Books vs. E-readers

12 years ago

There is something to be said for how a well organized shelf of hardbacks look in a home, especially when they are meaningful titles or subject matter. On the other hand, if you are an even moderate reader, you can quickly accumulate more books than are reasonable to store.

Balancing those two things, do you prefer Books or E-readers like Kindle or iPad, so you can enjoy the books, without the storage worry?

VOTE and comment to share your experience! (Photos encouraged)

Books Books Books

E-Reader all the way

Other - Tell us below!

Featured Answer

jpp221

12 years ago

I, too had a strong bias in favour of traditional books. Like many, my fears were quickly dispelled after reading my first ebook.

What I found:

- I read a LOT more. My "book" is always with me wherever I am. No planning, no weight.

- books are less expensive, usually.

- I can get an old book very easily, whereas paper books go in and out of print. I am presently reading a history of venice penned almost 100 years ago by a UCLA prof. Couldn't find that in any bookstore.

- (and this is the biggie): the literature is divorced from the medium. I was shocked to find the beauty of words standing on their own. Divorced from pretty binding, pretty paper or anything else, good literature takes on an independent life. The ideas and words have their own, almost surreal life, detached from anything real and physical.

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Comments (79)

armygirl1987
12 years ago
I think that the problem for me is space. I am running out of space to save and hold the current books that I have. If it is an author that I love then it is books but I also have an e-reader for travel and now I can use it for college.
Emily Hurley thanked armygirl1987
Anne
12 years ago
last modified: 12 years ago
For me: Books.
Books don't need recharging, you can read them from the moment you take your seat on an aircraft, you can swap them, and there's something about the feel of a book in the hands.
I rarely, if ever read the same book twice, and don't mind waiting to read new books (unless it's Dan Brown; then I'm at the bookstore as soon as the book is published!)
I tend to buy books from the local charity store (usually D.A.V. since I'm a military mom,) and almost always return them there for re-sale. (I'm a regular at the store, and my buy/read/return habit is becoming well known to the staff, who now know they don't even need to replace the price tag!)
Hubz loves his eBook thingy!
Emily Hurley thanked Anne
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anne dee
12 years ago
books for reading at home
e readers for travel
Emily Hurley thanked anne dee
prairiegourmet
12 years ago
Both. My Kindle is great for waiting rooms and traveling. I seem to read faster with the ebook (perhaps because I can adjust the print size when tired). And yet, we'll have a room totally devoted to books in the new hone we're constructing.
Emily Hurley thanked prairiegourmet
mousemaker
12 years ago
condomary, I read your name as "coronary" !!! :)
rawketgrl, we are going to build our own little free library!!! how fun that you posted one!!
Emily Hurley thanked mousemaker
mousemaker
12 years ago
i would like to have an ereader along with my thousands of books :)
Emily Hurley thanked mousemaker
andymeg
12 years ago
Love them both. I have many books from the days before e-readers, on shelves in practically every room in my house, but I'm running out of room so most of what I buy these days is electronic. But not everything.
Emily Hurley thanked andymeg
condomary
12 years ago
LOL @mousemaker
maggiemaxwell
12 years ago
Travel nonstop for business and usually have 3 or 4 books going at a time. Love my e-reader since I don't have to lug around the weight of books and can access my public library collection after hours.
Emily Hurley thanked maggiemaxwell
User
12 years ago
Nothing compares to curling up with a great book, hearing the pitter-patter of the rain on the window on a rainy day. (That's exactly what happened today, along with a tea!)
Emily Hurley thanked User
User
12 years ago
My last comment was sent to wrong place by houzz
User
12 years ago
So was that one.
sheriss
12 years ago
I love the way the books look in the pictures but I don't have shelves like that. I vote e-reader because of space.

Check out Book Bub. This site offers free and cheap books every day. they are e-mailed to you.
Emily Hurley thanked sheriss
Sigrid
12 years ago
I've inherited some wonderful leather-bound, gold-embossed classics from my great-grandfather. He had a fabulous collection (not that I ever saw it, he died in 1932) but by the time my grandmother died most of it was infested with silverfish and thrown out. So much for the eternal properties of paper.

I love my kindle. I remember the days of lugging ten tons of books in my carry-on and, if the flight was delayed, finishing them all long before I got to my lay-over. Plus, paper books require me to either keep buying more and more bookshelves or to cull. With the Kindle, I can hoard. Sure, technology is buggy and can leave you with obsolete files, but at least you don't get live, slithering ick, like with silverfish.
Emily Hurley thanked Sigrid
allofitsjunk
12 years ago
Best of both worlds - books at home and Kindle while traveling.
Emily Hurley thanked allofitsjunk
yoboseiyo
12 years ago
booksbooksbooksbooksbooks.

if given the choice, i will always choose a real book. because books.
Emily Hurley thanked yoboseiyo
PRO
Studio M Interior Design
12 years ago
Hard poll question, but I'd have to go with e-reader for practicality. But design can be all about aesthetics, so I'd go for actual books if you want a curated library-esque look in your home.
Emily Hurley thanked Studio M Interior Design
mousemaker
12 years ago
the other day in the NYT there was an article about decorating....the young woman had used wallpaper from the Biblioteque National de France..so her wall were covered with books!!!
Emily Hurley thanked mousemaker
PRO
Design With Distinction, LLC
12 years ago
I've been reading e-books a lot recently but I so love a real book. There is something magical about turning the pages, using a highlighter, making notes on the pages. It's a bit like creating a diary within the book. And turning that last page oh how I love that. I just finished reading a real book - Johnathon Livingston Seagull. Wouldn't have been the same with an e-book.
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mommytron
12 years ago
last modified: 12 years ago
I say both. I keep unabridged classics and old history books in my library. It will be so easy to erase or change actual history. That is what is really concerning me, especially seeing what my kids read in school, the little subtle changes to steer a mind.
Emily Hurley thanked mommytron
mousemaker
12 years ago
i totally agree. in fact, there are places in the world where textbooks are written specifically for that society, leaving out or changing facts depending on their viewpoint. The same thing holds true for mapmaking. just leave out countries you don't like :) oh, okay.
Emily Hurley thanked mousemaker
hparks74
12 years ago
It scares me to think that in our future libraries would become non-existent. Books like a beautiful wallpaper add a certain decor to a space.
Emily Hurley thanked hparks74
mousemaker
12 years ago
yes they are :) and they're good insulation if you have bookshelves on exterior walls :)
KD
12 years ago
The thing about older books is also that they're not just the words on the page - they can be a connection to other people. Like I commented about reading books that my father and his siblings had read as kids - that made it a little more special to me, because they'd read that exact book. Or when it's something that a historical figure that you really respect owned/read. It helps, to my mind, to strengthen the ties that remind you that those people in the past were real people - your parents really were kids, that famous figure did like to settle down by a fire to read, etc.
Emily Hurley thanked KD
mousemaker
12 years ago
I agree. note to self: this is your kinda thread.
I have my mother's Jane Austen...it falls open to her favorite passages :) "oh, Mr. Darcy!!"
User
12 years ago
I think because I am in front of a computer so much at work, I have never had the desire to even try an e-reader even though I know it's not the same. I think the idea of anything electronic is a turn off when I'm not working. I am also one who loves the look of books displayed, floor to ceiling bookshelves is my kind of thing.
mousemaker
12 years ago
I was just at our library this morning. I think I live there. it's a beautiful building and I always enjoy being inside. I came out with another pile of gardening books. ( I can't give up on summer--I know it's coming soon! lol) But there really is no replacement for a giant book of roses, or Italian gardens :) or any kind of art for that matter..it's an experience looking at the big glossy photos :)
mauhead
12 years ago
Both! There is plenty of room for both formats in your life! Travelling with an e-reader is much easier that a pile of books!
Rio Brewster
12 years ago
last modified: 12 years ago
I never thought I would give up paper books. I do love the sensory experience, but as I get older and my eyesight isn't as good I found myself not reading as much. I got an iPad for a cruise and it was great to not have to lug a large stockpile of books. But reading for long periods hurt my eyes. So I got a Kindle Paperwhite. I love it! My eyes don't get tired and I can carry a whole series of doorstop-size books (Hello Diana Gabaldon! Where's the next one?) in my purse.

AND I still have a library of paper books of all shapes and sizes bursting from the shelves. I do miss pictures and maps especially.
charleee
12 years ago
I prefer the e-reader but it doesn't really matter what you read, as long as you read!
PRO
John James O'Brien | Inspired Living, by design
12 years ago
I use both - and love books in an interior (despite that an early instructor insisted that they had no place in public view)
caterfran
12 years ago
Books.
earnedmygray
12 years ago
I think it depends on the subject matter. I tend to prefer novels on ebooks because I can read them while traveling, waiting for appointments, etc. I prefer my astronomy and nature books to be hard copies. I collect cookbooks, and since those are generally regional, out of date, or small press publications, there isn't a choice.
Coco Hall
12 years ago
I love my huge book collection! Unless it's time to move, then I hate it. I still have several boxes of books I haven't unpacked and I moved into my current house a year and a half ago. But I just love the look of a bookshelves loaded with books. I think it adds a bit of class to a room.
rosecafe
12 years ago
Interesting question Emily, and even more interesting results on the poll. Just finished my first book, about to publish which I'd planned to publish e Book only, but I'm advised to go both e book and printed book. Your poll shows the popularity of the physical book still out does the electronic version. However, I think I'll take the advice of the experts and place an each-way bet. The internets' reach into the market is just too powerful to ignore.
Emily Hurley thanked rosecafe
debbies3dogs
12 years ago
Nothing like holding a great leather bond book in your hands and looking at your library and the visual collection that you have accumulated over the many years BUT, environmentally, e-readers are probably the best way to go. I love buying old books and after reading them, using them for decorating purposes but I download most of mine on my e-reader now.
mousemaker
12 years ago
one advantage of e-readers is that people won't be able to cut pictures of out them as they have done to quite a few library books I have checked out. It's usually the garden books..
printesa
12 years ago
@mousemaker, I didn't think people would do that. I thought the worst thing was underlined text. I don't know why anyone would do that to a book. We used to lightly underline the school books for studying reasons, but it was easy to erase it afterwards. For me, books and flowers are the best gifts one can give.
mousemaker
12 years ago
I agree--books and flowers :) and I would add, something handknitted or jammed :)
User
12 years ago
Both, depends on circumstances. I prefer e-readers for traveling, vacations, the beach, and for reading novels. I also like the convenience of immediate possession of an e-reader, no travel or wait involved.

I prefer paper made books for reference and other nonfiction books which I usually flip back and forth, bookmark, and re-read things. I also like having the option of sharing or donating a book, which I can do with the paper ones, not so easy with the e-reader.
User
12 years ago
The written word has gone through many media paradigm shifts- stone tablets, papyrus, scrolls, scribes etc. then came the printing press.

Not only the storage, cost and environmental issues are at stake but the readability- font sizes, brightness, cross referencing etc.

Books, magazines, hard copy are passing. But what comforting and nurturing memories!
mcvic3
12 years ago
Book lover !
printesa
12 years ago
Books will be here for a long time. The e-readers have been around for a few years now and we thought that the sales of the printed books will drop a lot..it looks like it didn't. I look at the teens and younger kids to see if they prefer the e-readers,,,not really,,they still want the printed books. Also, we do remember more and read easier a printed material than a digital one.
laurelnh
12 years ago
Both! And lots of them. I won't abandon print books but ebooks mean I can read anywhere anytime and not bother others with light for example. There are so many classics available free from ebook sources. I have iBooks, Kindle and Kobo all on my iPad and use them all. I do read all the time. Every day. Ebooks allow me to download new publications and review them. But there is still nothing like a beloved hardcover. Read and reread. My home without bookshelves would not be me. Now what I buy is what I know I want to reread and keep.
Caroline Moses
12 years ago
Books! I recently moved into a new house. I didn't feel like it was my house until my new built-in bookshelves were built and my books were on the shelves. ahhhhh home!
User
12 years ago
Books are so much more satisfying to throw on the front lawn when you kick him out with his stuff. And they're not broken when you take him back.
Suzanne
12 years ago
Both! I only keep hardbacks of books that I adore and will read over and over. The rest are art/photography books.
I wouldn't go out of the house without my iPad mini for reading on the go.
lindanorby
12 years ago
Both. Books for the ones you love and will actually use.
PRO
SoCal Contractor
12 years ago
Books are a great reference. I personally prefer not to rely on technology, it can go out at any time. Staring at a screen for too long will hurt my already poor eyes. Books are classic and tell a history that can never be mimicked through an electronic reader. Just my opinion.
PRO
User
12 years ago
Books...for the following reasons:

How would you ever read if the power goes out for four days and you can't charge your E-book?
If you ever need a booster seat or doorstop....image what would happen by sitting on an E-book.(a little humor here)
There is a storage problem with books...except if you have a library right beside your house(like I do)
I like the feel turning pages and seeing my progress through a book. I hear it's like a depth perception problem remembering where you were in an E-book.

Books vs. E-readers

Comments (79)

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