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?