Since Valentine's Day is around the corner, I've decided to talk about love. Of books and reading.
There is a lot of debate over paper books and e-books. Whether you like flipping through the pages in front of a fire or basking in the glow of your Kindle Fire, readers like to read, so what's up with the format hate/love?
To be honest, I love reading on my Kindle Fire. It's convenient. I can hold thousands of books within my fingertips. I can get a book instantly. And it's much easier to eat a meal and keep reading on my Fire.
Paper books are nice too. You can flip through pages and skip to the end much easier. You can make these cute book hearts (like the picture above). The cover art can be very pleasing to see on bookshelves. I get that.
I don't get the book smellers out there, though. Think of the germs, people! After you've been a librarian, the only way you want to touch a book is after it's been disinfected. Seriously. Trust me on this one. Do you know what cats like to do to books? Sit on them. You're breathing in cat butt. And don't get me started on little kids. I just wanted to read The Spiderwick Chronicles and I got the stomach flu from those books. So, yeah, think before you press your face against a book.
That aside, I do love books because I love reading. That's what I really love. I love sitting there and falling in love with a story and characters. I want to be swept away to a different world.
Isn't that what is really important? No matter how you read a story, it's the story you remember, not the format.
That's what I love.
18 comments:
I'm not a book sniffer either!
LOL....I was like love??? Then, books and reading... you got me!
Cat butt- that's funny. That's why I won't let my dogs on the couch. I lay my face on the couch.
Great arguments for ebooks!
I confess I'm a great fan of proper books and would hate to see them go.
Yes the story is important, but with proper books at least they don't require battery or electric power to use ;O)
Blah! I will never sniff a book again! I read both paper and ebooks and I must say it's more convenient to pack ebooks on a trip than paperbacks.
*giggles* Cat butt. NICE. I dont' sniff library books, but I like being in a room of OLD books--that smell works for me. I have a bunch from my grandpa that I know have been more shelved than out over their lives... those are good for sniffing.
I prefer the aesthetics of a book book, but that convenience of the Kindle is darned handy.
I love paper books, but it doesn't stop me wanting a kindle :-)
I prefer ebooks, but I don't mind paper at all. The ebook allows me to multi-task which is the only way I'm getting through Haruki Murakami's opus. I'm halfway done now. If I had to sit and just read it without working out on the treadmill...I probably would have given up on it. The first three hundred pages are slow as hell.
I love my Kobo ereader. It's so much easier to carry with me, especially when I'm reading a really large book, or when I'm almost done one book and want to bring the next in the series with me.
*LOL* Cat butt! Hehehe! I do love the smell of books. I don't stick my nose in them, but they do have a certain smell I find comforting... as long as they're not smoky or cat butty! I'm still trying to get use to my Nook. Keith likes to read on it far more than me at the moment. I just can't have the Nook out when Brandon is around, but he doesn't pay me any mind when I'm reading a paper book.
Come on now good people, a little cat butt now and then is good for you, isn't it? ; )
I don't get the book smeller thing either. They smell like - well, they just smell. I am still relatively new to ebooks, but since my library system offers them now, I am becoming quite the fan. (FREE = GOOD!) And I agree with previous commenters that ebooks are convenient. I do however carry at least one paperback with me at all times in my backpack/briefcase when I travel, because you can't use the ereaders during taxi, takeoff and landing. I like to have something to occupy me (especially during delayed take-offs and such). As a rule, I always carry my ratty copy of SK's On Writing for just those situations.
Agreed. I think some titles I prefer in actual book form (especially the ones I read in bed and fall asleep on...I would have a heart attack if I woke up and realized I'd rolled over on a piece of technology)
But as a writer, I can totally appreciate both mediums. You're right - at the end of the day readers want to read, and as I pay more attention to e-titles I'm realizing that there's a lot of daring, cool ideas that I haven't been exposed to just by hitting the new title shelves at the library
...and I laughed out loud at the book smelling bit - after getting one too many colds from library books I totally wipe them down as soon as I get them home. I felt /so/ bad returning a copy of Neverwhere after I'd unfortunately been quarantined with H1N1 a few years ago. I'd wiped it off, of course, but I even tried to get the librarian to just sell it to me because I was terrified of giving someone my germs! They wouldn't do it, though :(
I don't have a preference for reading books. You're right about what matters... The reading. I love the experience of traveling across time and space and living a different life all from the comfort of my couch or my bed or the car as I sit and wait to pick my daughter up from school. In his A Song of Ice and Fire series, George R.R. Martin wrote: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies," said Jojen. "The man who never reads lives only one.”
My wife has a Kindle Fire (and loves it), but I'm an old fashion book-in-hand reader. Every itch has its scratch! :)
Oh. Blech. I often sniff the books I take out of the library, but I'm going to think about twice about it now.
And I agree. It's the story that matters more. :)
It truly is all about the story. I'm a fan of ebooks and print books. Can't get enough of either.
I'm with you I like reading both versions! It depends on the situation and the mood I'm in.
Letting you know I have joined the fantasy team for the campaign! Nice to meet you.
I must admit; I'm a total book sniffer! But I don't think I'd ever sniff a library book. Brand new books smell good enough. And I have a cat, so cat bum doesn't really bother me that much either!
Visiting from the Platform-Building Campaign
HAHAHAHAHAAAA! I can't get past the "you're breathing in cat butt" line!
Don't worry, the only books I 'sniff' (not intentionally really) are the ones I own myself. My library isn't great on stocking the books I actually want to read, so I hardly ever go there.
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