Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of threads about the decline of bookstores, etc… and about used bookstores in particular. And I’ve had a lot of friends and relatives lament the same thing and/or spend colossal amounts of money, time, and space dealing with physical books.
Meanwhile, for the last decade or so I’ve transitioned nearly entirely to my Kindle, with the exception of a few cook-books. I absolutely LOVE the ability to have dozens if not hundreds of books available at my fingertips on my phone or Kindle. I love the fact that if I’m traveling, I don’t have to lug books around. I love the ability to search within them. I love the ability to hold my finger on a word and get a definition right then, without having to go look it up later. I love the ability to highlight passages and find those easily later. I love the fact that when I finish a book and I like it, I can just get the next in the series right then, if it’s already published without having to go to a bookstore or order it.
There’s very little about printed books I miss. About the only thing is larger format books with great imagery. Those don’t translate to e-readers or e-reader software very well.
Do any other avid readers not have any printed book nostalgia and are embracing modern e-readers like I am? Or am I a total weirdo outlier here?
I’m very similar – I used to read tons and tons of printed books, now I read even more Kindle books. And like the OP, I still get printed books for cooking, games, and other types that are larger with lots of pictures.
My impression, based on past threads about ebooks and ereaders, is that there are many Dopers who much prefer printed books, and many Dopers who much prefer ebooks, and many who are fond of both. (I’m in that third category.)
I love reading multiple books on my tablet as well. The only thing I find that doesn’t work so well on it is reference works, since the info I’m looking for will be in various spots throughout the work. A few works I’ve seen allow for moving back -and- forth readily, but most don’t.
I used to think I preferred physical books, but I’ve always limited my book collection and relied on borrowing books. I just have trouble buying a book I haven’t read (what if it’s bad?) and with buying a book I have read (I don’t reread much). Then I gave away all the ones that didn’t spark joy when I was moving to a different continent, packed the rest down in boxes, and now I only buy maybe one or two physical books a year, because it turns out that books on kindle are fine really.
I have a lot of dead tree books I love. I also have many Dungeons & Dragons and such books. Some of the game books are special. A friend told me about an illegal site offering PDF downloads of game books for free. I downloaded about 32 gigabytes of books and am in the process of selling off most of my dead tree editions.
I’ve discovered that if you forget your Amazon password, you are locked out of your kindle app, so you can no longer read the books you bought for it. That’s annoying.
By ‘book’ do you mean those things that used to be made out of paper, with ‘pages’ that you would ‘turn’ or ‘flip’, sometimes getting paper cuts? I vaguely remember those. Been through 2 or 3 Kindles and they’re great.
In addition to the OP’s stated Kindle advantages, two more that I love: seeing the page perfectly when reading in bed without needing an external light on, and when reading while eating something messy like ribs or a sloppy sandwich, having the kindle propped up and tapping with a knuckle to easily go to the next page.
I’m all about the Kindle. I was a printed book fan until someone gave me a Kindle as a gift. It took a little while, but eventually I gave almost my entire book collection, except for a few special ones, to the Friends of the Library. Now I usually won’t read a book if it’s not available for the Kindle. The ease of carrying thousands of books, and the ability to obtain whatever book I want instantaneously make the Kindle work for me.
I love printed books. And I love my kindle and currently have at least 1,000 books in my kindle library. And I love audiobooks. I love newspapers and magazines. I love cereal boxes and other products with writing on them. I guess I’m a reading wonk. I want the content, and I don’t care if the content is in a paper book, ebook, written on toilet paper, scratched on the side of a building, in a fortune cookie, or read to me by someone else. I will read whatever is available in whatever format. And love it.
My father gave me a first-generation Kindle, not long after they first came out. It was one of the best gifts he ever gave me (aside from life itself, and a secure and safe upbringing).
I do occasionally still buy physical books, and I don’t always know why. For example, I have the complete collection of Maigret novels that Penguin (I think) issued over the past few years. It seems more meaningful to have a complete collection of something in physical format rather than digital. I also buy books about my fountain pen hobby, because I want not only the information but the photos, and photos are not handled particularly well on a Kindle.
Most of my Kindle books I get for free from the library, and I get them instantly without leaving the house. And I can keep them as long as I need to, if they are taking longer to read than I expected, as long as I have airplane mode on so the library can’t snatch them back after the 3-week loan period.
I used to say that there’s nothing like reading a real book. I’ve changed my tune. I like having numerous books in one small place. I love an actual book, but after I read them, I don’t ever read them again. I had so many books in boxes stored in my basement that it was ridiculous. I’ve sold a lot of them at rummage sales which was hard for me because I’ve always had a hard time letting go of a book. I’m over that now. I sold all of my Stephen King books at the last rummage sale. A few years ago that would have caused heart palpitations!
The only books I still have are all of my horse books, including all of the Marguerite Henry books from when I was a kid. Those books are near and dear to my heart. But now that I’m 61 and none of the grandkids are horse-crazy there is really no reason to save them just to keep them in a box. I think I’ll donate them. Just not sure where yet.
i do enjoy my kindle, and have it with me nearly all the time.
there are authors that i collect and only get those in actual, put on a shelf, books.
i have about 18 book cases/shelves, so i’m surrounded by books.
i worked at 2 bookstores, sadly they closed when i worked there. i found so many interesting books when i would shelve, i really miss that. without actual bookstore you miss a serendipity event.
Yeah I’m with you. I held out for a while, and it does bother me handing ownership to Amazon, and only getting permission to read a book I’ve paid money for (which they can take back at any time) but the convenience (and weight) of Kindle reading reeled me in, in the end.
I have and like both. In terms of portability, the kindle wins hands down, since I have a metric ton at a fingertip, always good if you get tired of / begin to dislike your current book and decide to switch.
I love that as my eyes worsen, I can subtly increase the font size to compensate for said issue. And I like that my paperwhite and kindle fire can be read at the bedside without bothering my wife the way a bedside lamp would.
I dislike that the format of my paperwhite is honestly a bit small, with the increased font size, I feel like I’m turning the pages very frequently due to the small usable space.
I very much dislike trying to read graphic novels on even my 10’ Kindle fire, so other than a few I got for free, anytime I want something of the sort it is all paper all the time. Plus, the Fire’s lit screen always washes out some of the color, which applies to any text that has colored illustrations, which admittedly is a relatively minor issue.