So in the last years i’ve usually mainly been reading books on my e-reader, and it’s true that it’s quite convenient (and potentially cheaper too), i won’t deny that.
But recently, as i was travelling, on a whim i decided to buy some physical books again, and man, there’s just something about holding an actual real book in your hand that is just irreplaceable.
It’s such a satisfying feeling just to hold and open one, and such a wonderful reading experience to turn real pages. Electronic devices just feel so cold and sterile where physical books feel warm and homey. Even the woody smell… I had almost forgotten how in love i am with paper books.
Not if you have a contamination-phobia regarding them. Makes it so distracting that I cannot focus sometimes, or even pick up the book(s) at all. So, every few months, I “get the will” to pry one open. It is much better than e-readers, just more difficult to not be bothered by an accidental smudge, dirt, or even the folding of a page. Fucking simple discoloration of a spot on a single page gets to me.
Hard to beat free epubs but if I’ve got some spare cash and can find a book used for under $10 then I’ll order it.
Free epubs are great.
The only problem is that physical books have become more inaccesible as time has passed because of the price. Garbage like Paolo Coelho or Yuval Hariri is the only exception because every store seems to have hundreds of copies of these. Second hand book stores and libraries are saviours in this regard but they are becoming less and less common because our ruling class wish everyone was as illiterate as them.
But physical books truly are a better experience than ereaders.
In Poland price is becoming huge problem, for some reason everything now had to be in the luxurious hardcover side printed editions and prices of even paperbacks are not much lower. Ebooks are literally 10% cheaper than physical books. Average pulp book cost the same as medium sized lux album had 15 years ago.
Second hand bookstores and flea markets can be great places to find books for cheap, sometimes even quite rare old editions. I always browse them when i come by one, you never know what you might find.
The second hand bookstore back home was a treasure chest and extremely affordable. Then the guy’s nephew took over, prices went up, selection went down.
I have a list of books I plan on buying physically, even if I have them in my digital library already. The most important criteria I use is whether I’d want to re-read them, whether I’d want friends and family read them, and whether I think I’d want my future kids to read them. There is just something about having a lot of books around when growing up, I always looked up at my parents bookshelves and pondered at the different covers, titles and authors. Some books I was “allowed” to read, some I was too young or inexperienced for, and it was always exciting after one or two years to finally hear “You are probably ready for this one now”, and so forth, until I started buying my own books.
I don’t think my love for reading would be what it is if my parents instead let me browse their digital repository of e-books on the laptop.
At the same time, there are a lot of books that I know I’m not gonna read again, like crime thrillers and such. A lot of fiction in general is entertaining when you read it but doesn’t necessarily hold the same long term value imo. There are many non-fiction books that I come back to time and time again, this is rarely true for the works of fiction I do keep. Purely subjective of course, but lets just say there is more Lenin than Tom Clancy in my bookshelves.
Yes, growing up with books makes a big difference.
That’s really cool! I’ve always preferred e-books, since they were cost-efficent and I could get access them more easily
The convenience is definitely real.
I originally switched to reading on device because as I aged and overuse of my hands made the weight of the device easier to manage, plus there were free books I couldn’t otherwise access. But devices are getting heavier, again (no idea why), so that books become more attractive, if only I could get them. But I’ve always preferred the look, feel, and smell of physical books, and the ease of flipping back and forth to reread relevant passages as I recalled or forgot them.
i literally cannot read e books. to me the whole point of book is getting off the phone.
Reading on the phone is absolutely no-no, i mostly read physical books, but when i read ebook i use tablet
I don’t like reading on my phone either. What i appreciate about e-readers is that their screens don’t have to be backlit, which makes reading on them for long periods of time easier on the eyes.
also nothing beats the smell of new book and if youre courageous you can even bite the corners as a little mid reading snack
Real “consumer of literature” hours
I mostly view it as a back up just incase of a EMP. Oh buddy in the blink of a eye… we are getting close to that point.
