Why will you never give up print books?

I know a lot of people who have forgone print books in favor of Kindles or iPads or the like, but I know there's a huge number of us who think that nothing can compare with the feeling of snuggling up in a chair and turning physical pages. My top five reasons for never giving up my physical books:

5. You can't get a digital copy of a book signed by the author.

4. A shelf of books makes any room instantly more interesting.

3. Book smell. New or old, I love them both.

2. Cover artwork isn't nearly as gripping when you're viewing it on a screen.

1. My books are my constant companions; I love looking at my shelf and remembering where and who I was when I read a particular book. I don't get that feeling looking at my digital library.

So why won't you give up your paper books?

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Permalink Reply by Genna Sarnak on March 23, 2011 at 12:46pm

I am totally with you on this one. My dad calls me a luddite daily because of my predilection to print books over ereaders. I just can't help it....There is something magical and palpable about holding a book in your hand.

I actually wrote a whole post about this for my friend J.C. Martin's blog. Check it out here:

http://jc-martin.com/fighterwriter/2011/03/guest-blog-post-genna-sa...

In the post I site a few reasons why I love print books:

I love holding books between my hands, curling spines backwards, feeling the weight, history, and power of the words.
Holding a physical book makes me feel powerful and in control (perhaps an imagined side effect). For example, I can quickly turn back to reread without having to make a digital book mark and then page back randomly until I find what I’m searching for.
As someone who sits in front of a computer screen all day, I don’t want to come home and cuddle up with a machine. By nighttime, my eyes reel, my thumbs ache, and my brain wants to process something other than digitized text.
Books can spawn social interactions, such as meeting an intelligent potential partner at a book store. This might lead to a conversation such as, “Hey I love that novel! Want to get coffee and discuss post feminist remnants of the author’s penultimate text?”
Books can be pretty and jacket covers can double as posters.
Nothing beats the smell of a book. New book smell, old book smell, it doesn’t matter. Best. Smell. Ever.

Those are just some of the reasons I will NEVER give up print books! :)

Permalink Reply by Jenny on March 23, 2011 at 2:36pm

I read your post and completely agree with everything you said, especially the part about staring at a computer all day and not wanting to do that once you get home from work. I've been working a desk job for about six months now, and there's nothing I want to do less when I get home than stare at another screen. I'm pretty sure my eyesight is going to be destroyed in ten years as it is.

Permalink Reply by Genna Sarnak on March 23, 2011 at 3:10pm

I feel your pain. LoL! Day jobs suck and for sure our whole generation will most likely have messed up eye sight by age 50...

I'm going to stop by your blog now to check it out! :)

Permalink Reply by Athena on April 8, 2011 at 10:41am

1. I love buying books and adding more to my already pretty big collection of books on my shelves. I just love owning all the books that I love.

2. After staring at a screen all day long at work, why would you want to read on a computer again? There's nothing more relaxing than lying in bed or in the couch absorbed in a great book.

3. A book can be really beautiful, the pictures, the cover.. you wouldn't get that on a computer

4. I just love the feeling of a book in my hands, I can't explain it, and turning pages is so much nicer than clicking next

5. Because all real book lovers really want is to have that giant library in Beauty and the Beast, and woosh around in it on those library ladders and touch all the books

Permalink Reply by M.Ro on April 16, 2011 at 11:35pm

I completely agree with everything you said. I always carry a book around with me and I never have to worry about the battery dying on one of those kindle things...I'm also slightly tech-tarded so I'd rather not have another electronic device to keep track of. My dad reads a couple of books a week so a kindle is perfect for him. Call me old-fashioned but I always have and always will love the actual act of turning the page of a great book. I love the cover art and I love the way the book smells. And think about it this way, a good book often ends up on a bookcase. A good bookcase adds character to a room. My living room has a lot of character because of my bookcase and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.

Permalink Reply by cooper on April 27, 2011 at 11:59pm

I agree with your list. I love having my study full of books, love illustrations. The Kindle is convenient for travel that is for sure.

I can find a purpose for both.

Permalink Reply by Kelly Michelle on May 15, 2011 at 9:03pm

This has probably been said but I love a good deal on a book. Garage sales or library sales or online, you can get books for a quarter! Only the sucky ones are cheap for book readers. And I love when someone else has written their name in a book and I know that the book was loved before I had it.

Permalink Reply by Hattie I on August 9, 2011 at 3:55pm

I agree with you 100%. My husband(hopefully jokingly) says he's going to get me a Nook someday. I would never use it. I love holding books in my hands and hearing the paper as you turn the page.

Why will you never give up print books?

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