I’ve always loved print books. I love their beautiful covers, and the display they make on my shelf. I love turning the pages myself, I love the smell, and I love the feeling of settling in for an hour or two with a book in my lap, losing myself in a fictional world. Sure, Kindles are convenient, and ebooks are cheaper, but print books have always been my first love. I used to devour whole shelves of books, borrowing my limit of books from my local library every time I visited. Until life happened, that is. I got a job, started taking my writing more seriously, and suddenly my long hours of uninterrupted reading time simply disappeared.
It was then that I discovered there’s a problem with print books. They’re difficult to take with me when I’m out and about and only have five minutes or so in which to dip into a story. Print books are bulky, and some of them are enormous (Illuminae, I love you dear, but you do not fit in my handbag). And if they do fit, sometimes I don’t want to carry them around in case I damage them. Plus, for me, print books always have an association of sitting down and devouring chapter after chapter, not dipping in for a page or two in a waiting room..
I fell out of reading for a while, to be honest, no matter how hard I tried to hold onto the habit. I still loved books (of course. I am a writer after all), but making the time for reading was difficult. But then, one day, I discovered my local library had an ebook lending app. I could borrow audiobooks and ebooks and download them onto my phone. Audiobooks, I quickly discovered, weren’t really for me. I much prefer to read the words myself instead of listening to them. I tend to space out when I’m listening to things, and that’s not great for me remembering where I’m up to in a book. I definitely understand why people love them so much though. The ebooks though, they were a game changer.
Suddenly I had a huge choice of books, for free, on my phone. No matter where I went, I always had my phone with me. I could pull it out on my break at work, or sitting in the car for five minutes before an appointment, or on the treadmill at the gym, and read a few pages. If the book wasn’t to my taste, I could have another book in minutes, instead of needing to go and visit the library. Sure, I wasn’t too big on ebooks, or on reading on my little phone screen, but suddenly I had easy access to books all through the day, no matter what I did, or where I went. I could read it, send it back instantly, and borrow something else. No lugging physical things around, and no pressure to read for long periods of time.
I still prefer print books over ebooks. There’s something just so nice about the physical pages, and the beautiful covers, being able to hold the book in my hands and look at it on the shelf, which ebooks don’t have. But when it comes to kickstarting my reading habits and making me enjoy books again and helping me read more often, it’s ebooks which have been the life saver. No matter where I go now, I have a book on hand, whether I’m sitting in the physio, waiting for my appointment, or in the backroom at my workplace. I’ve read more ebooks this year than I have print books, and I love reading more than ever.
Have you ever fallen out of the habit of reading? What helped you get your reading habits back on track? Do you prefer print or ebooks? Do you ever worry about carrying a print book around with you, in case it gets damaged? Let’s chat, down in the comments!
