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?

I love books but in recent years have zero time to browse and shop for books. The year before I got my kindle I think I fished one book. I now average one a week. It's really put reading back in reach for me. I'd love a curated library of paperbacks but an e reader is definitely better than nothing.

I can totally see why e - readers work for a lot of people, I just never felt it. Although I do get that you can have a whole library of books on them, I am a very tactile person and just love the feel of a real book.
I love second hand books and love to think of the people who have had them in their hands and the joy the story has brought them.
My dream too would be to own a book shop, I'd spend all day in my element

I just love reading, full stop. I have a Kindle and I love it and use it a lot, but I also buy plenty of books in hard copy as well and I love those too. I switch between formats all the time.

But it really doesn't matter which people choose; there's no right or wrong option. It's just personal preference.

There are pros and cons to both formats when it comes to reading novels or non-illustrated non-fiction (for coffee table books, recipe books, reference books or anything illustrated, I would always buy a hard copy).

For me, the best things about my Kindle are:

• Space-saving. I can have access to thousands of books that I simply wouldn't have room to keep on my shelves at home.
• Front-lit screen. I can read in the dark, either in bed or as a passenger in a car, without the need for a separate light (I can't get on with clip-on book lights at all).
• The ability to highlight passages and search the text easily. As a hobby I write and post online fairly detailed reviews of every book I read, so I like to be able to find quotes etc instantly.
• I can carry a whole library of books with me, so I never run out of reading material on holiday or while I'm out and about. I used to take up to ten books with me on holiday, which played havoc with my baggage weight allowance. The Kindle eliminates that problem. I literally never leave the house without a book to read, so this is quite a big deal for me.
• I can read brand new novels that aren't out in paperback yet, without having to lug around a massive hardback copy (I once had a shoulder/neck injury caused by carrying the hardback edition of Wolf Hall in my handbag).

The best things about printed novels are:

• Aesthetically pleasing, particularly if you love the cover design etc
• I still find turning a page more 'natural' then pressing a button or touching a screen
• Won't be destroyed by being dropped or getting wet
• Smell and feel nicer - more tangible and solid and a more tactile reading experience
• Easier to skip between the main text and things like an index, dramatis personae, map, intro, notes or whatever
• You can give them away or lend them when you've finished
• No risk of dead batteries, lost chargers, software crashes etc (not that either of my Kindles has ever crashed, to be fair).

So for me, the two can happily co-exist.

I have to say though that for me, an e-reader has to be something that's made for reading and reading only. I know lots of people read novels on an iPad, but I find I get terrible eye-strain very quickly if I do that and the reflective, backlit screen makes it difficult in bright conditions. The Kindle works for me because it's an e-ink display specifically for reading, and the screen is frontlit rather than backlit.

The jury's still out for me. I bought a 2nd hand Kindle cos I could see the advantages plus I guess I wanted to keep moving with the times but I've hardly used it so far.

I will miss it when I can no longer go to people's houses and sneak a look at their book collections.

On the other hand, a lot of my books aren't ageing well - yellow, crumbly and the thought of re-reading them all when I retire is growing less appealing

I love shopping for books in actual book shops. I could spend all day there perusing

I could spend all day perusing Amazon jumping from book to book via the "other people who bought this also bought this" recommendations.

I think the Kindle is to a paper book what a mass market paperback is to an ancient leather bound volume. It's just the next step along the evolutionary track of published matter.

I love second hand books and love to think of the people who have had them in their hands and the joy the story has brought them

Ha ha. I know more than one person who wouldn't enterain second hand or library books because you don't know how clean the hands of the previous reader(s) were.

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!

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Yokohamajojo I like cut of your Dad's jib!

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

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!

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.

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 😝😂

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?

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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?