To adore books but feel Meh! about E-readers?

[Snugglepalace]

I love books, have a real passion for them. I read a lot and for me there is no greater pleasure than settling down with a new book, cracking the spine and sniffing the lovely woody scented pages!
My Kindle just didn't have the same appeal so much so that I have sold it.
And I just love book shops, could spend an eternity in them, browsing, flicking through all kinds of genre. I know they have their place, but you just can't do this with E-readers and I just can't get the same joy with them.
Am I alone in my thinking?

[MuseumOfCurry]

Museum - your friend sounds like a pretentious snob. Kindles were never marketed as 'now you can read your shit books in public' even if people say that!

He is. He's also really good fun, but even he would admit he's pretentious.

Although having said that, there's a reason why Harry Potter books have different cover versions - some are catering to the more mature market!

He mentioned this in the same conversation.

I think actually he might be on to something, my google search turned up some relevant articles in the WSJ and Business Weekly.

[AndNoneForGretchenWieners]

Another benefit is that my nan (in her 80s, not techy at all and flatly refuses to have a mobile phone or even a cordless one! ) can now read books again because she can increase the size of the print. Even large print books are too tiny for her to see these days and she has always been an avid reader. Until we bought her a kindle she had stopped reading because it hurt her eyes, she now reads all the time. I just take her kindle home with me, download loads of books at a time from my account to her kindle on my wifi, then give it her back.

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

Although having said that, there's a reason why Harry Potter books have different cover versions - some are catering to the more mature market!

[AlcoChocs]

I read a lot more since I got my Kindle. The lighting is always just right and can navigate easily back and forth. Also no more frustration trying to get pages to lie flat so I can read them, pages falling out when I crack the spine etc.

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

Museum - your friend sounds like a pretentious snob. Kindles were never marketed as 'now you can read your shit books in public' even if people say that!

[MuseumOfCurry]

For the avoidance of doubt: nobody said 'everyone who objects to Kindles is pretentious' - only that sometimes people object to Kindles in a way that is pretentious.

Yes. My husband prefers a book to a Kindle, but quietly so. On the other hand, we have friend (RG university professor of philosophy, no TVs in the house, you get my drift) who loudly dislikes Kindles and talks about how much he likes his books etc (so do we).

He asked me what I was reading on my Kindle once (Cold Comfort Farm) and he said 'Oh, I thought people only read embarrassing books on Kindles.' He told me that the marketing of the Kindle evolved as such - so that people could read embarrassing books with impunity in public.

I have no idea if he's right.

[TrickyD]

I love my Kindle, but I wonder if anyone else has developed that nasty complaint know as Kindler'sThumb? A dent in the right hand thumbnail caused by repeatedly pressing the on/off button?

[scaryteacher]

I have loads of books and Kindle. I'm with Soupdragon, both are useful formats. Having a Kindle means I try books at 99p that I wouldn't pay full price for as a book. It has also meant that I can download a much read and loved series of books which are out of print, as my copies are now 32 years old and very fragile.

[BarbaraofSeville]

As well as the distraction of apps etc, the visual experience on a tablet is also different to ereaders. Reading on a tablet is still a screen, while an ereader really does look just like paper.

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

Tablets are totally different though meglet. There's the lure of apps and Netflix and other stuff that you don't get with an ereader. Having said that, you also don't get colour so picture books aren't great on them.

I've just bought my boys kindle fire tablets - you can set limits to what they can do, so half an hour reading before apps or internet!

[dollydaydream114]

moi- pretentious - as if
It just comes down to preferences to which we are all entitled shock

For the avoidance of doubt: nobody said 'everyone who objects to Kindles is pretentious' - only that sometimes people object to Kindles in a way that is pretentious. :)

As I said in my post, most people don't, but I have certainly met people who do. I've also met one or two pillocks who are so rabidly pro-Kindle that they seem almost offended that anyone still reads on paper - those people are equally annoying!

[megletthesecond]

Yanbu. The dc's downloaded their favourite books to their tablets and only read a handful of pages. Ended up getting them from the library instead.

[MuseumOfCurry]

Like another poster said, I'll read a book on Kindle and totally forget I've read it but that never happens with a real one.

How is this even possible?

[RosyGold]

I agree...I was obsessed with my Kindle when I first got it (few years ago now, so I'm impressed it still works!!) but nothing beats the feel and smell of a real book! Like another poster said, I'll read a book on Kindle and totally forget I've read it but that never happens with a real one. I still love my Kindle but would only use it now if I went away on holiday or when travelling. I much prefer a nice crisp new book (ohhh the smellllll) or even a musty library book (mmmm the smellllllll) lol 😝😂

[MuseumOfCurry]

I agree that there's a danger of romanticising books. I include myself here. It's reading that's important.

Yes. Books are lovely. We have probably 5 or 6 thousand of them. I wouldn't be without them. But the day to day advantage of a kindle over a book is enormous.

[sj257]

I'm the same, have had a kindle since they first came out but rarely use it. The only times I really use it is if we are going away or if I want the next book in a series and can't be bothered to wait for it!

[Floisme]

I agree that there's a danger of romanticising books. I include myself here. It's reading that's important.

[LEELULUMPKIN]

Yokohamajojo I like cut of your Dad's jib!

[MuteButtonisOn]

I have many books but I freed 90% of them to new readers when I konmaried my house. Find ebooks useful but audio books changed my life. Quite literally have increased my ' reading' by about 400%. Any free few minutes here and there I put one on. Especially love those read by the authors. I read non-fiction so might not work so well for fiction.

[Snugglepalace]

I personally think reading is very important for all ages especially in this very stressful world, to immerse yourself in a book is very good for the soul whether via a kindle or the paper version. So for me, I'm certainly not pretentious about E readers just glad to know so many people indulge in such a wonderful pastime

[Yokohamajojo]

My dad didn't like the feel of his e-reader when reading in bed so he has stuck it with double sided tape in a real book! works well apparently

[Ilovewillow]

I can see the be benefit of an e-reader but to me nothing is better than a glorious trawl round a bookshop and a beautiful new book or indeed a charity shop book. They both have a smell and an anticipation about them which I don't get from a kindle or the like. I offered a kindle to my reading mad 8yr old and she said "why would I want one of those when I can have a book?"

Having said that any device that gets people enjoying books and stories can only be a good thing.

[mollie123]

moi- pretentious - as if
It just comes down to preferences to which we are all entitled

[dollydaydream114]

I find that the people I know IRL who make a thing of not liking Kindles are a bit pretentious.

I've experienced this too. Most people who don't like them just say 'Oh, I can't really get used to them' or 'I just think paper books are nicer', which is fine ... but you do occasionally get people who seem to think it makes them more of a 'proper reader' than a Kindle owner, which is hardly logical given that they're essentially saying that paper is more important than words.

[mollie123]

just another observation that may be totally untrue - does any other lefties (left-handed people) find flicking from right to left to page through - as on a kindle - counter-intuitive (or is it just me?)
maybe that (taking into account I am a fast reader myself) I find scanning left to right on an open book much easier.
Tell me I am talking rubbish!