Which is better, ebooks, or real books?
This is like the mayo or Miracle Whip argument. People have VERY strong opinions. Today the New York Time reported that ebook sales have sharply declined this year, while bookstores are seeing a resurgence in sales.
I have always been an avid reader, and resisted an e-reader for many years, but succumbed to Amazon’s daily selection of free books.
About a year ago I got on a major minimalist/decluttering kick, and my bookshelf was not immune to the purging. I couldn’t justify keeping stocks of books that I may never re-read, so I started giving them to people, and donating them. I kept my favorites, and the ones that had sentimental value. A month later we had a fire, and all of my books were drenched by the sprinkler system. The restoration company threw them all away because of the mold risk. The only books I had left were my ebooks.
All of my childhood books, gone. All of my favorites with their bent pages and worn covers, in the garbage. The experience of reading and owning books became clearer to me. I immediately went the the bookstore and bought some books. Real books. When I was offered books for review, I started checking the paperback option instead of the instant gratification of an ebook.
Now, I read ebooks on my iPad. I have been eyeballing a Kindle Paperwhite because I think I would enjoy reading a lot more on that than my bulky iPad with the screen glare. I even find myself reading on my laptop sometimes, because its just about as convenient as an iPad. I do prefer the iPad at night vs. a book with a light. It’s a never ending battle to turn the page and keep the light attached.
Life is so busy I find it hard to carve out time to read for anything other than work lately, but I working my way through 3 books right now. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans, and Anything by Jennie Allen. The first two are real books, and the last is an ebook.
Which do you prefer, ebooks or real books?
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