I've been working on a post about Alice In Wonderland (my favorite story of all time) for a bit to post for you. Since it's unfinished I thought I would post an honest bookworm's thoughts of the e-reader vs book debate.
I've had a lifelong love of books, I blame my parents for that. When I was a little kid growing up in Brooklyn we had almost weekly trips to our local library. To this day I can remember it! The gleam of the tile floors as you enter the building, the way your shoes clicked and squeeked as you walked over them to the stairs. The sound of us pounding the steel steps on the way up to the children's floor because, well why on Earth would we walk NORMALLY over such fabulous noise makers? Most of all I remember the smell, you know what I mean, the rich Earthy smell of hundreds of books of various ages, lined up on wooden shelves. It is such a wonderful smell. Then there was the feel of the books. The texture of the old pages, the slickness of the new ones. There is nothing like having a book in your hands.
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| Me & my Baby w a new book! |
This mad love of that place, that smell, those textures followed me into adulthood. Naturally I've been passing that on to my children. My son, who is 8, used to LOVE to sit and read with me. Since he now is required to do it for school, his love of books is somewhat diminished. I remember that phase, it will pass. Right? Right?! My two little girls also really love books, even if we aren't the ones reading to them. So now that books are so rampantly available on electronic readers, what's a book worm to do? How do we make the next generation understand the excitement that comes with getting a new book in our hands? Where does the love of the actual written page go?
But I digress. Here is a link to a good review site of the many different kinds of e-readers (here). I myself was hesitant to get an e-reader, I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon of just anything, especially electronics when they get "updated" so often. However last year I got my darlin Hubby a Kindle for Christmas. I wasn't sure on this since he, like me, is a big book person. He loves it though! Granted we didn't run out and toss all the books in our house but we did go through and make a few piles of books where the actual book itself is sentimentally preferred over an electronic version of it. The rest got donated to our local library.
Each of our kids has a three-shelf book shelf in their room, all overflowing with books. We plan on keeping it that way. Children need the joy of reading a book, with pages to turn & the whole bit. That's is our stance on it and you can't convince either of us to change it. Go ahead and try... Eventually we will get an e-reader device of some kind of course for the kids, as they age and get into the real good stuff. For now they can have books, and the messes that accompany them.
I myself have an e-reader on my cell phone. I just finished my first book on it too. I just read "First Grave on the Right", as suggested by the Fabulous Cait. (Link to Author Here) I loved it, the book & the reader on my phone! I don't get long breaks at work so it was convient to have the reader on there. I loved how easy it was to just grab and go, the reader keeps my place. Which I LOVE. I'm notorious for losing bookmarks & so I would then bend the page of the book...gasp!
So now that I've experienced the joy & convienience of the e-reader, I'm hooked. They are so handy to have, and there is no heavy pile of books to take on vacation or clean up. Don't get me wrong, I will still own books, actual paper containing books but....I love my e-reader...shhhh don't tell my books.
So do you have a reader? What kind? Which do you prefer, the book or the reader? Sound off in the comments & I'll see ya on the next pixellated page!!
4 comments:
First, I LOVE Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass,so I cannot wait to read your post! Also, I feel the same way you do about books, libraries, and bookstores, and even though I have an eReader (Nook), I definitely prefer reading physical books. I use my Nook when it's more convenient - commuting on the Light Rail, traveling, and when the eBooks are significantly cheaper than the physical version.
Thanks Tab. I can not wAIT until my son's "I don't like reading" phase is over. We have so many good books in our house that I know he will love. I just MADE him read the Paddington Bear series since it is right on his level (maybe even below it). He LOVED it. The set itself was his dad's when he was a child. So it def has that old book smell. lol. Me too on the reader, only for convience. Some things should be looked at on paper. heehee
I personally LOVE my Kindle Fire, I can do everything, well almost everything, on it that I can also do on my Iphone but it's a bigger screen. The best part is that since I go to bed when baby does I can read in bed without having a light on that might bother him. However, just reading your post has filled my with such nostalgia that baby and I are going to the Library first thing tomorrow and I'm going to take photos and read to baby until he's so bored he falls asleep. I adore the smell of the books, though I used to crinkle and fold my pages to hold my place, now my books are in pristine condition. I have so many, and no shelves, that they reside in two huge bins that are too heavy for a single person to lift. Eventually I will get a book shelf. I LOVE this post!
Angie: Aww ... I loved Paddington Bear! My dad brought me a stuffed Paddington from England and he looks like the real deal!
Cait: I have a bookshelf, but I have so many books that the whole top shelf of my closet is stacked to the ceiling and I have even more in a few tubs in our storage loft - at least one tub is full of college textbooks, though!
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