Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Torn Between Two Loves: Paperbacks or E-books?


My Kindle knows I'm cheating on it
with the occasional paperback. It just
doesn't care. Can this love triangle
continue forever?
 My latest stack of books for review arrived, including a re-issue of Persia Woolley's Queen of the Summer Stars that I'm so thrilled to read. Then I was asked, "Do you still read real books? Did something happen to your Kindle?" Huh? I was somewhat taken aback by these questions; are the books on my Kindle not real books? Should I tell the Kindle I've been cheating on it with some paperbacks every now and then? 

Some of the ebooks I ordered because they were written by favorite authors, while others are from writers who are just breaking in and I loved a sample of their work enough to want to read more. Then, there are books for which I could not bear to wait even two days to receive with free shipping from Amazon. Yeah, sometimes it's that bad.

I've accepted my cheating ways: Kindle satisfies my occasional need for instant gratification, but paperbacks are just so familiar, never needing a charge to get going and sometimes, they just smell so good! I don't see any reason why I should have to choose between books on my Kindle or paperbacks. It's not a problem to want both, is it?

Have you recently been using an ereader? Do you prefer paperbacks or ereaders? Has the advent of ereaders changed your buying and reading habits?
  

11 comments:

Sheila Lamb said...

Have just downloaded a few Kindle books onto my Mac Reader...prefer paper, mostly because I am less distracted. Don't know if that will change if I actually bought an official ereader :-)

Anonymous said...

I bought myself a Kindle only yesterday and downloaded some books. But today I was in a bookshop and bought some of the 'real thing'. So it looks like I'm going to be a two-timer.

Lisa J Yarde said...

Sheila, the experience of reading on an ereader vs. computer or other means is really no different. I read Ken Follett's Pillars on Kindle for Blackberry and sometimes, I still use the application rather than device. This is probably because my phone is glued to my hand. But that's for another time.

Elizabeth, welcome to the club! As much as I love both, I know there are certain books for my research that will never be on Kindle, no matter how many times I click teh little button on Amazon.

Heather said...

I'm getting ridiculously excited about my upcoming Kindle purchase, but I still think I'll be a paper fan for the most part. I plan to use the Kindle for e-pubs, freebies, public domain, test drives and samples, etc, and paper for stuff I want to keep and read over and over.

But then, I still buy CDs, so I'm quite the old fogey. ;p

Christine Murray said...

I haven't got an ereader yet, mostly because I'm broke. But I hope to get one this summer. I'm usually a traditionalist when it comes to my reading materials. I love paper books, the feel of them and the smell...but I just can't resist the lure of the ereader.

Does that make me a bad person?

Lisa J Yarde said...

Heather, we're both old fogeys then cause I like my CDs too. Just don't tell iTunes, I don't think they're as forgiving.

Christine, it doesn't make you a bad person! It makes you one of the best people on the planet. Why? Because you understand what I meant about the great smell of paperbacks. There's just something about opening a new book. It will be a sad day when everything is digitized and no one remembers what bound books were like any more.

N. Gemini Sasson said...

I'll read either, but I prefer the Kindle at this point (says she who's only had her device for two days). I'll be away from home for a few days and the thought of having multiple books in one tiny device is a huge bonus. Less stuff to pack.

Unknown said...

I prefer paperbacks. I have no real interest in a Kindle, which probably baffles a lot of people. My fiance says I should use a Kindle. He's right when he says I prefer books for their feel and weight and smell. But I also like to easily flip back and forth between pages to refresh my memory on things.

I think that a Kindle is ideal for someone who travels constantly. But although I do want to travel, I'm still not all that interested. Some people say that print is dead, killed by the e-reader. They point to CDs and mp3 players. The difference is that print has been around for hundreds of years (and thousands if you include hand-written materials before the printing press). CDs have only been common for, what, 20-25 years? I hardly think the two situations are comparable.

Besides, I'm going to need something to read when all technology fails during the apocalypse. ;)

The Writers' Salon said...

I haven't made the ereader plunge yet, but it's so enticing. Last week, I was commuting on the subway with a 500 page hardcover and thought - wouldn't it be nice not to lug this thing around?

But Nook or Kindle: that is the question!

BTW - I really enjoyed your Sultana trailer. Looks great! Did you create that yourself?

Alison DeLuca said...

I just wrote about this very thing yesterday!

Since I got an acquisitions editor position, I have found that the Kindle / Nook apps on my iPad are invaluable. Most of the books I am reviewing are e-books, and the automatic bookmark is a lifesaver, with fifteen novels going at once.

Lisa J Yarde said...

Interesting views on ereaders and books. However anyone feels, ereaders are here to stay - now if we can only get the price to come down!

On Sultana trailer - I put it together with music from pond5.com (can't recommend them enough!) and images from dreamstime.

Time flies when you're having fun, or writing novels.

It's been a tremendous twelve months. A new job and health issues have impacted my writing time, but I'm still at it, trying to wrap...