Do you love Books or do you love Reading?

[Paul Whybrow]

I stumbled across this thoughtful article about reading a classic novel in four different formats, which is well worth a look.

Reading Dickens Four Ways

I love books, as objects that arouse a reaction in me—something that's impossible when contemplating an audio file or an ebook. And, their physical construction, artwork and the feel of the paper on my fingertips, along with the smell of a new book and of an old fusty friend, add to the sensory experience.

I've enjoyed listening to several audiobooks, which kept me sane and awake, while doing other repetitive activities—painting houses and driving long distances. But, listening to a book isn't much of a skill—most of us can hear words. Reading a book is a skill, for we notice things like sentence and paragraph length, word choice, punctuation and the rhythm of the writing.

Reading books on a Kindle or iPhone has advantages, including anonymity, though consuming a book in this way also reduces it to the same level as browsing the internet or tackling email; it's not special. There's also plenty of evidence that being glued to a screen from the moment you get to work, to laying down to sleep has detrimental effects.

The anonymity factor allows privacy, but may hamper the lonely reader's love life. Choice of reading matter, as shown by a book cover, has led to many a relationship.

I do 99.9% of my reading from books, occasionally perusing a downloaded manual on writing and publishing on my laptop. I've never read a book on a Kindle or an iPhone.

How do you read books?

Are they important to you as objects, or would you happily replace them all with audio files and ebooks?

 

[Howard]

I still have a lot of books, but I would give up bundles of paper in a heartbeat. They are dusty, smelly, prone to decay and difficult to hold and carry. Why would I go on a journey with one, flakey, easily damaged paper book when I can take every ebook I own on my laptop and phone?
I will never understand the fetishisation of an object to the point that it occludes the functionality. I read books for the words. I don't care if its stencilled on the side of a badger.
The failings of the human mind will always amaze me. We grasp at the technology we see proliferate in our youth and then refuse to let go. "No no! This is how I like it!". Sure, but it wasn't that long ago that people were screaming about YOUR technology the way you are now screaming about new technology. Books were to be the end of us, if you look back at the scaremongering of the time. Reading books was seen as being terribly detrimental.

We, as a species, move on. We have to. It is out purpose. eBooks are, in every, single, measurable way, better. (Sorry, @AgentPete ).

 

[Carol Rose]

I honestly don't enjoy my Kindle. There. I said it. LOL!! If that's my only option because the book I want to read is only in ebook format, I will still read the book, but on my laptop instead. LOL!

Given the choice, however, I prefer print books, and will buy them in print if they are available in that format. My house is littered with books. They're everywhere! I have three bookcases in my writing room, my daughter has two and she desperately needs a third one, and we have an entire wall of them in the living room. There are piles of books next to my side of the bed, and in every closet in the house. My husband and I joke we should just add a room, turn it into one gigantic library, and be done with it. But then our fear is we'd fill that and the process would start all over again. LOL!

 

[MaryA]

Sometimes I like being able to enlarge text on Kindle or downloaded text, it is kinder on my eyes.

I'll always prefer printed books. I'm interested in book design and layouts, like to be surrounded by books, like picking up books and turning pages, that irreplaceable tactile dimension. While I wouldn't say I 'fetishise' books, I see them as having a future alongside other modes of reading. It isn't an either/or choice for me.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

It looks like Amazon are favouring audiobooks:

Amazon’s Audiobook Strategy Could Become the New Normal in Publishing

 

[Amber]

I love books and audiobooks and reading.

When I've been sad, bookstores have cheered me up. When I'm tired, books used to cheer me up.

I'm going through all my books this year and turning the ones I'll never read into the used bookstore.

I was once really angry at my very conservative family. I don't remember why I was handed money but I was. This wasn't unusual. Let's not think about what it might have meant right now. But once when I was really angry, I went to a used bookstore and spent all the money on books my family would hate. So, books on feminism, and wicca. Tarot cards.

 

[Howard]

It looks like Amazon are favouring audiobooks:

Amazon’s Audiobook Strategy Could Become the New Normal in Publishing

I've never really grasped audiobooks. I used to love them as a kid, when they first appeared, with celebrities making recordings of novels to cassette, but listening to audiobooks as an adult simply has no appeal. They are definitely catching on, and at a great rate, though. I just find it a bit odd. Is this just another symptom of a population with no time to spare, that they must be doing something else while they consume their books?

 

[Matnov]

I rather like an audiobook for a car journey but I also struggle to proclaim that I have 'read' that particular book. Somehow it does not feel a justifiable claim.

As to the original question then yes to both. I tend to prefer the feel of a conventional book in my hands and they do become objects that hold so much more meaning than just the words they contain but I will still happily read away in my Kindle.

I have actually grown to prefer second-hand books to new ones. Not sure why but somehow they have a different feel to them in my hands. And if they contain some sort of hand-written message, and the more obscure the better, it adds to the allure. I will sometimes even buy a book just for that rather than what the book might be about.

 

[Amber]

I rather like an audiobook for a car journey but I also struggle to proclaim that I have 'read' that particular book. Somehow it does not feel a justifiable claim.

Yeah, not to me either. I feel like I might be telling a lie. Then I feel guilty. Then I tell myself not to feel guilty, I'm not lying. ...and so on and so forth. I'm pretty sure this inner dilemma shows when I tell people I've 'read--no listened' to an audiobook.

I once had a job entering criminal records into a database at home. It was a great job -- paid well and only took me two days a week -- but when I first started I got nightmares thinking about all those felonies and misdemeanors, all the sexual assaults and batteries. I started listening to audiobooks so I wouldn't have to think about them. They were just lines on the page. I preferred the unabridged version.

They're also good for traveling, walking, and listening to before you fall asleep. I think it's good to listen to books. We're always told to read our writing out loud. I notice different things when I'm listening rather than reading.

 

[Amber]

Sometimes I like being able to enlarge text on Kindle or downloaded text, it is kinder on my eyes.

I'll always prefer printed books. I'm interested in book design and layouts, like to be surrounded by books, like picking up books and turning pages, that irreplaceable tactile dimension. While I wouldn't say I 'fetishise' books, I see them as having a future alongside other modes of reading. It isn't an either/or choice for me.

Yes I think so too. Books are very pretty.

With ebooks a different part of our brains are engaged.