Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

You're not alone.

Definitely not alone. I will always buy real books when something special comes long. I still encourage my kids to love real books.

What happens in an extended power cut when there's no battery life to tablets?

As for the environmental thing, well, I look at it this way - with a real book the environmental impact happens only once in the making of it (albeit at various stages of tree felling, papermill, printing, shipping etc) but with an ebook there is an imprint everytime you open it and use power to read it. Twisted logic maybe, but it works for me :P

As for the money, you work, you have a little left over cash, you should be able to spend it however you want. It shouldn't matter that you want to buy a $4 book or a $14 book. That choice is yours and yours alone.

And if everything goes to hell in a handbasket you can at least sell your real books, you can't do that with ebooks, and if it really goes to pot and society falls apart we are saving our heritage in the good books we own and.. for the not so good we have a source of fuel for the fire (sacrilege I know, I don't think I could ever burn a book but needs must and all. I hate that it seems to be fashionable to rip up old or vintage books for craft projects these days. Makes me shudder just thinking about it).

I like real books and like you I prefer hardcovers. I am finding it difficult to read mass market PBs anymore because of the font size and tiny leading they have. I have masses of real books, most in boxes and am hoping soon to be able to get them all out. I am comforted when surrounded by books. I have this fantasy of building a maze from bookshelves with my reading chair in the center where I can escape from all but my body slave who comes at my call...

I do have an iPad I use for reading e-books and books only available as mmPBs. I don't often read on it though. It does not feel the same to me, likely old habits in an old dog.

I've never seen an environmental cost comparison between real books and e-books+readers. I resource about this might prove interesting. I usually buy used hardcovers unless the book is new. I do this for cost and have many nice used HC with dust jackets I got for <$1 + $3.98 shipping on Amazon. Certainly giving used books a home is environmentally sound as they could be burned or recycled for paper which requires energy.

If I have a choice and the money, I will almost always buy a HC over an e-book. Occasionally I'll get the ebook if it is a lot cheaper and I'm not sure I really want it. I have found the many e-books are almost the same price as a new HC, esp from well-known authors. The other time I get ebooks is when I have a book or series that is complex and requires deep reading. On a re-read, I can use the search function in an ebook. That is never possible with analogue books and, imo, the best reason for digital books. I have real and digital versions of Dhalgren, Janny Wurts War of Light and Shadow, Tolkien and many of the old classics.

Oh, and as Casey suggested I can always sell the real books, get a store on Amazon or eBay or while I'm begging on a street corner when I'm living on social security alone and the right wingers have sent me to the soup kitchens. At least it will likely be getting warmer...

I am a book collector as well. I have an ereader, I read books on my phone and on my computer as well. There is nothing wrong with having more than one way that you read books.

There is just something about reading a good book and flipping the pages, feeling it under your fingertips, even the smell of a good old book.

I will always support my favorite authors by buying their hardcover books.

same here

I love print books. If I had my way, I'd have a Beauty and the Beast-style library, complete with the rolling ladder.

That being said, books can be expensive. And they take up a lot of space. Having moved twice in the past three years, I know how hard it is to transport a bibliophile's library.

My current solution is to keep a minimal amount of books on my shelf, read others on my kindle, and check books out of the library when I want a print book. I have been donating a lot of my books - ones that I won't read again or think could use a better home - to the local public library as well as the campus GLBT office which, sad to say, has little to no book budget. And I try to get free books from ARC giveaways when I can. :D

The jury's still out about whether ereaders are really that environmentally friendly. According to one site I read, "This means that approximately 172 books would use the same amount of energy as one Amazon Kindle, and 115 books would produce the same amount of CO2 as one Amazon Kindle." ()

Basically, you have to use an ereader for many years before you're even breaking even on its carbon footprint. And if you're buying used books, it's even less of a footprint. Personally, I still prefer the printed word if I plan on re-reading or if I think it'll be any good.

I have very curious (book) collecting habits. I love ex-library books, the hardcovers mainly. You can get most of those for 1 pence + postage at Amazon. That's usually under the ebook price for many books, so I'm saving money even with my fetish for well-used books.

I also buy ebooks, but only if they are either cheaper, available only as ebooks or I'm in dire need of getting a book fast.

I'm still deciding on whether or not I want to get some form of an e-reader or not. I have quite a large library of my own, and I work at a public library so access to books isn't that difficult.

However, I've learned recently there's only certain books you can acquire on e-readers, so that might push me in that direction a little more. I don't know how much I'll enjoy the screen though :/

I'm all for it, I just don't know when I'll switch to the modern age.

The screen does take some getting used to. While I'm totally hooked on my e-readers now (Kindle and mini iPad), I still find traditional books more comforting.

@The Lesbrary, I agree. Electronic waste is another big issue. While electronic equipment is recyclable in some communities, most people just toss their old e-readers. At least books are biodegradable and are easier to donate. E-reader operating systems go out of date in a frighteningly swift fashion, but books stick around for decades.

I still have every computer and smaller e-devices I've bought. Many still work, but are outdated. I keep meaning to go through the hard drives for things I want to keep, but a lot of them have various iterations of SCSI drives and I've found it hard to find adaptors for SCSI->USB and all the different pinouts.

I just moved into a new apartment, and home isn't home for me until I shelve my books. Don't get me wrong, I adore my kobo (and not only because I can read fanfiction on it) but print books are so wonderful to hold in your hands, smell, and just... admire, I suppose. I find them very comforting and I still buy them quite frequently.

I have sort of the opposite relationship with books from a lot of you. I have chronic health problems, including arthritis issues in my hands and arms. Holding paper books- hardbacks especially, because of the weight, but paperbacks, too- HURTS. The Kindle gave me back my books. It weighs less, and it relieves the stress on the thumbs from holding a book open. Also, I have yet to find a pill that helps me get through pain the way a good distraction does, and nothing pulls me in like a book. When I'm in misery at 3am, I can order nearly any book in the world and start reading right away. For me, ebooks are magic.

That said, I still have a few paper books that they will have to drag out of my cold, dead hands. Particular books that I've had for years, and they're special to me beyond the story they contain. And I still buy a paper book very occasionally. I was at an event recently where I was able to get signed books from some of my favorite authors, and you can bet I took advantage of the opportunity. I may never read those paper books- I already have digital copies of many of them. But they're *signed*. They're mementos of the day I got to meet those authors, and they hold a special place in my collection.

I do prefer printed books - just can't get used to the screen, and the ways of flipping backward to scan for something (a name I forgot, etc.) are fairly awkward. The whole e-Book experience still feels a little awkward for me.

I did get a Kindle though because, as others have said, some older, rarer books in the public domain are only available electronically. Plus books in the public domain are either free or extremely cheap electronically.

Also, my partner has put his foot down on the number of bookshelves in the house (and he's right, we do also need space for other things, not only shelves); so once I fill the last one I will either need to sell some books to make room for more or read more e-Books.

Becky, I do understand your point about access! I have a few friends who have severe vision disorders, and for them, Kindles/e-readers are a gift from heaven! They can only read with the letters greatly magnified. Plus much fewer books are available in large print versions; so their reading would be extremely limited otherwise. Luckily I don't have those problems, at least not at this point in my life.

In addition to physical books, I listen to a great number of audiobooks since I have two hours of commuting every day.

I like printed books better, too. But I have a Kindle Paperwhite and an iPad, and I've been reading off my iPad lately.

I impulse buy a lot more printed books than eBooks. And since I'm using my iPad to read books, I need to get a lot of Apple gift cards, 'cause I live in Hong Kong but use the American iTunes store.

It makes sense what you say about impulse buys Alex. Since I can buy books instantaneously on my Kindle, I rarely buy books on it until right when I'm going to read them. But physical books I buy when I run across them - particularly in used book stores, if I don't get them, I might not run across them again depending on what they are.

I love print books. I collect them, too - but I mainly collect books that are superhero or comic-related. I tend to buy used if possible, and check out from the library. I do read books on my iPhone (kindle app) when I can get them for drastically cheaper than print books (or free). Those are the books I can carry with me all the time, and can read when I'm waiting in line somewhere or have some free time and don't have any books with me - since I always have my phone with me.

Jim, I agree with you - libraries are a fantastic resource. I utilize them well!

Also, a little off topic and not superhero oriented, but I enjoyed the Fables graphic novels beginning with Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile. The second volume is a clever take on Animal Farm. And I thought the novel written by the author Willingham in the same milieu (Peter and Max) was quite enjoyable too.

Most of the books I read I get on my iPad for the convenience and cost, but I enjoy reading print books more because I like seeing my progress through the book and the I like the way the smell. So I go to thrift stores and find book sales and try to build a collection of favorites.

Hava wrote: "Most of the books I read I get on my iPad for the convenience and cost, but I enjoy reading print books more because I like seeing my progress through the book and the I like the way the smell. So ..."

I enjoy reading print books when I can too Hava. At this point I rarely read eBooks, but I do listen to a number of audiobooks because of my commute.

Greg wrote: "Jim, I agree with you - libraries are a fantastic resource. I utilize them well!

Also, a little off topic and not superhero oriented, but I enjoyed the Fables graphic novels beginning with [book:F..."

I really like the Fables series! I think I've only read the first two volumes - because I checked them out of the library :) I need to see if they have more. I haven't read the novel - I'll have to look for that. (I love novels based on superheroes and comic books so much that I actually started a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ group dedicated to them :) )

Greg wrote: "I enjoy reading print books when I can too Hava. At this point I rarely read eBooks, but I do listen to a number of audiobooks because of my commute."

I am almost always in the midst of reading a print book. (Ooh! I'm between books right now, having finished one last night! I get to start a new one :) )

But I also almost always have an audiobook going on my drive to work.

And I almost always have an ebook going (as a secondary book) for those times when I want to read and don't have access to the primary print book I'm reading. I almost never sit down just to read an ebook.

Jim wrote: "...I am almost always in the midst of reading a print book. (Ooh! I'm between books right now, having finished one last night! I get to start a new one :) ) ..."

I cannot go to sleep without starting a new book, even if I only read a few pages. Otherwise I get this empty feeling...

Well, I finished a paperback of Eifelheim the other day, and haven't started another print book. But I'm in the middle of Death Bringer on audio and Orlando on the Kindle app on my phone, so I feel supported by them. :)

Jim wrote: "Well, I finished a paperback of Eifelheim the other day, and haven't started another print book. But I'm in the middle of Death Bringer on audio and Orlando highly enjoyable!

From another perspective...

I'm moving back to Florida (from Maryland) in a few months and have begun drastically downsizing my library of hard copy books (and DVDs) I even have a few VHS tapes that I've crated from NYC to FL to MD and am probably gonna dump before lugging them back to FL again.

Having things available on my Kindle or via Netflix or even on a hard drive somewhere is looking pretty attractive right about now.

I've already sold several boxes of gay-themed books to G Book Store in DC. The guy who runs it is even a worse bibliophile than me. His store is crammed to the rafters with boxes of books and every time I go in I feel tempted to buy something - even though the reason I'm there is to sell what I've got!

I only wish that there were some way to purchase the e-book rights to something that I own in paper. I've already started missing some of what I've sold off.

Stephen wrote: "From another perspective...

I'm moving back to Florida (from Maryland) in a few months and have begun drastically downsizing my library of hard copy books (and DVDs) I even have a few VHS tapes th..."

It can be a lot to lug Stephen - with all my bookshelves, I dread moving!

Every so slowly I'm buying e-book copies of well-liked paper copies. At least a couple of companies have shown some interest in reissuing "classics". Open Road and Bello (UK) spring to mind. But sadly the heart of my paper hoard is from GMP, and I don't see many digital publishers showing much interest in niches like that.

Now I *say* that I'll get rid of paper copies as I acquire digital ones. I'm afraid I haven't actually followed through on that yet.

I will never move again - unless They move me.

John wrote: "...But sadly the heart of my paper hoard is from GMP..."

GMP?

Kernos wrote: "John wrote: "...But sadly the heart of my paper hoard is from GMP..."

GMP?"

I'm sure that they published many others but here's my GMP shelf /review/list...

Thanks Stephen and Andrew, I wasn't sure what GMP was either. :)

I used to stock up on print books for travel, but since they started allowing ebooks/audio during takeoff and landing, not so much. These days, my print to-read pile consists of books that were either not available digitally at all, or were cheaper than digital.

I have been donating the finished print books to my public library (for their book sale inventory).