Does anyone else just like "real" books?

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JustSarah

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I prefer real books for the reason you still have them if the electricity goes down, ad your battery goes dead. Like if there was an EMP pulse out of a post apocalyptic novel.

But for public domain books I don't necessarily care about owning right away, I also like the electronic reader.
 
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Hapax Legomenon

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I love ereaders for novels but find them impossible to use for any type of reference book.
 

Sage

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I go through phases of preferring physical books, ebooks, library books, audiobooks.

The Kindle is very handy for traveling and for reading during certain aspects of my work. I have a booklight for the Kindle (I can use it for regular books too, but it's more awkward), so it's good when I'm reading at night. But sometimes, even when it's more convenient to use the Kindle, I just want to read a physical book.
 

ElaineA

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It makes me sad to say I use a kindle paperwhite for most of my reading now, mostly because it satisfies my "must read now" urges. But I much prefer physical books. I like to go back and look for things I missed, or to reread a clue or important passage when a solution comes up in a story. This is nearly impossible on a kindle and it's maddening to me not to be able to flip through the pages.

For books I know I'll want to keep (favorite authors and such), I still buy the paperback.
 

BookmarkUnicorn

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I still like paper books over digital ones, and I have a kindle and Scribd. A big part of it is being able to turn pages. The Kindle app on my ipad comes the nearest to mimicking a real book. But there is just something about turning pages and being able to see the side of the pages in volume, showing how far you've read, that really speaks to me (More than a % bar at the bottom of a screen). That and old book smell. I was kind of sad when some of my books I bought new as a teen started to get that smell..but anyway...
I really like the books I bought on kindle. The idea that I only paid to rent them and not own them is sort of scary now that I think of it...
 

Dennis E. Taylor

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E-books are better for reading in bed, IMO. P-books are better out on the patio.

I used to buy and collect paperbacks. At one point I had several thousand. But eventually I realized that I wasn't going to re-read most of them. Now if I buy a p-book, I give it to goodwill or something afterwards.

I love technology, but I can also be a luddite sometimes. I feel no pressing need to be consistent on this subject.
 

Little Anonymous Me

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I enjoy both. My Nook goes with me everywhere--work, campus, buses--because it's lovely and light, and most of what I read are backbreakers. As someone with poor eyesight, being able to blow up the font is great. And the search feature when I want a specific line is addicting. Also: digital library books. But I can't make notes in the margins or leave ribbons in favorite spots or any of the other things I do with print books.


There are interesting cross over effects, however....I was reading a book the other day, swiped the corner of the screen to turn the page, and got really annoyed when it didn't work.

I was reading a print book. :D
 

shelleyo

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I read both. I don't really care about the container, just the content.

That's how I feel. I read both. I still buy the occasional hardback book on pre-order when I'm excited enough about it. I buy paperbacks. But I love the convenience of ebooks, too. And the Kindle's ability to magnify the type for my poor, crappy eyes. That's fab. I didn't get a Kindle until recently for proofreading purposes. I didn't expect to read on it at all, but found I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

OP, if you hate reading on a Kindle, why do it? Is it just books you can't get any other way?
 

Wilde_at_heart

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I prefer print books. For some reason when I try to read a book on Kindle, Kobo or whatever I get drowsy regardless of how interested I am in it. Dunno why that is.

I've always been good at remembering what page I'm on and so on, plus if there's ever a major Carrington Event or something I'll still have my library.
 

C.bronco

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I only read pretend books, and make up names for them that sound impressive. Then, people envy me and want my opinions.

Otherwise, I may have to switch to online because both bookstores in my area closed and I don't know where to go to get flesh and blood books that aren't used.
 

SBibb

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I tend to prefer physical books (they're easier for me to read), but I have no problem with ebooks. Ebooks are nice for trying to get something a little less expensive, avoid the clutter, and for getting them quickly. Physical copies are nice because I can hold them and I tend to like their format better.

But they can also be interchangeable. Got one book that had the matchbook deal, so I was reading it on my Kindle until it came in the mail, and then I switched over. I'm glad I got the print one, because it looked so much nicer, but I enjoyed being able to start reading right away.

Sidenote: Also agreeing that I'm not sure I like the term 'real' book. Ebooks are real, too, they're just in a different format. :)
 

C.bronco

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Eating Poetry
BY MARK STRAND
Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.


The librarian does not believe what she sees.
Her eyes are sad
and she walks with her hands in her dress.


The poems are gone.
The light is dim.
The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.


Their eyeballs roll,
their blond legs burn like brush.
The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.


She does not understand.
When I get on my knees and lick her hand,
she screams.


I am a new man.
I snarl at her and bark.
I romp with joy in the bookish dark.
 
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Brightdreamer

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I read both. I don't really care about the container, just the content.

Pretty much me, with one caveat: I tend to prefer "art" books and some research titles in physical form, because I enjoy paging through them and discovering (or rediscovering) things. Though I do like the eBook ability to define a word on the fly, or search for a specific word or phrase in a text.

In general, I find that the eBooks I download are the kind of titles I'd look at in paperback and/or in the discount bin - which is the majority of my reading. If it's something I intend to read more than once, or it's a particularly special story, I prefer a physical copy.

Incidentally, I own both a Nook HD+ tablet and a Kindle. The former's great for color eBooks, plus it has the Overdrive app on it for library titles. The Kindle usually lives in my purse and is my "read-on-the-go" device. Both get a fair bit of use, though I almost always have a printed book or two going on the side.
 

Thuro

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I don't ever use a Kindle. Its old fashioned for me. Say...have any of you seen that scroll thats been lying around?
 

Once!

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Didn't we have the same argument about typewriters vs word processors some years ago?

Or film versus digital cameras?

Betamax or VHS.

And before that airplanes versus ocean-going liners.

Cars versus horses.

John Henry versus the steam hammer. I seem to remember that it didn't end too well for John Henry. Although it has to be admitted that no-one sings songs about the steam hammer.

Canals versus trains.

The printing press versus monks writing long-hand.

Alpha-numeric symbols versus hieroglyphs.

Cities versus living in the countryside.

Writing versus cave painting.

Caves versus mud huts.

Hunter gathering versus farming.

Sharpening sticks versus growing very long claws.

Living in the sea versus living in the land.

And as a primitive organism - one cell or two?

My great grandparents couldn't read. My mother and mother-in-law prefer books. My wife and I like books and kindles. My son prefers e readers - he is surgically attached to his ipod and laptop.

There's a pattern in there somewhere.
 

fivetoesten

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I love ereaders for novels but find them impossible to use for
any type of reference book.

This is me too.

A few more random things:

- my ereader has turned me into a noodle-armed weaky
- my ereader probably wouldn't last 100 years in a cave
- if it did I probably couldn't access anything on it
- physical books have always had a sort of "drm" built in and nobody
has ever cared.
- physical books include both the content and the delivery
mechanism.
- You don't have to charge a physical book, but you do need an
external light source.
 

ScarletWhisper

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I was very reluctant and dubious about getting a Kindle but I wanted access to some titles that were ebook only. It didn't take much adjustment for me to begin preferring it. I can adjust the font size with a touch and I can carry a bunch of books with me everywhere I go. And Amazon's whispernet is so much easier than managing to get to the library during its open hours (which I always seem to miss somehow) or ordering online and waiting a couple days for it to arrive.

Plus, I am an anti-hoarder and hate having clutter. So not having stuff to clog up my bookshelf is also good.

So yeah. Ebooks for me.
 

bearilou

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Considering I fancy myself a writer, being well aware that words have meaning and impact, I also chafe at the designation of real verses....what fake books? Unreal books? Artificial books? Fraudulent books?

When I'm not splitting hairs, I actually am about half and half. If it's a book that's a keeper for me? I'll get the physical book. As much as I'm reading now, however, the electronic version satisfies that desire to quickly and since many ebooks are cheaper than the paperback versions, it allows me to test the waters to determine if this is something I want to keep.
 
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Hapax Legomenon

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The fact is that ereaders currently make it very difficult to flip back and forth between even related passages. I'm sure you could solve it, but it would take a lot of effort from the publisher and considering the abysmal formatting I've seen on some books it's probably effort they don't want to take.
 

WriteMinded

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My Kindle PaperWhite: I'm glad to have it. I bought it so I could read some of those cheaply priced self-pubbed Amazon books. I was curious. I can read in bed without disturbing my husband.

Paper books: I can mark them, write in them. Stick any old thing between the pages so I can find where I left off reading and/or places I want to refer back to. Some books are so great for reference that I have multiple colored stickies popping out all over. I like seeing two whole pages at a time. I love the smell of paper. Bound books have interesting covers; they are small works of art filling my bookshelves. Paper books are flexible, bendable, loveable. They don't have to be recharged and they don't have to be set on airplane mode to keep Amazon out.
 

ScarletWhisper

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The fact is that ereaders currently make it very difficult to flip back and forth between even related passages. I'm sure you could solve it, but it would take a lot of effort from the publisher and considering the abysmal formatting I've seen on some books it's probably effort they don't want to take.

This is a good point. I definitely want my reference books in paper format. But for fiction reading, where I don't flip around, I do prefer my Kindle (paperwhite).
 
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