Ebooks vs paper

[cjsmith]

What are your thoughts on Kindle (or other electronic format) versus paper books?

I’ve got an unwieldy paper library and am starting to collect books in Kindle format. I suspect Kindle will be my preference for fiction, since I go through that quickly and it’s a lightweight way to carry a lot. Browsing is awkward in electronic format, leading me to think I’d rather have paper cookbooks, but the nondestructibility of a tablet in a case is also attractive in the kitchen.

Which kinds of books do you prefer to have in which formats?

Comments

[nosrednayduj]

I still prefer the feel of dead trees in my hands. This last trip I only took the kindle, and it was convenient, but I missed the feel of a book.

[cjsmith]

I too enjoy the feel of a book. I also recognize beloved titles by how they look on my physical shelf. For travel, though, and if I ever move again (!!), paper is just bulky.

I’m not looking forward to the expense of converting, though. Yowza.

[nosrednayduj]

I don't re-read much, so If I had to abandon dead trees I wouldn't try to convert my entire library. I'd just shed a small tear and move on. We have thousands of books, and it kind of defines our house, but really, it's quite rare that I actually look at one of our existing books. The new ones come in, are read by 4-5 people, and then shelved. Some of our series' have holes in them; some books we end up getting from the library, and others are on the kindle, so in some ways the library is kind of stupid because you're never sure what you actually have. I still like it, though.

[cjsmith]

Your house sounds delightful. I’d probably get lost in there for months on end. :)

Having moved several times in a short span, and mostly to smaller spaces, I got rid of most of the stuff I thought I wouldn’t re-read. The amount that is left is, well, optimistic. :) I probably don’t have enough free waking hours left on this earth to re-read them all. Still, they’re the ones that I find hard to part with.