My Realization - Kindle vs. Print Books #kindle #printbooks

I have over 50 unread print books laying around my house, as well as a fair number of print books that I have already read at least once. Well okay. Not exactly laying, but stacked neatly on bookshelves. But that is beside the point. I generally read on my Kindle and when my husband asks about all the print books, especially as I obtain more, I tell him I'm saving them for the zombie apocalypse when we no longer have electricity. 

Sounds like a plan, right? Of course that means I will have to read in daylight or by candlelight, or even by torch until the batteries run out, but whatever.

So when my friend Brian loaned me a book recently it was, of course, a paperback. The first paperback I've read in some time. And I realized something. 

I actually prefer reading on my Kindle. *sigh*

And even with my preference, of course I will continue to read print books - there are so many to love!

I adore print books. I really do. I love flipping through the pages. How easy it is to find your place if you've lost it. How easy it is to flip back to a passage you want to read again. Difficult to do with an ebook!

Oh and the feel of the book in my hands. The lovely covers right there in all their glory to behold without even trying - just so beautiful right in front of your eyes! Once you've purchased your ebooks you may never look at the cover again. Covers aren't in your face once an ebook is already on your Kindle and an ebook cover is never as beautiful as a print book cover. So so much about print books to love. I even get every single person on my Christmas list a print book, for crying out loud!!!

But when it comes to straight reading...*gulp*...I now prefer to read on my Kindle. I know! It's sacrilege. How could I feel this way? And why?

Well the why part is fairly easy. It's easier to hold, for starters. I don't have to worry about cramps in my hand from making sure my thumb and pinkie are splayed far enough apart to hold the book open with my remaining three fingers spaced properly on the spine of the book to support it. I don't have to find my easily misplaced bookmark when I need to stop reading in the middle to do something else. I don't need to worry about inadvertently cracking the spine, bending the pages, or keeping them pristine if I'm munching and eating. Screens are easily cleaned. Not that I'm a TOTAL slob. Sheesh! And when my bifocal prescription needs updating (yes I'm THAT old), small print is no worry. I can enlarge the font on my Kindle!

And of course, it doesn't hurt that MOST ebooks cost less than their print counterparts.

But the best reason of all is because of light. My husband claims to be part vampire and he likes things dark, or at least somewhat dim, in our home. While I do have a lamp with a head that I can move in different directions, he prefers that it be focused on a back wall claiming it is too bright or that it reflects off the television. This pretty much means that it is too dark for me to comfortably read a print book. But with my Kindle...ohhhh! My Kindle has a cover with a built-in light (I prefer that to backlit models) and I can literally read in the dark! The light is not bright enough to bother my mate, but is bright enough to illuminate my Kindle page and I can read anywhere, anytime without bothering anyone else with my need for light.

And so...there it is...

I love print books. Always have. Always will. I will never stop buying them and reading them.

But for day-to-day reading *sob* I now prefer my Kindle. Print book purists, please don't hate me. I promise every book I author will always be available as both print (even large print) and ebook.

How do you prefer to read? Did you ask Santa for any books this year? Please tell me in the comments.