Hello Readers!
Today I want to ask a question
that has no doubt crossed every book lovers mind over the past few years:
Physical or Electronic?
E-readers
have become increasingly popular since their release a few years back.
Personally, I was not a happy Reader. The idea of giving up my beloved books,
the scent of musty pages, the feeling of eagerly flipping pages to live an
adventure, was just something that I did not want to be a part of.
One of
my favourite things about reading is sharing. The whole point of a story to me
is to share the life of the people on the pages so naturally after reading a
book that I love, the first thing that I do is pass it on. I love to tell my
friends about these incredible stories!
It is a great feeling when you introduce a friend to a book and it
becomes just as much a part of their lives as it was/is yours.
Another
thing I love is exploring second-hand book stores. In my corner of the world,
there are so many quaint little shops that dedicate themselves to the sharing
of adventures, romance, personal experiences or whatever you’re into. Earlier I
talked about the scent of musty pages – well the kinds of places that I am
talking about, has this smell as a natural aroma – and I adore it. Sometimes,
you flick through a few pages and if you’re lucky enough there’s a hand-written
dedication to someone who loved the book for many years before passing it on
for others to enjoy. There may be annotations scrawled between the lines or
down the sides of the page. Personal
touches. It is all of these things, and many more that had me questioning
not only why people would want to trade this, but who.
I was
close-minded.
Since the release of e-Readers,
Kindles, iPads and every other possible type of electronic reading devices,
things have changed.
I was diagnosed with a
neuromuscular disease and in short, holding books has become more difficult
than putting one down. Still, I battled on and carried my books around as
always and as an English Literature student, I can tell you that was a task
worthy of a medal.
Then, earlier this year, a family
friend took pity on me and bought me a Kindle as a Christmas present. I wasn’t
sure how to take it. I was still against reading books electronically but it
was getting to the point where I couldn’t physically carry around books such as
Vanity Fair, Middlemarch and The Mayor of
Casterbridge at the same time as well as textbooks and a laptop. I picked
up my Kindle, bought the Sherlock Holmes collection, and tried it out. Now I’m
not going to say that I was instantly won over, but I think you see where this
blog is going.
I have since read a number of
books on my Kindle and I truly do love it. My reading experience has improved
now that I can get through a book without having to put it down every 30
minutes to give my hands a rest but most importantly – reading electronically
does not take anything away from the overall feel of a book. Packing to go to
classes or for a weekend trip home has become a lot lighter too! I read fairly
fast when I am in the mood so going home for a weekend usually meant packing
around 6 books (including university ones) as well as everything else I would
need. Now I just pick up my laptop bag and my Kindle and I am good to go. Anywhere.
It is so light and easily transportable that I literally find myself carrying
it my every day bag. I once took it out to a nightclub by accident as I had
forgotten it was in there…oops.
I can hear yourself asking, what
happened to all of those reasons why I was against electronic reading. Well! I
was being silly. Yes, I love my Kindle and have used it many, many times but I
have also bought more physical books than e-books since. I will never stop
buying physical books and my house will always be overrun with them but now I’m
just a little bit pickier about what format I want for which particular
book. I think it is important to
remember that the most important thing about reading is the story itself and
not the format that it exists in. As long as there are words, I will be reading
them.
I would love to know your
opinions on book formats.
Have you switched to e-books?
Still a dedicated physical book lover? Or, like me, do you dabble in both? Let
me know!
