- They feel comforting- Books bring me joy. Just holding one is comforting to me.
- You don’t need to worry about battery life- This is especially important in South Africa with load shedding back. Books can never lose battery life. And if there isn’t enough light, just read by candlelight.
- They look great on a shelf- No matter how gorgeous a display of ebook virtual covers, they just cannot compare to a physical bookshelf.
- Light enough to hold and read for hours but strong enough to use as a weapon- You never know when someone is going to irritate you and you’re going to want to use you copy of “Kingdom of Ashes” to bash them over the head. No this has never happened to me.
- Old paperbacks show signs of being well-read and well-loved- I love when I pick up a secondhand paperback and you can see that whoever owned it before me either kept in pristine condition or read it until it fell apart. My first copy of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was a tattered R19 copy but I still keep it because I like that someone read it so often, the book eventually lost a few pages.
- The smell…allegedly.- I personally cannot vouch for this as I have a very weak sense of smell but apparently books smell good.
- Books come in different editions with extras such as maps and fan art- Some of my favorites are “City of Bones” and “A Court of Thorns and Roses”
- You can add notes and highlights- You can highlight quotes or make notes in the margins. Yes some ebooks have that function but again, it’s not the same.
- Print books go great with cute bookmarks- Magnetic bookmarks, regular bookmarks, character-shaped bookmarks, book art bookmarks…the list goes on.
- Print books can be used for research- You know, in case you want to locate a quote or a specific scene. I find it easier if you’re flipping through a print book rather than an ebook, to locate something.
I think both print and ebooks have their own advantages and disadvantages but I definitely don’t think print is dead as yet. Which format do you prefer? I’d love to know below.