree with me to some degree. Sales for ebooks have declined in the past two years. Not enough to destroy the industry, but there is a swing back to real books and I, for one, am thrilled by that.