I learned to read pretty early as a kid. I loved reading and read profusely even into my teens. After devouring everything I liked from my parents' home library and the books they got for me, I started reading on my phone. Back in 2008, phone screens weren't really that big, but I didn't care. The Internet gave me access to an infinite library. I had insomnia even back then, so I've spent countless nights reading under the blanket. A few years later, they got me an e-ink reader too, which I used for some time. It still works, although I barely use it.
I don't read that much nowadays. To be honest, before my friend started our book club three years ago, I don't think I read anything for several years. Now I'm lucky if I finish a book a month for that club. But I feel like my love for reading is slowly coming back to me.
I saw a discussion about Kindle and was surprised to not see a single person that prefers physical books over digital. Personally, I use reading as an escape from technology and screens that occupy too much of my time already. To be honest, I don't know that much about Kindle specifically. Can you only read books on them, or is it more like a tablet with lots of capabilities like browsing the web and such? Anyways, I don't think it's available in my country. People say it's convenient, and I believe it. You just buy a book on Amazon and it gets downloaded to your device, right?
My own e-ink reader isn't like that. You have to download a file and put it on the device with a cable or an SD card. The issue is, any e-book you can read or buy, at least to my knowledge, comes with an Android app, or you can read it on PC through the web. If a PDF file is provided, it's DRM-protected and won't be readable on any other device but a computer. And I try not to rely on piracy too much, and it's also become less convenient during the last decade — copyright holders block a lot of web libraries with pirated books, then there's so much junk pretending to be legitimate books but either provide only snippets or redirect you to online stores... I got access to a free online library through my own local one, but again, it's only available through an app on a phone or a computer. And if I'm going to pay for a book, I'd rather get a physical one.
Some people take pleasure in reading paper books. They talk about the smell, about the sensation of turning the pages... I won't pretend to be one of them. I don't get anything special from reading a physical book. But there's something nice about owning one. Even though I'm reading stoics like Epictetus, who talk about being detached from material things, I've yet to absorb those ideas. So yes, I take some pleasure from looking at my slowly growing library.
I'm curious to know your experience with reading. Do you ever read on your phone? Do you have a reader? Do you read physical books? Do you collect books? Or maybe you borrow books from the library, be they physical or digital?
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Great post! I love physical books, but I've come to appreciate my reader. Yes, I like the feel and smell of a real book, but ebooks have their charms too — like the little meter that tells you how much you've read and how much you have left to go. I also love the fact that on a reader, you can highlight passages, add notes, look up words, and even have it pronounce words and phrases, which is indispensable for language learning and reading in foreign languages. Consequently, I think I'll always read both physical and ebooks. My first reader was a Kindle, and the first thing I read was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and then the two subsequent books in the trilogy — three of the best, most enjoyable books I've ever read.
A nice read! It's all physical for me these days. Being virtually addicted to screen I find real books to be a kind of refuge. I also like the physical weight of the heavy ones, like Dostoevksy's for instance.
I definitely prefer reading physical books. I don't think I've ever read a whole book on the phone or PC. I read articles online. I don't have a kindle, and I don't think I'll have it one day as I boycot Amazon.
When I read in Japanese, I prefer reading physical books, but when I read in English, it's better for me to read with my Kindle. Kindle has a built-in dictionary, and it's very useful when I find unfamiliar words.
I used to read lots of books in Japanese, but unfortunately it's hard for me to find reading time in it. I only read books in English to improve my reading skills. I've set up a goal which I finish 16 books a year, and right now I'm reading my 14th book. I have to push myself to reach the goal this year as well.
Today I dropped by Kinokuniya in Shinjuku, which is one of the largest bookshops in Japan, for the first time in almost twenty years. I was surprised to see that it was as crowded as ever. It seems that physical book lovers are still going strong. I bought a book about guitar chords, and when I got home, I learned that I could have read it for free if I were an Amazon Prime member (though I'm not). Still, I'm really satisfied that I got it at a physical bookshop.
No matter how many reviews I read on Amazon, I still can't be sure which book will really be useful to me. But if I spend ten minutes browsing in a bookstore, I can tell right away.
Thank you, everyone, for your comments!
@CocoPop Thank you for the corrections, Uly! I might look into reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, since you mentioned it. I haven't watched a movie so I'll go in blind. My library actually has an English edition of the book, so I might read it in English. But the original is actually in Swedish, right?
@Gregor Me too, man! Everything is on screens these days it's hard to not get addicted.
@Double-Zee I feel validated by your preference! :)
@yumiyumayume Kindle seems to be a useful tool in your language learning so I see why you prefer it when reading in a foreign language. 16 books a year feels like a manageable goal, keep it up!
@Akiko The fact that this bookshop is crowded is very reassuring. I rarely see more than two or three other customers at once in either bookshops or the library.
Yes, it's a Swedish author, and I think his books were published posthumously. At any rate, the first book, interestingly enough, is called Män som hatar kvinnor Men Who Hate Women.