I read 36 books last year, all of them digital. Those books, if actual physical volumes, could fill an entire shelf of a bookcase but instead they were all contained in a single small tablet (or ereader, as my mood and choice of device varied).
I love the convenience of ebooks. I love being able to highlight words to look them up, to effortlessly pick up from where I left off reading without worrying about a bookmark getting lost, to be able to read in the dark so I don’t disturb others, to flip quickly between different books, to see images and illustrations sharply rendered and in color, something few paperbacks afford these days.
I like being able to read trash on public transit without the pesky social stigma since no one can see the lurid book covers. Actually, I don’t mind people seeing my terrible taste in literature. If I did I wouldn’t carefully track and review everything I read on this blog. But others are bound to appreciate being able to discretely read about unicorn sex or whatnot.
And yet for all these conveniences and perks I can appreciate why some people still prefer actual paper books. There is a solidness, a tangibility to having something you physically heft. It makes the experience of reading seem more substantial. Book covers pop with embossed lettering and illustrations in a way you don’t get from a flat LCD image. The grain of the paper, even the smell of the pages, it speaks to the magic of losing yourself in another world for a little while. I experienced some of this when I was in a bookstore during my mall exercise regime the other day, looking over shelves of books, each a different size or thickness, none of them reduced to bits of digital ephemera.
And then I sighed at how those same shelves are crowded with endless series across every genre. Every story must be spread over ten volumes now, it seems, with single volumes largely left to the “literature” section. If I hear someone go on about world-building one more time I may scream. In fact, I did scream a little just now.
Other things you can’t do with an ebook that you can with a physical book:
- beat off rabid animals
- use as a paperweight
- use as a doorstop (Steven Erickson recommended)
- use to build a small fort
- use to hide valuable jewels by carving out a secret space inside
- use to show off how clever/literate you are in public
- flip pages back and forth rapidly with your thumb in order to bug your friends
- suddenly snap shut for dramatic effect
- have it autographed by Famous Author then sell it on Pawn Stars
