So e.book or 'real' book, - which do you prefer?

[Sena]

I prefer ebook Just have it all on my tablet easy to read in the night.

[gooseberry]

Ebooks for me! For the convenience, the space, the mobility, etc etc. One other thing I love about kindle is you can download free samples of books before you buy them, read them at your leisure whenever you want and then decide whether you want to go ahead and buy.

Another thing I like is that you can put your own documents on an ereader too. I write novels so being able to do this really helps me to get into "reading mode" when I look them over (as opposed to being in "editor mode" when looking at a word doc on the PC screen.)

[Laurie]

Audiobooks.

Can't read an ebook or a printed one on long drives.

Laurie

[AnneK]

Audiobooks.

Can't read an ebook or a printed one on long drives.

Laurie

Maybe you should let someone else drive.   

[AnneK]

I read both, depending on what's available.  At the moment, I'm reading a real book, from the library, which they don't have as an ebook.

[AnonyMs]

I don't think I've read fiction on paper for years now. Its a lot cheaper and more convenient just buying them on US Amazon, especially since US prices are so much cheaper than Australian. No postage either.

[Deb Roz]

I like paper books, however, I'm pretty picky.  They need to be just the right size and shape for me to comfortably hold in one hand.  If they're too big or heavy, then I get annoyed.  I prefer paperbacks for this reason, hardcovers are almost always too bulky. 

I don't mind ebooks, I'll even read a book on my phone (thankful my eyes are still good).  But ebooks are not my first or even second choice.  I just love the feel of holding a book in my hands, of the smell, and the feeling of turning the pages. 

Because I like to turn the pages, I prefer e-readers that have a 'swipe to turn' page function, rather than a scroll up/down function.

[Julia1996]

Ebooks for sure. Then after I'm done reading it I don't have a bunch of dumb books laying around. My dad is totally into reading and he's got a couple of book cases full of books. I told him he needs to like throw them out or put them in the goodwill but he says no, that he likes them and might want to read them again.  Who would read a book again after you read it once?  I told him he can keep books he's read on a tablet in case he wanted to read them again without having a bunch of dirty, dusty books hanging around but he likes to read actual books. Whatever. To everyone their own I guess.
Julia

[Dee Marshall]

I prefer real books but the way I buy them it's not practical. I started using a book reader when we owned a 2400 square foot house and constantly ran out of space.

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[Deb Roz]

Hahah @Julia1996 , I have to say that your response amuses me because it's so different from my own feelings on the subject

I feel for your dad - I love my old books!  And I have read some of them more than once, including Lord of the Rings about 5 times.  I love the way bookshelves look when they're full of books - I think of them as decorations    I've always sort of fetishized the old library look, and one day I would love to have a room that is wall to wall bookshelves.

That being said, I've also moved a bunch of times in my life, and I'm fond of saying that 'a box of books is basically a box of bricks' when you have to carry it around.     ebooks sure to cut down the clutter, and that's also good when going on vacation.  I used to drag like 3 books every time I'd go on vacation    Now it's just 1 tablet. 

[SophiaBleu]

Real books for me, please! I have an e-reader with a lot of books on it just gathering dust somewhere. I don't ever use it. Nothing like the sensation of holding a brand new book, or smelling an old one!

[Laurie]

Maybe you should let someone else drive.   

Every time I look over the passenger seat is empty. If I was reading an ebook or printed book I would. I also use only one earbud so I can hear what is going on around me. I find myself rewinding  a lot because I am paying more attention to the road than the story. It is not any more distracting than listening to the radio.

Laurie

[Cailan Jerika]

I prefer e-books for general reading, but I still collect my favorite series in hardcover. It was a difficult transition, though. In the end, it came down to the number of bookshelves we had available. I discovered I like ebooks better on my Kindle, and eventually purged my .dtf (dead tree format) collection, and donated about 20 boxes of books. Now our books actually fit on the shelves, LOL. I still have a decent size paperback collection too, of stuff that wasn't offered in hardcover. Includes lots of first editions.

[eyesk8rboi]

NO BOOK....Because I'm uncultured swine....

But in all seriousness....The convenience of an ebook is nice, but I'd have to say there is nothing quite like holding the book in your hand and turning the page....not to mention the smell of a good book is something an electronic cannot provide...

I don't read like I did when I was younger, no where close to it, but when I do I can swing either way. (That's what she said.)

[gooseberry]

Ebooks for sure. Then after I'm done reading it I don't have a bunch of dumb books laying around. My dad is totally into reading and he's got a couple of book cases full of books. I told him he needs to like throw them out or put them in the goodwill but he says no, that he likes them and might want to read them again.  Who would read a book again after you read it once?  I told him he can keep books he's read on a tablet in case he wanted to read them again without having a bunch of dirty, dusty books hanging around but he likes to read actual books. Whatever. To everyone their own I guess.
Julia

My feelings exactly! My stepmother used to have tons of old books and our house was filled with over-full bookshelves... most of them had two layers/rows of books on every single shelf and then more stuffed on top! Most of them just sat there collecting dust!

If I really love a book I'll read it twice, usually after a few years have passed though, so by the time I re-read it I've forgotten most of the details. I read Wuthering Heights every 5 years or so. But the vast majority I'd only read once.

I don't understand when people say they like the smell/feel of books, either. Not saying that to be rude, I know a lot of people feel this way, I just don't get it myself! I'm more worried about damaging them, when I was a kid I used to try my hardest not to bend the spine. Another thing I don't like about paper books is when you try to read them while lying on your side, it's fine when you're lying on your right, reading the left hand page, but you have to hold it awkwardly sorta propped up on the side of the bed/sofa to see the right hand page (and vice versa if lying on your left.) With an ereader it makes no difference. I put mine in a wallet-case-thing so I can hold it like a book, but I always look at the same 'page'.

[Cailan Jerika]

Ebooks for sure. Then after I'm done reading it I don't have a bunch of dumb books laying around. My dad is totally into reading and he's got a couple of book cases full of books. I told him he needs to like throw them out or put them in the goodwill but he says no, that he likes them and might want to read them again.  Who would read a book again after you read it once?  I told him he can keep books he's read on a tablet in case he wanted to read them again without having a bunch of dirty, dusty books hanging around but he likes to read actual books. Whatever. To everyone their own I guess.
Julia

I have books that I've read three or four times, and a few books I've read a dozen or more times, and I get something new out of them each time. Or the comfort of the familiarity of an old friend. Often on a long book series, if it's been a few years since the last book, I'll go back to the beginning and start over, re-reading the whole series leading up to the release date of the new book.

Book series I've read more than twice:

Dragonriders of Pern, Anne McCaffrey (some books I've read more than 20 times)
Heralds of Valdemar, Mercedes Lackey (some books I've read more than 20 times)
Talent series, Anne McCaffrey, (5-6 times)
Brainship series, Anne McCaffrey (8-10 times)
Joust series, Mercedes Lackey (3-4 times)
Outlander, Diana Gabaldon (3-4 times)
Jack Ryan series, Tom Clancy (2-3 times each for most books, Hunt For Red October 6 times at least)
Earth's Children series, Jean M Auel (the first four books I've read about 6 times each, the last two sucked and I barely finished each once)

Then there's a few other books I've re-read every few years as the urge hits, especially some old sci-fi stuff I picked up in the 1980s that disappeared and are out of print now.

Keep in mind this is over nearly 40 years of reading. I probably read 200 books in a year, less than 1/6 are re-reads. I've been known to read four short books in a day (cheap romance novels) on lazy stay home days.

[gooseberry]

Cailan Jade, your reading list looks like mine from a few years ago! Funnily enough, I loved Lackey when I first read her stuff but I re-read some of her books recently and decided I don't like her anymore. :c

[Kylo]

Real books.

I don't enjoy staring at screen at the best of times, so kindles never took off with me. If something went wrong with the electric or charger I'd have no book. I like having a place filled with real books.

The only upside of kindle for me is the way it saves space. I do have a lot of books.

[ghoulified g]

I prefer printed books, I like to hold them in my hands and turn the pages and smell the paper. I also love looking at filled shelves in general, whether they have books or records or something else... Even if I only read them once and never touch them again I love my bookshelf and I don't want to get rid of anything on it. That's not to say I don't like the kindle I got from my dad a few years ago, I thought that was pretty cool. It's one of the ones that doesn't have a backlit screen, so you still need a light to read it but it's not gonna mess up your melatonin as much as a phone screen. I'll probably dig it out next time I'm at dad's... For now, I've got The Shining by Stephen King and The Power by Naomi Alderman from my school's library hehe

[extraaction]

real books.  I hate charging devices and watching battery life dwindle