Book reader community.
eBooks for sure.
Don't get me wrong - absolutely nothing beats the feeling of paper. But if I have my Kindle, I read everyday. If I need to worry about carrying and taking care of a physical book... I read sometimes.
I'm also spoiled by having quick dictionary access, saving quotes, etc.
If it's a very special book I'll buy the physical edition though, just for having it on my shelf.
@kadu @ArmoredCavalry To be honest, the main thing that bothers me about eBooks is that it doesn't support my local bookstore. I tend to buy eBooks from Amazon because it is convenient (yes, I know there are other options, but I admit to laziness here). Local, independent bookstores are a precious resource and I will be mad at myself when they are gone. I will look at the hundreds of books on my Kindle and feel guilty.
That's a really good point, I love any visit to local bookstores (especially when visiting new areas). I should really get into the habit of making some form of purchase whenever I visit one. If nothing else, just to help keep them afloat!
@ArmoredCavalry Amen!
Once they are gone, they aren't coming back. My best friend works in our local bookstore and I rarely need a book right away...but I'm embarrassed to say that I give into the temptation of convenience far too often and order from Amazon. That bookstore has been there all my life and it would be a big loss to the community if it went away.
I started buying my e-books on the Kobo store for this reason as I don't want to support Amazon. Kobo books have the added benefit of making it easy to strip the DRM. You can see a guide here: https://github.com/subdavis/kobo-book-downloader
No argument here, but you can in fact support local bookstores with Kobo ebooks. https://www.kobo.com/indie
I prefer physical books for the most part but I have a hard time justifying their cost when I own an ereader.
I like listening to audiobooks when I'm out and about but I find I'll occasionally miss the odd sentence when I get distracted or forget to pause when I take my headphones off which leads to me skipping around trying to find where I was at.
Audiobooks are good for doing yard work and for the books that I want to check out but find to be a bit of a slog. There are also some great narrators who really bring something extra to the story.
e-books for the last 10 years or so. Some books can be large and/or thick and are a hassle to cart around. My e-reader is slim and lightweight - very easy to take with me when I'm out and about. Also like being able to tap a word and have a definition popup. E-books are also cheaper and have great sales regularly.
Never liked jacketed books, they are silly things.
Do you have any favorite narrators? I enjoy most things by Tim Gerard Reynolds!
I really enjoyed Ray Porter narrating the Bobiverse series and am looking forward to the new book and audiobook release.
Currently listening to and really liking William Dufris narrating the Old Man's War series.
Of a similar vein but not exactly audiobooks, I really like the old BBC radio dramas where they have a full voice acting cast doing things like Sherlock Holmes and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
I enjoy Ray Porter (and Bobiverse) as well!
I've listened to a few full cast productions over the years. I think one of them was the BBC version of Chronicles of Narnia, really enjoyed that one. Not sure if you've heard of it, but there's a site called "GraphicAudio" that create them as well, although they are pretty pricey.
I'll have to check them out later. Their website doesn't like my vpn. But excluding all the superhero stuff, theres some titles listed in their wiki that I'd be interested to check out.
Kobna Holbrook-Smith was the narrator that taught me an audio book performance can truly enhance the books. Even though I still buy the ebooks of Ben Aaronovich's Rivers of London books, I listen to the audio books first.
I've never tried audiobooks, but lately have grown to love, maybe even prefer, e-books. The ability to tap on a word and instantly see its definition or translation is amazing! I also like how I can read in the dark, turn on dark mode, and shrink/enlarge the font size.
Yes reading in the dark is a good point! Makes reading before bed so much easier for me.
I enjoy paperbacks sometimes but the convenience of ebooks wins me over. I also read in other languages so having easy dictionary or translation lookup is fantastic.
Paper, softcover, thin rough pages.
Hardback is hard to hold on to, and I hate those book jackets they come with yet it pains me to just throw them away
e-books. I listen to podcasts while I do chores though. Usually about History.
The Kindle is just so much more convenient - I can carry some 1500 page fantasy book in my hand and it weighs very little as well.
I think all formats complete one another. I do most of my reading on an e-reader because it's practical. I live in a developing country where it's so difficult to get books I want unless I pay a lot in shipping and taxes. I am so grateful for e-books for allowing me to access books I otherwise wouldn't dream of reading
I only read e-books anymore. However; when I find something I love I buy the hardback to have on hand to loan to friends and family that wouldn't want to buy before reading.
I prefer ebooks because it's more portable, and I can have a bunch of books on hand. Recently, I have a new habit of highlighting sentences that stick out to me or points that I want to remember. I would never do this with a physical book because I would feel like I'm messing up my book. I do buy a physical copy if it's a book I love though. I absolutely cannot do audiobooks because I will tune them out and focus on other things. It's in one ear and out the other. I find it easier to focus on written media, so I generally prefer to read. I'm not a podcast fan either.
I started listening to audiobooks for my commute, and that's mostly what I stick to these days. The right narrator can make all the difference though!
And the wrong narrator just makes a great read a slog and a half.
When I'm at home I prefer physical books, they simply make me happy. Also, buying them on my Kindle is really not much cheaper than buying the actual book, especially when I have a huge and amazing used bookstore a couple blocks away from my house where I can get them for the cheapest!
When I'm traveling, I prefer my Kindle because it's light and takes up very little space in my suitcase. Also, I can have multiple books on me during a trip which is great because sometimes I like to read multiple books at the same time and I'll pick up whichever one I'm in the mood for. When I'm traveling, I'm certainly not going to bring two or three different physical books with me. One other area that the e-reader is superior in has to do with all the wonderful classics that are public domain and free!
I've tried audio books two or three times but I just can't get into them. I don't feel the same level of engagement when I'm listening that I do when I'm reading and I don't feel that I experience them the same way, so I just don't bother with audio books anymore.
Physical paperbacks. I can never seem to get as engrossed in audiobooks or e-books as I do with physical copies, so i read physical ones ever when traveling.
eBooks because the device is lighter and I can read in the dark room while my wife & 1year old daughter sleep in the same room.
Nice, thick, heavy hardcover, thick, textured pages, no jacket.
I read more books as audiobooks than other medium, but I enjoy and interact with ebooks/paper more thoroughly. Audiobooks have the convenience factor of being able to read while doing other things, which I love. Ebooks take the win over paper mainly because our local library has an amazing digital library!
Honestly, ebooks, and for me specifically purchased via Kobo. I've come to realize that as nice as a real book feels in the hand, I actually prefer being able to get the exact font, weight, etc that I want out of an eInk device. I also really like being able to sync to my iPhone to read on the go every now and then.
I want to like audiobooks, but there are two me-problems holding me back:
So I tend to prefer reading with my eyes instead of my ears, with a preference towards eBooks due to form factor and the ability to change fonts, font size, margins, etc. if I don't like the publisher's choices. Though from time to time, I'll get a book from the library, a second hand store, or will buy one I really liked which I read digitally. I also have a much easier time choosing a book to read from the library or a second-hand store, probably since there are relatively fewer choices, and having a physical thing to pick up.
I prefer ebooks for reasons others already stated, including:
I wanted to highlight accessibility, which is most important to me. I struggle to focus while reading, and listening to a screen reader narrate a digital text while looking at the written words helps me push through. With use of a screen reader comes the ability to adjust the speed, pitch and/or voice for faster or slower reading, and it's extremely useful when there are no existing audiobooks for said material. The consistency of a synthesized voice allows me to increase the speed and still understand, while audiobooks will contain pauses and emphases at the discretion of the narrator.
In some cases, ebooks can be shared more easily with people who are not physically nearby. I also frequently use full-text search for specific terms.
Another one to add to this is backlights! I don't have to get up to turn off the room light when I'm done reading.
I usually read on my Kobo (epub format) but I like buying pretty paper editions (hardcover or not) to show them off in my room!
I read so much more an epaper ebook. It's so nice to be able to quickly swap between a handful of books in a form factor smaller than an already small paperback.
It depends. I'm studying for my medical exams and paper books are the way to go. I typically smash through audiobooks while driving.
I found studying far easier with audiobooks and podcaster lectures. I'd go walking in the woods and read a text, it was so much easier to focus.
e-books. Generally EPUB, though I'll also read some in AZW3 or PDF depending.
Currently kindle and audiobooks are my go-to. Love the feeling of good hardback but convenience is the key with ebooks.
Ebooks. Kindle has a nice display showing how much is left in the chapter. It has a warm light back light, and i can take multiple books with me on a trip (i have some unfinished books).
I can put down the kindle without losing the page, or having to bookmark it. And i can sideload the books for free.
Physical books are tempting too as i can get them free at a library and very cheap second hand, but i know i would still prefer to read it on kindle where i can choose the font size I like.
Love audio books, but I've been finding myself with less time to listen lately so I've been getting into paperbacks.
There's just something about an actual book that just hits different, ya know?
I prefer ebooks. I like to be able to carry my library around with me. Also, I rarely reread books so they end up collecting dust after I read them.
@ArmoredCavalry Ebooks solve so many problems for me. I'll almost never read print if I can get the ebook.
Same, I also must read them on an ereader. I've tried my phone but it's all so easy to just do something else on a phone.
When I was younger…well, there were only Palm Pilots back then, so it’s a bit unfair, but I’d prefer physical books, and if I were doing active reading then it’d usually be with a physical book.
Reading digital books now requires using a device that often has access to Youtube or something else that’s shorter and snappier and yet pulls hours upon hours out of my life.
And as I’ve gotten older…I haven’t read read a book in years. Is it a lack of attention span? Yes, which makes me feel sad and ashamed and so fucking frustrated because I could, I could read long books as a kid and now…I can’t.
It’s also that I have more to do: laundry, cleaning, work, cooking, errands, exercise… So there’s less time to sit down and read, or if I do, it feels increasingly hedonistic and therefore wrong to just do one thing at once. If I can multitask then shouldn’t I?
Audiobooks are both a godsend and a curse. I can actually consume books again! But I’m locked into the ease of it.
Actively choosing to doing just the one thing, for myself, is far harder than it ought to be.
I love audiobooks. I have far more time to listen to something rather than physically read, so I can get through books in 2 or 3 days. As much as I don’t want to let go of my kindle, I do read physical books far more than ebooks.
E-books most of the time and I've been reading on phone screens even before they became smart-ish. I still remember the joy of carrying books in the pocket, even if the screen of the Nokia phone I was using at that time was pretty small and books had to be in a very specific text format.
Paper books are fantastic and cannot be replaced when they are used as manuals. The memory of a printed page with nice graphics and of its relative positioning in a technical or scientific book that is read more than once is not replaceable by an electronic equivalent.
Finally, my sight does not improve over time and e-book custom fonts and size can be very helpful!
For many years it's been ebook mainly because of limited space and aging eyes.
But strangely I just picked up a trade paperback at Barnes & Noble that I'm liking reading very much, not just for the story but for the tactile nature of it. I've read my whole life and never thought I'd ever trim my library. But having kids and getting older abused me of that notion. 🙂
I'm still going to use my Kindle for most books, but it's been nice to have a physical book again.
Old small books with bible paper and leather cover. It's amazing how you can have a 1.500 pages book in your pocket.