I talked before about why I think books win over a Kindle, an in fact that post is one of my most read as people Google “books vs Kindle”. Yesterday I came across another reason.
I spotted the above book sitting on top of the dog’s cage.
The dog’s cage in our home office is a bit of a staging post. Stuff that needs to be reviewed, books that need to go away, camera bits that we need to keep safe but don’t know where else to put. It all makes it way to the top of the cage.
I spied this book looking all sad and battered.
And loved.
We both read it on holiday, I started it, and then didnt have time to read anymore so I suggested Mr B read it. He did in about two days, when I then took it back. Reading it on the beach, it got damp from where we dripped on it from the sea. it got rained on when we had one of the frequent rain storms Barbados has.
It has pina colada spilled on it.
There is sand in it. The cover is bent.
It looks completely battered but I love that. It now sits on the book shelf looking equally battered but will forever remind me of our holiday.
You don’t get that with a Kindle
(PS you also don’t get told by a stewardess on the plane to put your book away as the plane comes into land “and all electrical items need to be stowed for landing”. My neighbour had to put hers away, whereas I carried on until the “seat belts signs are tuned off”
No, sorry, for me the book will always win over the Kindle.
What about you? Is Kindle king in your house?
My MIL bought me a kindle, which is the only reason I have one. For me, nothing beats an actual book in my hands. I also like passing books I’ve enjoyed onto other people, you can’t do that with a kindle!
I solidly sit on the fence in this argument! I absolutely adore my Kindle! It’s light, easy and stores a whole library that I can put in my bag!
On the other hand, I have always loved a book in my hand, one by my bed, a shelf full of them in my dining room!
I have resigned myself to just enjoying the best of both worlds – if I see a book when I’m out and about I buy it! If I fancy a book when indoors I download it!! Perfect!
As long as we all keep reading…..
I don’t have a Kindle, but I do have the app on my phone, and wish I’d had it when the children were all babies for those long feeds, buggy walks, general “dead” time when I wasn’t organised enough to have a book to hand. But actual books, paperbacks, win every time for me – the character, the transferability, the sheer joy of rummaging
I’ve tried reading books on my iPad and I just don’t feel comfortable with it. I like to ‘see’ how far into the book I am and if I forget someone’s name I can flick back as I know it’s somewhere on the left hand page, near the top. I love the smell of books, I like to see them on shelves, on my bedside table, with their covers a bit dog-eared like yours and remember a holiday. And on holiday, if you’re lying in the sun, you can go to sleep with a book flopped over your face for shade. Try doing that with a kindle.
I love a book in my hands for all the reasons everyone above does. I adore a battered paperback, especially one read on the beach so it smells of salt and sunshine and tanning oil are forever pary of it (incidently, I read the same book on my beach holiday…I swear we are twins separated at birth…but my copy was from the library and had to be treated with kid gloves).
All that having been said, I do like my Kindle for the gym, much easier to prop on a cardio machine and turn pages with a swipe of a finger…I do most of my bulk reading there and the time passes more quickly. I have used real books at the gym but found they have to be a certain size and preferably hard bound for a successful read and held open with binder clips. This makes it harder and where the Kindle is better. Also having the app on the phone makes sneaking in reading a couple of pages during a staff meeting possible. If you get caught, it’s just text and you can pass it off as a email check or something unlike getting caught playing Words with Friends.
Also, I can lend/borrow books with friends many miles away without worrying about if I’ll ever see the book again or having to get it back to them
I just love that people are reading more. That’s what’s the most important. (By the way I read your blog on my iPhone)
😉
I love real books, I have several hundred now – all my favourites. I do have the Kindle for PC app and have a small number of ebooks that I couldn’t get any other way (novellas and short stories or books that came out on Kindle before physical format) or won in competitions. For me real books will always win, I
Books everytime.
The collector in me wants to see a library growing on a shelf. I can scan a bookshelf to find my next read or a re-read far quicker and more easily than I can scroll through any printed list. And you can’t smell the pages of a kindle. (that may just be me though)
I say kindle. It helps with the dyslexia. With a book I get words in the wrong order as there are too many words per page.on the kindle I can increase font size to limit the number of words on screen, and its easy to scroll.
I’ll be honest, harry potter in a paper copy took me 7 months of reading almost every night. An equivalent size kindle story takes me a fortnight to a month. Thats massively better for me.
I have two different moods when it comes to reading. I like the romance of a real book. I adore real books. Books that smell old and are crinkly and dog earred. Books covered in tea stains where I can barely make out some of the words because they are so worn and loved.
On the other hand I like the ease of being able to download a book.
But that’s the only positive in my mind.
I will continue to use an e-reader – but only for the short stories that only cost a couple of quid and are self published. There are some fantastic reads by authors that aren’t well known and for those brief reading sessions an e-reader is perfect.
But for me, a real book with a nice mug of tea just can’t be beat!
xx
You’re SO right – Nothing beats a book. I already spend enough of my life looking at a screen so the sweet release of ink on paper is always welcome! x
Have you ever tried lighting a garden fire wit a Kindle?
I rest my case.
You’ve inspired me to write a post saying the exact opposite 🙂 http://screenfulofwords.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/why-i-love-my-kindle-books-vs-kindle/