Friday, July 1, 2016

Finally Friday - Ebooks vs Real Books

**Nothing to Disclose**



Today's Finally Friday post is a just for fun battle of the book formats. Each format has its advantages and disadvantages, and this is my amusing take on those.

Ebook advantages:

  1. I can mark up my books as much as I want without actually marking them. This is what I needed for my book reports in high school. I went through a pack of index cards taking notes and writing quotes that I wanted to use because I refuse to mark up a real book.
  2. I can bring an entire library with me, and it's only the size of one book. Again, I needed this a long time ago. I could never narrow down my books to take on a trip. I mean, really, what if I decide during the trip that I'm not in the mood for the book I brought, and I'm stuck with nothing to read. Or even worse, if I finish it and I'm stuck with nothing to read.
  3. Similar to my second point, it doesn't take up room on my shelves. I'm running out of shelves to put my books on and I have no room for more shelves. Digital books take up no shelf space, and minimal memory.
  4. Dogs can't eat an entire chapter or rip it to shreds.


Ebook disadvantages

  1. Battery life. I am constantly forgetting to charge my nook, and my tablet pretty much needs to be charged daily if I'm reading a lot (which is pretty much always).
  2. Not all books are available as ebooks. Some older mystery titles aren't ebooks, and probably will never be available.


Hmmm, I really thought I would be able to come up with more disadvantages. Oh well, moving on...

Real book advantages

  1. Being able to feel the paper in your hands. I don't know why, but nothing can replace how a real book feels.
  2. New book smell. Ok, now I'm probably just being weird, but it is part of the experience, along with the feel of the book.
  3. A shelf full of books looks awesome. That is something you can't do with ebooks at all.
  4. You can get them signed much easier than an ebook. I mean, you could technically get your ebook cover signed, but it just wouldn't be the same.


Real book disadvantages

  1. Water will completely destroy them. Even if you get it to dry out, the chance of mold spreading to all your other books is just scary
  2. They hold any smell they come in contact with. Yuck. Just yuck.
  3. They are very susceptible to dog teeth. In case you are wondering, 2 library books and one book that I owned.


And the winner is... every format! Seriously, the pros and cons balance out for all formats, and each one has its uses. Do you have any silly pros and cons to add?

~Kelly

2 comments:

  1. Good Post. I use both and think that having both enhances my reading life because I use them differently and some content is only availabe in one format or the other.

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  2. I read before bed and the screen light from the eReader makes my sleep choppy. I prefer a "real" book.

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