There remains a vast difference between owning a physical book and owning an e-book. My brain may some day adapt to the point where I can believe that a file on an iPad or Kindle is in some way equal to a physical book sitting on my bookshelf, but for the time being, I just cannot equate the two. And perhaps the time will come when I can interact better with an e-book than with a physical book. But until that day I cannot give up those books. I cannot give up the manner and the depth in which I can own them, at least when it comes to the books that are most important to me.That's my current thought and feeling: E-reader for light reading, physical books for works I want to re-read, study and keep forever. What about you?
And so I continue to prefer printed copies of the important books and the much-loved books, the ones I want to drive deep into my mind and heart, the ones I want to pour over, to absorb. I love my Kindle for light reading, for enjoying a good novel or a Christian living kind of book. But books that I am going to return to again and again and books I would want to leave behind as part of my legacy, those are volumes I still want to have in printed editions, sitting in my office, accessible to all, able to outlive me, able to represent me.
Hat Tip: Vitamin Z (and I love this picture!)
Agreed! There is just something about a physical book that can not be beaten - especially for those works that scream to be re-read and studied. Granted, I do use my Kindle to read various papers and dissertations, which are not exactly 'light reading.' It is just that it is cheaper to read them on the Kindle than to print them out... =?
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