Have You Completely Given Up On Physical Books For Digital Books?

[Stranger Things]

I'm currently reading/cycling through 3 paperbacks.

I love the smell of an old, used paperback. They're cheap. They give me a sense of nostalgia, too, because I used to read a TON of paperback books when I was a kid. I like flipping through the pages and feeling the weight of the book in my hands.

I also like audio books, because they're great for "on-the-go" listening, like during a commute or road trip. But I haven't tried digital Kindle or Nook or whatever is popular right now. It lacks that genuine feeling of reading a physical book, but I can see the appeal.

I'm also somewhat of a "collector" and I own well over a hundred paperback and hardcover books on my book shelf, TV cabinet, night stand, coffee table, etc. They make great decoration, and they're a great conversation starter when guests come over.

 

[Adder7806]

Yes. Entirely digital and have been for years. Love my Kindle. Can read at night with the light off. Easier to travel with. Space saver. Love it.

 

[CaviarMeths]

Except for art/lore books, yes. Books were the second form of media that I embraced the digital form of after music. It makes way too much sense to replace a personal library with a Kindle.

 

[Tabs2002]

One of my chemistry books isn't available digitally. I wish I could go all digital

 

[DeathPeak]

I'm getting there. I ran out of space for books a long time ago, so I've been buying mostly digital for awhile now. Especially for comics I want to read.

 

[Valkyr]

I buy both versions sometimes because I'm dumb. I love real books so I read the physical version at home and have a digital version on my kindle for reading on the go. Don't think I could ever go fully digital just because I'm romantic about physical books still.

 

[GreenMonkey]

Physical books for favorite-ist authors/titles only. Ebook for the rest. Moving too much and moving to a place with higher housing costs (so limited space) has taught me to miniize the physical books - I used to have like 4 5-shelf bookcases.

My problem has been new/unknown authors. I'm not doing full retail most of the time for unknowns site unseen, and it is hard to find time to get to the library.

Probably has led to me reading less than I used to.

 

[pokeystaples]

I used to be pretty hardcore into ebooks, but in the last 4 or 5 years I've wanted to be less connected and have gone back to physical books.

 

[NekoFever]

I've been basically digital-only for years now. I'll buy physical copies of art books or coffee table books, but anything that's predominantly text is read on the Kindle, which amounts to 40-50 books a year. Love the convenience, battery life and screen.

I cleared out a lot of physical books recently because I'm moving in the near future and don't want to deal with carrying those boxes again.

I got given a paperback of a book I've wanted to read for my birthday in October and it's still sitting next to my bed. Need to get to that eventually.

Might end up buying The Winds of Winter in hardback as I have the rest of them in the shelf, if sentiment gets the better of me. Will probably read it digitally, though.

 

[Ginta]

Books for artbooks and special hard covers, otherwise only digital and audiobooks.

 

[RCSI]

I do for those large books, think The Three Musketeers or any lengthy series like The Expanse. I will get physical if the book is light and easy to hold.

 

[King Alamat]

Physical all the way. There's a calmness I get from browsing libraries and bookstores, I like to know at a glance how far I am into whatever I'm currently reading and I feel like it's more acceptable to be seen reading a book while I'm on the clock than looking at my phone.

 

[skeezx]

for some reason i was reluctant over the ebook thing for years but now i'd be surprised if i "leisurely" read a physical book again in my life

 

[nomster]

I already was headed that way but even more so once I found out how easy it is to get library books on ereaders and i devices with my library card. So convenient. Check out the Libby app.

 

[baron doggystyle von woof]

Books for artbooks and special hard covers, otherwise only digital and audiobooks.

Click to shrink...

Same here. I love cartography so I buy those. But regular books, it's all digital.

 

[Doctoglethorpe]

I only buy physical books.

Lately I do most of my reading digital. Using Libby (and Kindle which it connects to). Because why buy a digital book when you can read it for free?

 

[Deleted member 7051]

Nah, I still only buy physical books. I like going to bookshops, reading blurbs, looking at covers, leafing through a few pages... Plus I have several bookshelves and it's nice to stock them with books I actually want to read.

I find a problem with digital purchases is you're more inclined to do it in bulk, then you never actually read all the stuff you want to because you end up with a huge backlog.

 

[GungHo]

Novels and comics, yes. Reference books, no.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I hate reading books on a phone or tablet. I like the tactile sensation of reading a real book. So no, I don't buy ebooks pretty much at all.

 

[Ottaro]

I was all digital for a while and now I'm right back to buying physical.
Part of switching back was not wanting to support amazon anymore and the other part of it was getting into hard-to-find books on local history that simply didn't exist digitally. All that lead me to rediscovering how nice it is to have a physical book again.

 

[Deleted member 25606]

Little bit of all of it.

Comics I am completely digital, mostly Marvel Unlimited but buy from Comixology on occasion.

Audiobooks I use Hoopla (through my Library) and use these when I am playing Games and low on podcasts. Right now I am listening to Gaiman's American Gods for a second time, there are some passages I like a bit but I am familiar so it allows me to play games I need to concentrate on.

As for actual books? I'll read digitally, own some stuff plus I actually take advantage of Prime with the first read selections. Mostly use the library though, nothing like a real book. Most other media the physical is storage and you usually access it somehow, whereas a book is a complete product and it's own delivery method, perfect entertainment. And nothing smells quite like a brand new book.

I collect found Stephen King novels (in other words Yard Sales, on a bench, any time I find a King book in the wild no matter title, edition, or if I have it already I make it mine. Weird little quirks but it works for me) otherwise I just donate my physical books, we have a box for that near us.

 

[Skade]

Hell no ! I'll be paper only until i'm removed of the choice.

 

[Rune Walsh]

I only get physical books. The last thing I need is more screen time. I also enjoy the feel of progess as I flip pages.

 

[KomandaHeck]

I read primarily on my Kindle then will later keep an eye out for physical copies of the books I really loved. With special hardcover stuff like art books I'll always buy physical though, and even then I'm selective about what to bother buying.

 

[Deleted member 9932]

No. Never will as long as they exist.

 

[RKasa]

Physical whenever possible here. Any eBooks I own are incidental. I just love physical books too much.

 

[Smoothcb]

Fiction typically e books, non fiction typically hardback.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

I don't like reading longer texts on a screen. I had to do it so much for uni and I can't relax with this.

Reading books has to be on paper for me. I like the feel, the smell and that I'm not looking at a screen.
I also don't need to carry my whole library with me as 1-2 books keep me busy for weeks.

 

[Davilmar]

Never bought a digital book in my life.

 

[Brinbe]

Lol never. Have barely any digital books. Physical books are the one medium where I'm alright having the physical lol

Era and other forums is enough digital reading as is.

 

[Deleted member 8468]

Not entirety, but the vast majority of my books are digital. I like buying physical for art books (obvs), cookbooks, and some instructional or reference textbook type books.

I wish I had more physical books, but the convenience really beats all. I end up reading on my phone more than anything.

 

[TaySan]

I've given up on books. Don't have the attention span for it. :(

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I have not, no.

 

[Wracu]

Fucking NEVER

Audiobooks are by far the greater crime though.

 

[petitmelon]

Yes. Have for years since I bought my first Kindle (keyboard version).

The only thing I buy physical are graphic novels, art, and cookbooks. But I recently bought a tablet so I probably will stop buying cookbooks and graphic novels physically too.

 

[Cels]

i borrow a shitton of a books from the library and they're all digital because i'm a lazy fuck
also i just read this https://smile.amazon.com/Consider-Lobster-Essays-Foster-Wallace/dp/0316013323?sa-no-redirect=1 on my kindle and it has way too many footnotes that would be a pain to keep flipping back and forth in paper format, so there's another plus.
also, goodreads integration on kindle is just so nice

i don't think i can go back except if the ebook version simply doesn't exist for whatever reason

 

[ArkkAngel007]

I still prefer physical books, but I'd probably be fine going full digital if I had a nice, dedicated E-reader like a Paperwhite.

 

[Deleted member 5745]

Nope. And I never will. I prefer physical books and I'll die on that hill.

 

[The Albatross]

Long ago.

Only physical books I buy are reference books

 

[Claire Delune]

Pretty much. I have way more ebooks than I even have room for their physical versions.

 

[Pau]

We move around too much for me to exclusively buy physical. So I do a mix with mostly digital. But once we settle in and I can have a library, I'll probably switch back to favoring physical.

 

[Kevers]

I bought like 3 books for my kindle fire and then never read them and I never touch the kindle any more. Meanwhile I got 5 books for Christmas and I've started reading 3 of them.

 

[Redowl]

I have started getting into digital but I love my real books. I still use the library. I love how it feels and seeing people's old notes sometimes just give it this certain feeling. Nothing like a slightly worn book.

 

[selo]

No poll? I 100% prefer physical books over digital, only downside for me is storage space, I'm filling up my book compartments :(

 

[Aureon]

Pretty much, except for gifts given or received.

Once you go one-handed, you just can't turn back.

 

[frankenstrat]

Quite the opposite. Trying to minimize the amount of time I spend reading stuff on a screen.

 

[Jeffolation]

Never read a digital novel, never will if I have my druthers about it.

 

[Deleted member 8741]

No. In fact I look for super fancy collectors editions of many of my favorite books because I want them to be something I can touch.

 

[99humanity]

One of my main hobbies is collecting Stephen King (signed books etc), so I love physical books but usually when actually reading it's on Kindle (or kindle+ audible). It's just the most versatile. An e-ink reader really is different than reading on your phone/tablet/pc, not nearly as straining. But I do also like being able to resume across devices + audiobook. I don't care much for other physical media but I am a sucker for a nice book production

 

[Redowl]

No way José. I'm burning through the Wheel of Time series now, it's 14 books. I actually bought all the ebooks in addition to the paper books. I enjoy reading the paper books *so* much more. The ebook is simpler, sure, and I use that late at night when I have no light source, but I'd much rather read from the actual book.

Click to shrink...

I need to read those!