I have a confession to make. About nine years ago when I was preparing to leave for college, I sold all my hardcopy books in favor of e-books. I just didn’t have the room in my small car to lug boxes upon boxes of books with me. It felt freeing at the time to be able to carry around so many books all packed into one simple device, leaving my hands free to juggle large textbooks. It was just easier to have an e-reader with me instead.
It is also a great convenience to buy books with the click of a button. As much as I used to love hanging out at Borders (yes, I’m that old) and Barnes & Noble, the ease of the click became much more preferable to driving all the way to the bookstore. I spent many years like this reading exclusively e-books.
These days, I work full-time as a proofreader. For me, that means staring at screens a lot more than I ever have before. This led to eyestrain issues. Reading for pleasure after proofing was becoming a nightmare since my eyes couldn’t handle it. And so, just a few months ago, I went back to Barnes & Noble and bought my first physical book designated simply for reading pleasure in years.
Opening that book felt so good. It was like coming home. There is just something about being able to feel and smell the book and turn the pages. And I could enjoy reading again, curing the eyestrain problem. Maybe it’s because I grew up before e-readers really became a thing. I’m not entirely sure what it is that is so magical about it. But I’m glad I found my way back to the bookstore after all these years.
I still enjoy reading e-books, but I’m also glad for the physical books I’m back to collecting again, both for my mental and physical health.
And so I have to ask the question: Which do you prefer?
While I do appreciate their convenience, I never really got into reading ebooks. They’re great for hoarding a huge collection of books, but there’s just something about the feel of a paper book in my hands that I’ve always loved more! 🙂
Yes. And something about bookstores is soothing as well.