Every now and then I see arguments on Tumblr about printed books and ebooks. The comments go both ways. Ebooks aren't "real" books. (You can't smell them, turn their pages, feel their weight in your hands.) Ebooks are better for the environment. Printed books don't need batteries. Somehow, the words you read on a screen are less genuine than words you read on paper. And on and on.
Reading an ebook is not the same experience as reading a printed book. That's true, but a book is a book. Who says reading ebooks means you have to stop reading printed books? And when people were able to buy books, did library patrons argue that you shouldn't own books? I wonder.
I've been thinking about the books I read and where I get them. Below is a list of the books I read this month, plus two that I'm currently reading. Next to each, I noted the format.
- Start a Freedom Business by Colin Wright (ebook, Kindle)
- Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (ebook, Kindle)
- The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon (printed, purchased)
- Sandman Volume 2: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman (printed, checked out of the library)
- The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss (printed, checked out of the library)
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (printed, purchased)
- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (printed, purchased)
That's 2 ebooks (on the Kindle) and 5 printed books (two from Barnes and Noble, one from a used book sale, and two from the library). Guess what? I enjoyed them all. It's possible to buy printed books as well as ebooks, and still use the local public library.
We shouldn't criticize people for reading. So many people don't read for fun. They think of reading as assignments they hated in school and not something you can possibly enjoy in your free time. That's the tragedy—not that someone reads screens instead of printed pages.
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