I Am a Book Person

I am a book person.

It's not that I'm against Kindles, Nooks, and the like. I understand why people like them.

But at the end of the day, I want to curl up with a good book, not a computer.

I stare at a computer screen for much of my day. I don't want to do it at night.

I like the books on my bookshelf. Often, I can pick one up and remember what was going on in my life at the time I first read it.

I appreciate the art of the book, and how everything (typeface, cover, the entire package) fits together. There's a sense of permanence there. For me, an ebook is gone as soon as the last character is read.

I like the quality-control process that most printed books have gone through. 

Books take up too much space in my house and my office. But if they didn't, other stuff would take their place. And it would be junk. Books are never (well, almost never) junk.

I like buying books. So much value for so little money. They are my "retail therapy." And they don't break the bank.

I'd never read a "free" ebook. If a book has gone out of print, I'd rather look around for a used hard copy than read it on an ebook reader. So even though I'd buy it new if it were still in print, I know there's a copy of it available SOMEWHERE. Thank God.

There's a tactile sensation to the book that I like. With a hardcover, I like the feeling of strength. With a trade paperback, I like the feeling of flexibility and portability. With a mass-market paperback, I like the feeling of being in touch with an editor's idea of what "The Reader" is interested in reading.

I think the "death of the book" has been greatly exaggerated. At Barnes & Noble, the kids' section is usually overflowing with kids. A new generation of readers is growing up with books, and they won't be giving them up.

We'll have fewer retail outlets selling books. Can't deny that - but we'll also have fewer retail outlets selling appliances, clothing, and so forth. We'll adapt, just the way the movie and TV industries adapted to VHS tapes and DVDs.

Books have always been an escape. They're even more of an escape now, when the average person is wired 24 hours a day, answering instant messages while having sex or on the toilet. I don't think I'm the only one who wants to disconnect from a bright, glowing screen. 

[Note: This blog entry is just a set of notes from a speech I was scheduled to give last year. I came across them and realized I haven't changed my mind about anything over the last year, and I don't think I'll change my mind in the near future, either.]

Comments

[Domynoe Loeb]

I'm a book person too. But, we have no room for books and are about to move into (we hope) an even smaller place. I finally picked up a Nook and will be replacing a good chunk of my books with ebook versions to save space. I'm keeping signed books, favorite books/authors, and writing books. The rest needs to go into ebook if it can.

[DanaKuznar]

I'm a book person for all the reasons you state, Agatho. Still, I do appreciate my Kindle (the original, no-frills version) for its convenience and portability. Fiction only, though. I hate non-fiction on an e-reader.

[Lexi Revellian]

Douglas Adams said don't confuse the plate with the food. But I like paper books too, and when I find a novel I know I will reread for the rest of my life, I want a hard copy of it. Goodness, civilization might collapse and nothing electronic would work.

But you can't beat the Kindle for convenience and portability.

(Btw, the Kindle screen doesn't glow.)

[Chris]

I'm also a "bookie." I'll venture that most people over the age of 40 are book people, and younger folks are e-readers (or rapidly morphing to e-reading). I'm sure I'll buy a Kindle or Nook someday. My wife already has one and likes it a lot, but she still reads hard copy books, too. E-readers have their advantages and disadvantages, just like real books, so until e-readers can offer the advantages of real books, I think books on paper will continue to thrive.

[Jess]

My stepson asked for a Kindle for Christmas. We got him one. He also asked for the new Stephen King book - hardback. :) My daughter age 28 doesn't want anything to do with ebooks. At least not yet. All her friends (big readers) feel the same way. I hated the thought of buying one for myself; thankfully, I won one. I have 148 books on it but haven't read any of them. Just can't get through them. Husband and I still buy paperbacks and hardbacks, and they're growing up our walls in every room of the house. When we die, the kids are in big trouble. I wonder if they'll fight over who gets our books, or if they'll just shovel everything to Good Will.

Really good post. Thanks!

[Oklahoma publications]

I m also book person and i think the personal development books are very much demand because they are the most essential part of our lives. If you want to improve your personality, then you can simply take the help of these books.

[Maxine]

I, too, strongly prefer reading a print book. I have a kindle and do read books on it for various reasons, but the book never seems as personal to me, and I find it harder to remember things about it as I read, cf print. Not sure why that should be, but e-books seem much more "same-y" than print books, which seem more individual.