Oh people who are all nobby about books

[LordPalmerston]

"Oh I love a real book". "I can see how much ice got left". Oh fgs ebooks are way better one handed reading. Easy storage. Easy to buy and HUGE FONT option for when you've forgotten your glasses or are drunk

Why do people go into mini orgasm about paper ?

I'm converted to my Kindle now. I love that I can carry hundreds of books around with me and buy a new one instantly with the click of a button.

But you can't beat a real book!

I like books... because I can get them free from the library. My kindle habit was just getting too expensive. I do still use the kindle for the odd book but most of the time it's library books for me now. Hopefully if more people use the libraries they'll stay open, too.

I get books from charity shops most of the time, friends buy me books too which is nice.

I was recently given The Carrier by Sophie Hannah. Don't read it, it's shite.

Thanks trills.

And yes - it is like that.

I do like the ease of downloading subsequent books in a series or by the same author.

But I don't always do that. I am waiting, very impatiently, to read Dust by Hugh Howey. I could have had it on my Kindle weeks ago. I could buy it in hardback now. But I have the first two in paperback and I'm waiting to buy the third one the same way. I have to wait until February next year but that's okay because those books are keepers. I can wait.

I do the same with any book by my favourite authors. Stephen King is a hardback purchase, most other favourites are paperback purchases, books or authors I'm not sure about or don't care about keeping have to wait until they are cheap enough on Kindle.

And BOO is right. The Carrier by Sophie Hannah is shite.

I love real books and only got a kindle because they saved me carrying unwieldy and heavy course books. But having got one (and not working near a big bookshop for yonks) I'm going to use it. Why would I carry more in my bag than I have to?

I do feel guilty though.

Many library services do have ebooks to download you know? (although you will probably have trouble getting them to work on a kindle- nook, kobo and tablets are fine)

I have a nook, but would never pay for a book on it; it is brilliant for reading in bed though and for downloading enormous OU pdfs.

Like this FrauMoose? You must have the patience of a saint

Reading is the thing surely, however it is done? Book person here but feel a Kindle coming on.

Scarer I've just bout Wool for the kindle, evil electronic instantness.

Sounds right up my street though. Is it really as good as Amazon says it is?

I don't have a tv! sometimes wish I did not sure if that's knobby or cheap. I do watch stuff on youtube or iplayer.

I just love books so I'm happy to read in paper or on device. I do prefer to have some books in paper but for book club I just download because it's handier - bit like PP - if I really want a book I know I will read & read again I prefer to have a paper copy.

Mainly because mumsnet/cheezeburger/fb online time hurts my eyes after awhile so I like to be able to switch. I do love the smell of really old books so that might be a factor too perv

There are loads of classics available for free on Kindle, so you don't have to pay a fortune for things.

Also, they're great for those with visual impairment. I haven't worked in libraries for a couple of decades now, but I wonder if eReaders have affected large print publishers.

For the sorts of books you get as paperbacks, eReaders are fine. For books like art exhibition catalogues, I want the actual paper version (no idea if any have been made available for eReaders, anyway.)

And eReaders are never going to replace the 17th century book I have which was owned by an ancestor, or the poetry book I have which my grandmother illustrated with her own watercolours, or the copies I have which have been signed by the author, or the ones which have sentimental value because of who gave them to me, or which are falling apart because I have read and reread them so much.

Also, I have a tendency to go on holiday to places where there may be no electricity, in which case a book tends to be far better value, as I don't have to worry about recharging things. I read Tom Jones by candlelight in the middle of a jungle - a Kindle wouldn't have been any use to me there, even if they had existed then.

There's room for both in this world.

OP, I think people who like books, like them for the reasons you've given. Nothing "nobby" about it all; no-one's making you read them.

Its not done to be passionate and intellectual in the UK. Very suspicious. Dim as dishwater wins the day.

Best thing about ebooks is that all the stunningly great writers of the past are free or pennies on kindle. I wonder what they would have thought if someone had told them "One day, Dickens/Dostoyevsky/Austen/Fitzgerald, you will be loss leaders for sales of Fifty Shades of Grey."

Shrug. I love books. I love the whole tactile experience of reading a book (how interesting and bizarre that we now have the retronym "paper book"), the physical weight of the book in my hands, the feel of the paper, the easy ability to flip back a few chapters to check a detail or reread a particularly striking paragraph. I can see the appeal of a Kindle for travel, etc. I know some people love them. But I don't want a Kindle. So sue me.

I don't actually buy books very often, with the exception of books necessary for my work. The books I hold onto tend to be the ones I especially love and expect to reread. But I use my wonderful local library constantly, as well as the university library. A Kindle wouldn't save me any money.

I think so BOO, although I bought it without having read anything about it so I had no high expectations of it before I started it.

I'd been ignoring it because of the title and the "next hunger games" sticker but once I actually looked at it I got involved very quickly and really needed to know what happened next.

I think they are excellent reads in whatever format, but I want the physical books as I'm hoping DS will take an interest in them one day, and I think that will be more likely if he can see the actual book rather than the back of my Kindle case while I'm reading it.

Ebearhug You must go on very long holidays if you have to recharge a kindle. It lasts for ages. I've used in a power cut on holidays with a clip on light.

Do you think people will start writing novels differently now that they are published in such a highly searchable format? It will certainly make a difference in mystery/thriller type stories if readers can easily check back for clues in the light of subsequent chapters, but I wonder what other implications it might have.

The whole book is so much more at the reader's fingertips that perhaps the effects of each page will have to be engineered with a view to a closer intimacy with every other page.

Have we touched on audio books? They were a staple when my DS was small (I'll read you a book then you can listen to another as many times as you like )

I ended up quite liking to lie at the bottom of the bed listening too and sneaking the tape player into my room if he fell asleep before the end

I love my books, have hundreds of them all over the house,

But I also love my Kindle, it's not an either or choice.

Nothing beats finding a good book in a charity/second hand shop though

Having loads of books isn't a sign of intelligence.

Does anyone have to? I went to a charity book fair & found the best book ever for me - The History & Social Influence of the Potato - about 600 pages & possibly never taken out of the library (selling it at that point) before

Having to ingest some sort of book asbestos due to age of course would not appeal but just down to age? Nope. Love the fustiness

Having loads of books isn't a sign of intelligence - I agree.

Not so sure about the opposite statement .

Yy to 'there is room for both' - it's not an either/or decision, folks.