Why is it that we love books so much? Is it the solid feel of them in our hands? The cover art? The new-book smell? The old-book smell? Is it being able to tell how far we’ve read into the book (and how much is left) without even looking? Is it that they can be read anywhere, without batteries or technology of any kind? Is it that our eyes get tired from screen reading in a way that they don’t from reading ink on paper? Is it that we can continue to read our printed book on an airplane during those times when digital devices must be turned off? Is it that we actually own printed books (not just the right to read them), and can put them on a bookshelf when we’ve read them, or lend them or swap them?
For us, it’s all of those things! And we’re clearly not alone: publishers are again reporting a significant fall in ebook sales, while the sales of print books continue to rise, for the second year in a row.
We have nothing against ebooks — we think any kind of reading is great! We know that ebooks have their conveniences (for example, they’re lightweight to pack for travel, and the ability to enlarge the font can be useful for visually impaired readers). But we’re glad they haven’t replaced the real thing. Because we love the real thing so much. Don’t you?
We bet you do! In fact, we’re inviting you to tell us the one main reason why you love print books … if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a free book! The book is a brand-new hardcover of a very heavily wishlisted book — the New York Times Bestseller Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll.
Luckiest Girl Alive
by
Jessica Knoll
ISBN 9781476789637, Hardcover
A young woman is determined to create the perfect life — husband, home, and career—until a violent incident from her past threatens to unravel everything and expose her most shocking secret of all. A riveting debut novel that reads like Prep meets Gone Girl, described by Reese Witherspoon as “one of those reads you just can’t put down!” This book currently has over 400 active wishes in the club.
Make a comment below before noon ET on Friday, May 27, 2016, and that will enter you into the random drawing to receive the book. NB: Contest open to PaperBackSwap members only (join here!).
Here are a few comments from some of our members to get you thinking:
“There are too many awesome bookmarks out there to never use them! I have some really old ones passed down from family members that make me smile every time I see them. You don’t get to use those bookmarks with ebooks!” ~ Jill H.
“It’s very nice to be able to pass a book around the family before I swap it.” ~ Rick M. (RickMatt)
“I really prefer to hold a physical book, and the feel of the pages as I am turning them.” ~ Diane G. (icesk8tr)
“I like the feel of a real book 📚. I find them easier to read and not as hard on my eyes 👀 as an e reader.” ~ Angela H. (Halti4)
Tags: Book Suggestions, Contests, PBS Market
I love books! An ebook is just not the same! I could spend hours in a bookstore, especially those used bookstores that are not a chain of stores, you never know what you might find! My kids tease me about how much I love books. One of their favorite stories is one time we were playing hide and seek and when they found me in my hiding spot, I was reading a book! Hey, sometimes it takes awhile for them to find you! Might as well read!
I love reading real books because I am an old dog.
I can’t make the move to an ereader – I love the feel of a book in my hand and turning the pages! There is simply nothing better and I always have a book with me, and a SPARE in case I finish that book!
I read books, e-books, and listen to audio. I like books because I can see them. They are a physical reminder of the books that I chose and would like to read. Paperback swap is dangerous, because I keep requesting books but never seem to have enough time to read!!! The books are piling up!
My love for books began when I was 5 , way back in 1938 when I got my first library card!! My mother took my twin sister (Marilyn S) to the library every two weeks, a highlight I fondly remember all these years.
Holding a book is a MUST!! Like the feel of them , Books are also friends , and you can go so many places ! I have many keepers and those that I give back to PBS Have several favorite authors!! Just plain love books!
I am often mark with color of my indicate part or notable quote what can read when I need. When I go through the book I can easily looked my marked color. It is not possible in soft cope of book.
I love the feel of a book in my hands, to snuggle in the corner of the sofa on a cold and rainy day print books just make me feel good.
When I was a child I escaped to the library and books to spend time from an unpleasant home environment. It provided a level of comfort that still surfaces today when I pick up an actual book. I have an e-reader because my children thought I needed one and use it occasionally but it will never replace my books.
Very simple answer – I love to read print books because I’m a rabid re-reader – have been all my life. I’m always finding myself asking – where is that? I know I read it somewhere in this book. And nothing will do but for me to frantically turn the pages until I find what I’m looking for. A bit harder to do in an e-book.
A real book has substance – it has weight and smell and size and different textures from the cover to the pages. You can interact with a real book – poke in a bookmark, fold over the corner of a page, underline a word to look up or bracket a favorite passage. A real book doesn’t lose power and disappear while it’s charged – abandoning you on a mountain top or in Hogwarts just as Voldemort arrives. It’s like a best friend rather than a fair weather friend. It’s like steak instead of tofu. It’s a real object, not the ghost of one.
The main reason I love print books is that that’s the way most of the books I want to read exist! I tend to read older books (not “the latest best-seller,” hype, hype), a lot of genre, and kids’ books (again, mostly older). By what I see on the e-book feeds I subscribe to, most e’s are either best-sellers, books that couldn’t find “real” publishers, and public-domain titles (which means before about 1920, where my interest localizes to about 1920-70). Also, especially with nonfiction, I often have to go back and look something up in a given book, and it’s much easier to do that in print.
The main reason I prefer books to an e-reader is the comfortingly familiar feel of rereading a book, especially a childhood favorite. My all-time favorite book is “A Wrinkle In Time,” and a huge part of the joy I experience in each reading is the feel of the worn and creased cover (with it’s bubble gum scratch and stiff sticker) in my hands.
Books are an artifact — an important memory of who I was, who I am now, and what I might be in the future.. The familiar feel of a book stretches backwards to my childhood when I climbed trees with a rope in my teeth attached to a child’s wicker laundry basket. It was full of books. Pulling them up and sitting in the tree hidden by rustling leaves I was supremely content.
Now, having grown children, I have dozens of books in my home that my kids reminisce over whenthey come home to visit. These range from the board books that were worn out with reading over and over again up to the fantasy and science fiction books that were the mainstays of their adolescence.
Stretching further back, I have books that belonged to my grandparents and to dear friends long departed. These are talismans — a way of remembering a loved one — reading the same pages, holding the same covers and knowing that hands that I loved did the same.
My love of reading began when I first learned to read…in the first grade. Since then I have consumed many, many books…some of them more than once. I have an e-reader but currently I mostly use it to play games. I prefer the real books. The ones that are perfect and the ones that are worn and shabby from being handled so many times. Books have character and feel more alive. They have substance, not only in what is inside but also the outside.
I love to be able to share books. After I read a book I usually give it away. If its a really good book I loan it out to several friends and we share that experience together. I love to decorate with books. Having shelves of books makes a home warm and inviting. The library was a big factor in my development and I have great memories of the freedom I felt when picking out books and my evolution as I read each one. There is a comfort to knowing that books need no power. Even though the loss of a book would be unfortunate, it’s worth the risk of taking it in the boat or to the pool while it may not be worth the risk of your electronic device. Lastly, it is much easier to read books outside! I am a book hoarder and I hoard both kinds but I love real books the best. It might be sentimental or just habit but there it is. Second hand books are a great deal from garage sales, library sales, and of course the book swap!
I love turning the pages, and checking out the next chapter or the ending of the book. Much more difficult with an e-book.
Easier to find sections I want to re-read. Can go anywhere & read anytime without worrying about how much battery time is left before you have to plug it in.
Like most of us, I love everything about books — smell, feel, page number, etc. One thing I love in particular about books over ebooks is the ability to look at a cover and see what someone else is reading. I am always so curious what others are reading, plus I get ideas about my future reads that way!
As a kid, I didn’t have very many friends in school & was often alone, especially during lunch & before/after school care. I found that books were my best friends & I learned to read at a very early age. No matter where I was; on a school bus, at a lunch table or waiting for my mom to pick me up, I always had a book friend to keep me company. It got to be a curse of sorts, because the very few times I would forget my book, I was lost! Now I have one on me 24/7, usually my well re-read favorites. Piles of books are around my house & my bookcases practically groan with too many volumes. My wish lists are full of old classics & new adventures & I won’t be caught dead without a book in my hands!
Plain and simple LOVE Books! Tried ebooks but always go back to printed books.
My family and I cannot afford new books and we always used paperbacks from you and others, yard sales,library sales,thrift stores,etc. We pass them around and wear them out.We all love real books.Ebooks are ok for some, but not for us. Nothing like the smell of ink and paper.
Thanks,Barbara
When I think back over my life and single out the times that have brought me pure joy they almost always involve reading. Snuggled up with hot tea, my cat and a rainy day…iced tea, the perfect breezy summer day (probably also snuggled with my cat ;)…hanging out with my best friend when we were in high school and spending the whole day with our noses in a book and now as adults the reading vacations we go on – three full days of no interruptions from anyone – pure bliss. My sister was learning impaired as a young child and I spent endless hours teaching her the alphabet and eventually how to read when we were 7 and 5 years old.. My passion then was so strong I knew how important it was for her to be able join me in the world that reading gave to me. My earliest memory of actually reading a book is me sitting next to my mom on the couch – my feet straight out because they were too short to hang over the edge – we both had books and I asked my mom why she didn’t read out loud and she told me it was because she read inside her head… and I turned back to my own book….and a reader was born.
Back when I was a young man studying computer programming at IBM, I picked up a magazine in the lobby and looked through it. I came across a statement I have remembered ever since: Every educated person is self educated. I have been an avid reader of books since I was about 16 years old. I an 82 now and I still read books, occasionally for pleasure but mostly for information. There are three concepts many people confuse as if they were one and the same: data, information and knowledge. “aaa bbb ccc” is data. “a” “b” and “c” are information. Knowledge is certainty. Knowledge is not in books, only data and information are in books. One must create knowledge by and for oneself. You cannot buy nor trade nor sell nor steal knowledge. And, as it says in the Bible, Understanding is more precious than gold or rubies or diamonds. With all thy getting, get understanding.
I can take one anywhere, even to the top of a tree and not worry about it shattering if it falls.
Since I was a little girl I have always loved books! Walking into a library or a book store has always been such a treat for me. I always have at least 50 books waiting for me to read, so essentially I have created my own library. When I finish one book, I go through my shelf of unread books and pick the one that fits my mood. I love the smell, the feel, and the physical presence of an actual book. It feels like an accomplishment when I finish a book and move on to the next. I have 6 siblings and every one of us feels the same about books and reading.
New books or old books, I love them all! Real books are memory pieces for those of us who grew up reading. I distinctly remember the smell of the public library in the summer as we walked over the wooden floors looking for something magic to read. Dust & paper & the occasional cool breeze when you got close to the evaporative air conditioner. Magic waiting to happen….. There was the anticipation of a long summer spent devouring adventure after adventure inside those covers. And then we got to go back to the library and start again!
I love the feel of a book in my hands- opening up to the first page and the anticipation of what new adventure it will take me on. E-books are handy sometimes, but they don’t evoke the memories or the love that a physical book does.
I like the feel of a book in my hands.
I just like the feel of the book in my hand. I love flipping pages. And depending on the type book—I may highlight something
I love books!
I love being surrounded by books. My house is full of them.
There’s something about holding a physical book in my hands that allows me to completely dive into the storyline; that just doesn’t quite happen on an e-reader. It’s too easy to get distracted.
With a printed book, I find it easier to flip through the pages back and forth to reread a certain passage, or to go back and pick up a thread and make that connection that was missed. A book in my hands allowed me to focus and completely ignore distractions around me that a tablet doesn’t. And yes, I too am old school~
It is so much easier to use and you don’t have to worry about having a charge or being near the wireless system. I can also use it school because it’s easier to put a bookmark in a spot then it is to turn an ebook reader on and off when a student needs my attention during testing
I love reading and would love to win this book! Sounds right up my alley.
My father and I would read together as I grew and broadened in my reading tastes. We would switch off chapter to chapter and it’s one of my fondest memories, triggered only with real books.
I prefer to read actual books over e-books. I guess I’m just old school!
I love the smell of books. It is such a comforting smell.
I always enjoyed the feel of a book & the swish of pages turning. But most of all, I enjoy the calm of holding & reading one. The ability to be instantly transported to another time, to peek into someone’s imagination and experience it as if speaking to a friend…or foe. It is better to connect with a physical book that leaves and impression, to swap em or stack em!
That feel. Hand moving from the bottom of the binding to the top. The page turns. You drop it low. You lift it high. So versatile.
All of the reasons described above plus, I like to keep a card/bookmark with a few notes on the characters when there are many. This helps me keep track of who’s who. Love book in print!
Our living room has five bookcases filled with books of all shapes wnd sizes. It is like having many friends in there with you and both dear old friends, and new acquaintances. We can sit down and go with our friends to other lands, other life styles, and also share ideas and dreams. The mark of a terrific book is after finishng the story, you awaken the next morning and wonder how those people in the story are doing! After spending time wth these friends, the books get wrapped up and sent to a requesting new home and we eagerly await the arrival of new books, new friends, new ideas. I agree that a story in any form is a wonderful gift, but there is something about a print book that adds to the wonderful experience.
I love to feel the weight of the book. I enjoy knowing how long it is by just looking, and knowing about how far through the book I am. I also experienced a lot of eye fatigue with an e-reader. And I love to read before bed…staring at a screen before bed doesn’t help me wind down.
Love to hold a book in my hands and hear the sound of a turning page. Feeling like I’m holding the author’s story he personally wrote for me.
E-readers are great for traveling, but at home I like the feel of a real book for my hands and eyes. I also like seeing the title of a favorite book on the book shelf.
I have a wall to wall bookcase. Without books, it would look quite bare!
I like printed books because there is no other option, you are unplugged! I love holding a book, smelling a book, circling text, highlighting text, earmarking pages and of course throwing a book in my beach bag. Life is good when I have a book and the beach (or any body of water for that matter).
I love the feel of a book in my hands…..I love the way they smell. There are just way too many books out there not to read them. Plus my shelves would look really bare without my books!
I stare at a computer screen all day at work. I do not want to do the one thing I love most, READ, on a screen. I want pages to turn. Chapters to complete. The satisfaction of closing the cover when I am done. Passing a loved book on to my 81 year old mother (she started reading at 70) is a complete joy. Shelves of books waiting to be read, nothing better.
E reading is not the same as a book It is actually more relaxing to read a book than an reader And love at the end of the day putting my bookmark in to see how much I have read and how much is left