slo’s MONDAY 11/27 poll - Book vs E-Reader 📖

[kyton]

So far 40 books on my kindle this year with a few more waiting to be read. Another 2-3 paper books.

I much prefer my Kindle - for some reason paper books make me sleepy LOL. We’ve travelled so many times between Australia and the USA this year as well as countless hours in airports / sitting in hotels and racetracks so my Kindle is the first thing to be packed.

Back in Australia it is placed into my handbag every morning and brought back into the house when I get home. I try to read every chance I get and Kindle makes it so much easier. I did just catalogue all my books into an app so I can quickly check whether I have a book before buying. I also like to sort things into categories so I know when a book has been read completely.

 

[kyton]

For those that use an e-reader do you buy most of your books or borrow from the library?

My MIL and I have the exact taste in books so we buy books on our shared Amazon account. Well to be honest, she writes a list of books we need and I buy them to download to both our kindles.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Books I really want (like the Jill Duggar book) but not willing to buy I put a hold on the library and read it in print.
My e-reader for bedtime I just buy a lot of bargain books.

 

[disneychick0412]

< Same. I read exclusively on a Kindle and nearly exclusively library books. I love not having to go to the library to get them or return them. DW buys and reads exclusively paperback books and we end up donating them a couple of times a year just to get rid of them. The Kindle is a bit of a learning curve - it does take some time to get used to reading the Kindle rather than a paper book. Once you do, it's great - no need to go anywhere to get books and you can get them any time, day or night, 24/7. You can't do that with paper books.

A couple of things I do;
As I find books that interest me, I immediately look them up in my library. If they have a copy but that title is not available, I put it on "hold". I usually have 10-15 books on hold at any given time. If it becomes available but I am not yet ready to read it, I put it back on hold and let the next person borrow it.

Once you have a book borrowed, I either put the Kindle on airplane mode or simply don't close the book until I am done reading it. Either way, that allows you to keep the book indefinitely without having to renew it like you would a paper book.

It's great that you donate the books, but do you have any local used bookstores that allow trading? That's what I do with my books I don't want to keep. Even if its 2 for 1, I'm still able to get more books. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm telling you not to donate, because I think that's great!

 

[disneychick0412]

Books I really want (like the Jill Duggar book) but not willing to buy I put a hold on the library and read it in print.
My e-reader for bedtime I just buy a lot of bargain books.

I got the call from the library last week telling me that my Britney Spears and John Stamos books were ready for me to check out. I did the same thing with the Prince Harry book. (Please don't judge, I'm definitely not an academic in my reading choices! LOL). I love to go to used bookstores and get them for cheap, I prefer paperback, and get so excited when I get a good deal. The books from the library are hardcover, and my friend and I were talking the other day about the prices of books. I had no idea hardcovers were so expensive these days! I looked last night and the cover price for the Britney book is $32.99 and the John Stamos is $29.99! I was surprised!

 

[CdnCarrie]

I got the call from the library last week telling me that my Britney Spears and John Stamos books were ready for me to check out. I did the same thing with the Prince Harry book. (Please don't judge, I'm definitely not an academic in my reading choices! LOL). I love to go to used bookstores and get them for cheap, I prefer paperback, and get so excited when I get a good deal. The books from the library are hardcover, and my friend and I were talking the other day about the prices of books. I had no idea hardcovers were so expensive these days! I looked last night and the cover price for the Britney book is $32.99 and the John Stamos is $29.99! I was surprised!

Exactly! I'm not spending $30 on a book!

 

[MIGrandma]

I love reading but don’t read as much as I would like to. I have a very old kindle that won’t allow me to put books on anymore, and I have a kindle fire. Rarely use it though as I have the kindle app on my iPad so just read that way. Also read real books occasionally too.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

There is absolutely nothing that can replace reading a physical book from the feel of it, the smell and the ease of going back and forth for reference sake but over 8 years ago I got my Kindle Voyage and have been extremely happy with it, it's perfect for travel and I no longer have to worry about book damage or the weight of the books. It's great for winding down before bed with how the light is and how it also has a feature to lower the screen brightness (which is always set on adaptive) further aiding in helping you prepare for sleep.

I have always had a Kindle Unlimited subscription (purchased in 2 year stints during Prime Day) which has been invaluable to my reading. I have a ton of actual purchased books on my Kindle from when they were $0.00 or from author's newsletters or freebies from authors.

I am presently reading a physical book which is also available on KU but is nearly 470 pages in print. That kind of book I appreciate being able to read physically. My library has the first and the second in the series but does not have the 3rd yet nor do any of the other library systems so if by the time I'm ready to read that they still don't I will just suck it up and do it through KU.

I do borrow from the library systems in my area both print and e-book. In the past I did interlibrary loans but haven't done that in several years but they only do physical books with interlibrary loans.

I haven't purchased a physical book in years but have 300+ of them on bookshelves and boxes.

Generally I read everyday or near everyday. Sometimes it's just 20 or so mins other days it's a hour or two or three but I've been an avid reader since I was a young kid.

 

[ford family]

We are avid readers but only ever paper books. We buy them mostly from charity shops which are commonplace in the UK and we donate them back once read.

We travel a lot (currently on a six week trip to Australia and New Zealand) and find the initial space and weight of a dozen books will gradually be replaced by gifts and souvenirs!

We maintain records by author (notebook or spreadsheet) of books we have read, have found but not yet read or those we still seek. The acquisition process is almost as much fun as the actual reading!!

ford family

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We maintain records by author (notebook or spreadsheet) of books we have read, have found but not yet read or those we still seek.

I don't want to jinx it but I would be utterly lost without my Goodreads account with close to 8,300 books (with less than 30 on repeat with another list) on lists it would be a nightmare to have to write (or type) it all out. Kudos to you for doing that work over the years with your books!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Some of you mentioned audio books. I’m starting to think that I may give them a try.

My husband primarily does audio books. He rarely reads a physical book though has gone stints in the past. He mostly listens to them on his way to work and when traveling. I'm not there yet where I can do audio (as in I don't think I would enjoy it) but my husband finds the audible subscription to be a cost effective way to do it. Libraries also have audio books too.

 

[Lumpy1106]

It's great that you donate the books, but do you have any local used bookstores that allow trading? That's what I do with my books I don't want to keep. Even if its 2 for 1, I'm still able to get more books. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm telling you not to donate, because I think that's great!

We've tried - that's not an easy thing to find and they usually only want hard back books in mint condition.

Here's something I don't understand - the proliferation of the mini libraries (on your honor, take a book, leave a book) people set up in their front yards. Why is this a thing? It's not like the local library system is not free or easy to use - it is both. I guess it's a good way to get those unused books back into circulation?

 

[Nora03]

I have always read a lot. I remember going to the library as a child and coming home with an armload of books. Nowadays I mostly read on my IPad mini. I download books from the Libby library app to both my old mini and my new IPad. That way I can sync and switch if one battery is running low. Also the mini is more comfortable to hold. I’ve read 38 books this year and a lot of them were recommended on the reading thread on here. I also read physical books that friends lend me. I discovered the Libby app during lockdown when we couldn’t go anywhere and I was in heaven when I could download a book at any time of the day or night, for free! I always have a wait list.

 

[Imzadi]

This is one of my biggest peeves in life. People who say they don't have time to read.

I work full time and have kids and do elder care. What you choose to do in your downtime is what you choose.
People who say they don't have time to read seem to be insinuating they are so much busier then other people.
Just say I choose to do other hobbies instead of reading.

Sorry I just find myself very prickly about the "I don't have time to read" line. If you don't want to read, don't read.

I think this has to do with priorities than that someone is "busier" than another. For some, reading is a lower priority over other things. Once they've scheduled all their priorities, they "have no time to read." There is no better or worse about what one prioritizes for themselves.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I am not much of a reader myself. I don't really have an e-reader. I have an old Kindle Fire somewhere around here, but I have no idea where it is or if it even still works. I never used it for reading, it was mostly for just surfing and stuff but it became way too slow.

 

[LoveSpringsteen]

I rarely read books. That sounds terrible, I know. I have a stack of books next to my bed that were gifts that I haven’t read. I really should make the time to read. No excuses.

 

[Imzadi]

I don't want to jinx it but I would be utterly lost without my Goodreads account with close to 8,300 books (with less than 30 on repeat with another list) on lists it would be a nightmare to have to write (or type) it all out. Kudos to you for doing that work over the years with your books!

Not to jinx you, but you may really think about making copies of those lists, whether it's doing screenshots or copy & pasting them to a document.

Someone recently posted how AllRecipes .com changed their website and they lost all their saved recipes. Photobucket changed to a paid membership and so many of us lost all our photos, online posted photos and smilies. The European Union had to make a law banning how Photobucket replaced all our online photos with their "ransom" photos, as it was so prolific, all over the web, it affected so many of us.

You never know what will happen to Good Reads in the future and how their changes or possible ending will affect your lists. And it will likely be at a time that is NOT convenient to you to then copy all your lists.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I love to read, I read a lot. But I do not like reading books. I've tried over the years, just can't get into a book. Purchased a number of hardcovers and paperbacks over the years. Most go unread. I purchased a Kindle Paperwhite and then a Voyager. Have a number of books on them, again, unread. I do read two newspapers a day, sometimes three. I read a number of magazine subscriptions every month. And a lot of reading on the Net. Just not books though.

 

[Imzadi]

I do read two newspapers a day, sometimes three. I read a number of magazine subscriptions every month. And a lot of reading on the Net. Just not books though.

@Dan Murphy Newspapers and magazines are short form content. I imagine a lot of stuff on the Internet is too. Maybe it's the form of writing you prefer over a long book?

 

[ncc1701]

We went the e--reader route over 12 years ago. Both of us enjoy reading & feel it is better then a lot books to dispose of later. Exception are Cookbooks or other occasional exceptions. We also get our daily NY Times on our e-reader.