Further Conversation about Reading Print Books or Ebooks . . .

This discussion began on October 1st and continued on Oct. 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 10th… 

And, checking out those past installments of our conversation might help you contemplate the relative importance of e-books and print books…

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The first reader comment on the last post let me continue this discussion; and, it comes from an author and publisher in Germany:

“There was a time when I could define the contexts for reading e-books and reading printed books. E-Books were exclusively for non-fiction, printed books for fiction. Reading fiction involved emotions, and holding a book, feeling the pages – the physical aspect of a printed book that has been mentioned here before – together with the possibility to choose any comfortable reading position made the choice obvious. When I got my first e-reader I feel in love with it. It felt different but attractive to the touch, I could carry it anywhere, read on the sofa, on the garden bench, in bed, on the lawn and also at my desk. Since then the reading contexts have merged.”

“Merged”…

In the installment on the 10th, I wrote just a bit about e-readers adopting more features from print books; and, I speculated on print books becoming more like e-books…

Merging…

Our second comment comes from an accomplished poet… She writes on Wattpad:

“I prefer paper books, the feeling a book lends to my hands; yet, I’m very thankful for the ‘choices’ writers have for exhibiting their work .

“Paper books lend such a wonderful feeling that it leaves behind ‘the spirit of the book and writer’ after the reader sets it down. I don’t think e -books do that to be honest.”

I does seem that most folks who prefer print books like, in some way, the feel of that kind of book…

My 2 cents on “feel”—I do love the feel of a print book in my hands; yet, I love the lightness of my little Kindle e-reader—lighter than a paperback; and, it’s got over 600 books in it :-)

And, while not trying to contradict our poet from Wattpad, I can keep “the spirit of the book and writer” with me after I put my e-reader down; but, that writer has to be very good…

The whole concept of how a book “feels” ( physically or emotionally ) fascinates me—in fact, I’m going to do a bit of Googling—-be right back…

O.K….

I found 12 Book Quotes For Book-Lovers That Describe Exactly Why You Love Books So Much over on Bustle; and, I’ll share just two that I feel are somewhat appropriate for this discussion:

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.”

~ J.D. Salinger, ”The Catcher in the Rye”

Seems this could happen with print or digital…?

“For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”

~ Anne Lamott, ”Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”

“…small, flat, rigid squares of paper…”—hmmm… What about small, thin, rigid rectangles of e-readers…?

So…

Do you like print and E-books equally…?

Do you use both for different reasons and/or occasions…?

Will you Never use one of them again…?

Are there features of e-books you wish were also feature of print books…?

Are there features of print books you wish were also features of e-books…?

Will you be the first reader to share a comment and allow this discussion to continue…?
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