Monday, August 1, 2011

The Sway of E-Readers

When e-readers first started making a big impact, I was skeptical. I was of the opinion that a book in print is ten times better. I love the look of them, the feel of them. I think covers look so stunning in person.

But, I was also having a hard time keeping up on all the 'new stuff.' Most of the books I was reading were a year old or more because I had to wait until they were released in paperback. Paying almost $20 for a hardcover book? Not possible more than once every other month or so. My wallet was really hurting.

Ultimately, the price difference is what made me decide I wanted an e-reader. After doing my research, the Barnes and Noble NOOK Color is what I chose. I've had my NOOK for a few months now, and have discovered a few other things that I greatly like about e-books.

1. Shopping From Home
I'm pressed for time. Between a demanding job, a family, and sharing a car with my wife who also has an extremely demanding job, we don't have time to make weekly (or even biweekly) trips to the book store just to browse around. From the comfort of my home, when I have a few moments to spare, I can browse around online and pick up a book that looks interesting.

2. Free Samples
I know. "Why not go into a book store and read from the actual book," right? Again, this goes back to time as well as my own personal comfort levels. While I would love to spend hours in a bookstore, browsing around and reading the first 30 pages of every book that catches my eye, it simply isn't logical for me. I can load up on a slew of free samples, and read through them in the rare instances I get throughout my work day that I can take a break. Chances are, if I'm not still thinking about that book when I get home, it isn't one that really caught my attention and made me want to read.

3. More Space!
Between Wife and I, we have a lot of books. And I mean, a lot of books. Two full five-shelf book cases, nine or ten boxes in the garage, and others stuffed in various places. We've reached the point where it really is ridiculous and we don't have limitless amounts of space to store everything. My NOOK solves this problem.

4. Picky, Picky
Despite my attempts at not doing so, sometimes I end up reading three or four books at once. I might be really into Book A, then happen to flip through Book B and get wrapped up into it. I might occasionally slip over to Book C if my mood calls for it. Having all three books on-hand at any given time is far more convenient than shoving three paperbacks into my purse.

5. Reading More Often
I'm not sure what it is, but since purchasing my NOOK I've done a LOT more reading. Maybe it's the ease of having my page bookmarked and only a button press away. Maybe it's that even if Wife is sleeping, I can read for 30 minutes before bed without disturbing her by having a light on. Whatever the case may be, I'm discovering that I'm now reading a book or two a week as opposed to one a month.

6. Lending
NOOKs have this handy feature called Lend-Me. (I'm sure Kindles and other e-readers have similar functions.) Of course, I can lend my physical books to friends...but only if I a.) trust them to return my books and b.) see them in person. The Lend-Me feature (which sadly isn't available on all books, but a lot of them) for those who don't know, works like this: Friend sees a book of mine they want to read and puts in a request. I approve the request. The book is removed from my NOOK for 14 days and placed onto theirs so they can read it. At the end of 14 days, it vanishes on their reader, and voila! It is back on mine. Handy feature to have, especially when most of your friends live several hours or states away.


I'm not trying to convince everyone to rush out and buy e-readers. I truly don't believe they'll ever be something 'for everyone.' However, I do think e-readers will become the future for a lot of types of books. (Non-fiction and textbooks, especially, but that's a post for another day.) I would definitely encourage anyone who hasn't to give it a try. You might be like me and surprise yourself.


What say you, YAtopians? For e-readers? Against them? Were you adamantly anti-e-reader that eventually changed your ways?



ALSO...I hope everyone knows that our very own DJ begins his Blog Tour on Wednesday in preparation for the release of HUNTED! You all should definitely check out his stops, and be ready to pick up a copy of HUNTED.

12 comments:

  1. I can't wait until I can afford an e-reader. Surprisingly it's my 14 year old daughter who thinks it's a terrible idea and she'll never never own one :)

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  2. When e-readers first came out, I was offended on behalf of lovely paperback and hardback books. I vowed never to own one. But in the past six months I've found myself reading quite a bit on the computer anyway, and I've sort of had a change of heart. Everyone who has one loves theirs. So I think I'm asking for a NOOK for Christmas. *sigh* I will still buy my very favorite books to put on the bookshelf for sentimental reasons, but ereaders definitely seem like the way to go.

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  3. I never thought I would love reading on my Nook as much as I do. I never wanted one... then I did, but not enough to actually save to get one. Then I finally did and I love it. I can read at the gym so easily! It sits perfectly on the ellptical while I work out. It helps me work out for longer because I'm into a book. I don't have to try and hold pages open.

    Like you I read in the dark while hubby is sleeping and don't bother him.

    And yes, the price was big for me. We save 6-7 dollars PER book on hardcover. It might have been expensive to buy but I save money.

    Oh, and I read some of the free or discounted books too.

    That said, there are downfalls too. There is a signing coming up and I have the authors book... but only on my Nook. So now to get an autograph, I'd have to buy it again.

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  4. I look at my Kobo as a supplement of my physical home library. :) Not all titles are released in book format, and if there's one I want to read, I have a means of storing and reading it that's not my computer. Books are still topnotch for me, but as you said, they can get expensive. It's nice to have a cheaper alternative.

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  5. I'm for them. I got a Kindle, but the world is funny, and every book I've wanted has come in immediately from the library, causing my Kindle to catch a little dust. But I'm definitely pro-ebook for my future purchases.

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  6. I love hearing everyone's opinion!

    DJL, how are the Kobos? I've heard of them, but haven't actually known anyone who owned one!

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  7. I mainly got a nook for my reviews at Sift, and I still haven't read much else on it. (But I review minimum two books a month, so that's still a good amount of reading).

    I still really like having hard copies and I'll buy them if I can. If I'm not sure I want a copy, I'll borrow it from the library instead.

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  8. I was a nay sayer at first, but now it is the only thing I use. I still have books, but I absolutely love my e-reader.

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  9. I lovelovelove my Kindle, and agree with all the points you've made here! Except one -- as a student a year away from college I really hope textbooks don't go e-reader; while it'd probably save a ton of money, looking things up in textbooks is far, far easier than looking them up on a kindle (or nook, I'm assuming).

    1. Textbooks are bigger. More information on one page.
    2. Flipping through a textbook is so much easier than on an e-reader. But mostly it's much, much faster.
    3. A lot of time research means looking and more than one page at once, something you can do with a physical copy and your hands. Not something you can do with an e-reader.

    There are probably more reasons, but I'm getting far too invested in this little comment, haha. :P

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  10. I purchsed a colour nook about a month ago and really like it. I've read three books off it so far (though now I'm back to one of the paperbacks I've had on my shelf for a while) and found it was as easy as reading a regular book. (Except when the battery dies, of course! That would neve happen with a real book!) A particular plus is with new releases/hard covers. They're so big and cumbersome and don't fit in my purse as well as my nook! One thing I'm having trouble with, though, is downloading books from my local library, but hopefully I'll have that resolved soon! Enjoy your nook!

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  11. Kelley, I really love it though I regret that I bought it before the Kobo Touch was released. It's fairly user-friendly thanks to the ebook version of the manual. :) What I like about it is being able to read both Kobo ebooks and Nook ebooks on it. EPUB files are great. :)

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  12. I love my Nook Color. I transfer manuscripts to it and other formats so that I can read everything. Even my books from NetGalley. I love it, what else can I say?

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