E-Readers Vs. Print Books - Which Do You Prefer?

E-readers vs. Print Books

When the e-reader first emerged onto the market I was not an immediate fan. I couldn’t imagine not being able to turn the pages of my favorite novels. I was determined to be resistant to this change. About four years ago my husband bought me an e-reader as a gift, and ever the dutiful wife, I decided to give it a try. It was a Kindle, and it was an earlier version without the backlit screen that many e-readers have now. As you can tell, I was determined to find everything wrong with it that I could. The first time the battery died right as I was getting to the good part of the story, I went ranting to my husband proclaiming, “This is why I need my books in print!”

Even with such staunch dedication, after reading a few books into my digital journey, I did find a few things I could get on board with: I LOVED having the ability to touch a word and have the definition pop up on the screen. Ever since I started reading as a child, I have always read with a dictionary nearby. I want to be able to process every word that I am reading fully, so I never just skim over words that I don’t know – I always looking up the definition. Having a dictionary so handy on my e-reader meant I didn’t have to get out of my story too much to analyze a particular word. Then there was the ever increasing popularity of the “series”. Being able to finish one novel, click a few buttons and buy the next book without having to pry myself from my comfy corner of the couch, was a perk I could definitely get on board with. I remember feeling overwhelmed the first time I was confronted with the sheer number of books I had available to me - literally right at my finger tips, I didn’t know where to start!

After about a solid three or four months of reading using my e-reader, I began to feel like I had abandoned my old friend – the paperback. I journeyed over to my local book store to browse their familiar stale smelling shelves of old books and it was like coming home. I walked out with my usual minimum of three new books, feeling as if I had did my part to keep print books alive. Several years have gone by, and I am still balancing reading on my e-reader as well as holding on to my dedication to print books. Sadly, a few of my local book stores have closed down, adding to my guilt about upgrading my old kindle to the new back lit version, but alas, it had to be done (I engage in entirely too much late night reading). I have come to realize that people like me, who truly love literature, will find a way to enjoy reading in whatever form we must. I have lost much of the fear I had initially that print books would disappear completely, and realize that while change is necessary, books will survive, because addicts like me are still flooding the local libraries and book stores looking for old copies of Jane Austen novels. Long live print!