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Friday, October 12, 2012

E-Book or Print? That is the question!

Photo credit: Pocket-lint


I have been a long time fan of print books.  There is nothing like walking into a book store and seeing all of the wonderful colors and the smell of printed pages.  I could lose myself for hours in a book store and not even realize that I have spent that long in there.

With the cost of living and everything else on the rise, I have noticed that books have pretty much stayed the same in cost.  It is a luxury that few partake in and they are seriously missing out.  My children will spend hours just sitting in their rooms reading and it has been a cheap and fulfilling hobby for them.  Even when we are low on funds, we make trips to the library just so we can have our hobby still for free.

I have a home library full of print books.  There is nothing like showing guests our own personal library.  For book enthusiasts, it is exciting to have our own room -- or just a shelf -- full of something we love.

Recently though, I won a Kindle Touch in a contest and decided to take the plunge into E-Books.  They are easily accessible and cheaper than a print book most of the time.  You can have hundreds of books stored on the e-reader or even a computer hard drive without the clutter of print books. Some book bloggers even prefer having e-copies of books instead of print copies.

I am slowly trying to convert my way of thinking and embracing the e-reader.  I am still not completely converted to it, but it is a slow process.  I enjoy being able to just click and buy a book and have it right then. Instant gratification is a plus.  I also like being able to access the books earlier at times as well. Sometimes the books that we are waiting for release in e-copy weeks before the print book and helps with the having-to-have-it-now mentality.  Having an e-reader also helps in the mystery of what a reader is reading at the moment.  If I wanted to read an erotica while waiting to pick my daughter up from school, the other people wouldn't have a clue. (Not that I would care)

Switching from print books to the e-reader world will be an ongoing process for me.  I am stuck in the age of old and can't seem to completely switch over.  I see pro's and con's to both worlds and I am still figuring them out.

My question to you is what type of reader are you? Do you prefer print copies or are you on the e-reader bandwagon?  Are you somewhere in the middle like me?

14 Comments:

Blogger Nikki S said...

I'm definitely in the middle. I like the fact that they are cheaper than print books. And I absolutely LOVE the immediate pleasure of having the book once I download it. I also like to keep whatever I'm reading a secret so I don't get weird looks for reading anything. But with an e-reader, I do miss out on physically turning pages and having a book in my hands. Also, I have the first edition Nook, so I don't get to see the colors in all their pretty glory if I use my Nook. Which really sucks because I am definitely one of those that judge a book by its cover.

October 12, 2012 at 11:56 AM  
Blogger Jackie said...

Most often I can't find the book I'm looking for in the store but lo and behold it is almost all the time I can find it on Amazon.com and that is the reason I like having a kindle :) but I just wish it was in color.

October 12, 2012 at 12:17 PM  
Blogger Kristin (Book Sniffers Anonymous) said...

I prefer a printed book over an ebook. With being in the military though, we move a lot and have a certain weight that we can move with. So I buy a lot of books on my e-reader and if I LOVE them, I buy them and add them to my physical bookshelf. I wish I could keep every book I've ever read in print form but it's just not feasible at this time for me.

October 12, 2012 at 12:48 PM  
Blogger Julie@My5monkeys said...

for a while I always loved to read books, but lately I love that I can save pages or lines on my kindle. I love that I can even put my review books in their own pile.
lately I have been reading books on my kindle :)

October 12, 2012 at 12:55 PM  
Blogger MoonStar said...

I prefer printed copies.. I mostly read ebook when I am travelling.. And even though I travel. I always bring paper book aswell.. Just can`t leave anywhere without a paper book :P

October 12, 2012 at 1:05 PM  
Blogger Amy J said...

@Nikki -- yes! There is just satisfaction with turning that last page and the ones before it.

@Jackie -- I too have a hard time finding the books I want in print. All we have is a Kmart in my town. I have to travel an hour away to find a B&N to search. So Amazon does make it easier to get them on release day.

@Kristin -- That is what I am trying to do now. I am buying them in ebook format when I can and just keeping print of the books I absolutely love.

@Julie -- I really need to figure out how to organize my kindle like that. Right now I am using Calibre and just switching one book at a time until I can figure it out.

@MoonStar -- That is why any purse I buy must be able to fit a book. Now though, it has to fit a print book and a ereader! LOL

October 12, 2012 at 1:19 PM  
Blogger Anne said...

Actual, they are sometimes more expensive. Some publishers don't allow them to be discounted whereas I can frequently get coupons for B&N and get paperbacks for less.

I much prefer the feel of "real" books, but I no longer allow myself to buy them since I have an ereader. They take up too much space and theoretically, ebooks will never break apart from over use (the files might become obsolete though). My library offers both options and I never look to see if the ebook option is available, but maybe I should and save myself the drive.

October 13, 2012 at 7:43 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I prefer paperback over ebooks. There is something about holding a book in your hands that gives me more enjoyment. Tore923@aol.com

October 13, 2012 at 9:39 AM  
Blogger Stephanie @ Once Upon A Chapter said...

I am an ebook girl through and through. I love the convenience that only an e-reader can provide. I can have every book in my collection at my fingertips. Trips are no longer limited to the three or four I limit myself too.

Being an ebook reader probably has something to do with my location as well. My nearest bookstore is 40 miles away. I can't just walk into a bookstore and get that rush. When it boils down to it, shopping for books online is the same as shopping for ebooks.

As far as price, I put all the books that I want on my wishlist (I have them broken down into several) and everyday I go to Amazon, click on each of my wishlists, arrange them by price from low to high and see if there are any specials. I got a $7.99 book for free that way. Just yesterday three books that I wanted (ranging form $4.99 to $6.99) were each $1.

I love my Kindle and have fully converted to being an e-reader. :) As far as I'm concerned though, being a reader period (physical or ebook) is reward in itself.

October 13, 2012 at 9:46 AM  
Blogger Ash said...

I have a Kindle, which I love, but I'm still a bigger print reader. I'm kind of weird though. I mean if I read one book on my Kindle I'll usually read several in a row and completely neglect my physical books but the second I read a physical book its like pulling teeth to get me to go back to my Kindle. I just love the feel of having a real book in my hands and getting to go place it on its shelf once I'm finished reading it, a really big probably silly deal for me. I love being able to look at all my bookshelves and see all the books I've read and even my TBR bookcase to see whats ahead of me, and to help keep me in check.

October 13, 2012 at 12:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Even though I do have various methods of reading ebooks (Kindle, iPad, laptop), I still prefer to read in paper, especially for full-length books. I'm okay with reading novellas and shorter works on the Kindle or iPad, but with a longer book, I tend to forget earlier passages as I read - maybe due to lack of cover (the way I remember whether I have read a specific book). I also read slower in e than in paper, which adds to the "what happened earlier/who are these secondary characters" problem. Plus, if I lose a mmpb, I''m only out about $8; if I lose my Kindle or iPad, it'll cost considerably more to replace.

Of course, not only are there bookstores nearby, my local library has an excellent selection of books, including Romances, scifi/fantasy, and YA - my usual choice of genres to read. Through those resources, I can buy paper or buy and borrow paper and e.

Then there's the limitations of an ebook, which I view as a "lifetime lease" instead of "own" and what will happen when the next technological breakthrough comes along? Will it be like having vinyl, cassette, CD, and mp3 for the same album? Paper never will never go out of style.

October 13, 2012 at 2:46 PM  
Blogger linett said...

I have been reading since I was 5 years old, and no I'm not saying my age but I will never give up the print books, just love the felling of that paper in my hands.

October 13, 2012 at 6:55 PM  
Blogger Martha Lawson said...

I'm in the middle also! I'm getting more into ebooks than I was, the more I read on it, the better I like it. I have the Kindle Touch and it's so easy to use. Now, if the print book and the kindle version are the same price I will purchase the print!!!But I'm running out of room for books so I might be purchasing more ebooks in the future.

October 13, 2012 at 6:58 PM  
Blogger Kathryn said...

I could never go back to paper books. After moving house many times and having to haul boxes of books, I love my kindle so much. It's also much lighter to carry in my handbag than a paper book.

I live in Australia and print books are so expensive here - around $30 for a new release so I could never buy all the books I wanted. With ebooks, I'm much more likely to buy writers I've never heard of because if it's under $5 for a book, why not take a chance.

October 21, 2012 at 12:02 AM  

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