What I Love About...

...Ebooks

They are easy to take along. A book on my phone means I have a book with me everywhere I go.

They don’t create clutter.

I can check them out (and return them) without going to the library. Not that I don’t want to go to the library! Of course I want to go to the library! Except for when I don’t. I like having books magically transport to and from my phone. And, as a person who never returns library books on time, it saves me a few fines to have my books automatically sucked back into the library vortex.

I can read them at night or early in the morning without having a light on. I do a lot of reading while I’m the only one awake in my house. I also like reading in the tent while we’re camping, and an ebook sure beats a hardback book by flashlight in a tent full of sleeping children.

...Audiobooks

Again, they can easily be delivered to my phone without a trip to the library.

I can speed them up or slow them down as needed.

They allow me to multitask. I listen to them while I’m folding laundry, working in the garden, or driving. 

Listening to books aloud makes you a better reader (remember how we’re supposed to read to our kids to help them become better readers? Does that change when we grow up? Methinks not).

It’s fun to recognize readers’ voices between different works. “Oh! This is the guy that narrated The Book Thief! “ (Allan Corduner). Or “Where do I know this voice from? (Googles it) Oh hey, it’s Holling Hoodhood from The Wednesday Wars!” It’s also cool when an author does her own reading because then you get to hear the book the way she intended it to be read.

...Traditional Books

They look fantastic on a shelf.

I really like being able to see my progress as I move through a physical copy of a book.

I can read them and then pass them on to other people (in most cases I prefer to give books away when I’m done with them rather than keep them - save for a few treasures).

I can write in them. 

They get worn out. I’m not one to keep books pristine. I want them dog-eared and chocolate stained. 

But I do love a fresh, new book. I just don’t want it to stay that way.