SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Hi!

I'll reveal I'm 44. And with those years behind me, I have the pleasant experience of spending hours taking the train or bus to the city, to the bookstores to search and buy my Fantasy books (in this case). I love bookstores. Especially those devoted to my favourite genre -Fantasy. I can still, today (although now I drive), easily spend an hour in theses bookstores, indulging the hundreds of different worlds to explore, looking through cover art and maps. In search for my next read.

But! I also like the access the online stores gives me. To order -both e-books and paper back- and read them instantly on my iPad. And I always find myself comparing and evaluating these two 'methods' in which to acquire my books. Lately I have begun to order more e-books, although I love the physical thing! And My reason are laziness and the other thing -that tend to rule our lives since Facebook and Twitter and Instagram came into existence- instant gratification, and of course impatience. And it is slowly taking over my love of having a physical book....

So I guess the question is, what decides it for you, to buy online or at a physical store?

For me it was no choice laying in a hospital bed and discovering that a good Space Opera Audio book is the best pain killer ever so I put my headphones, close my eyes and let my imagination do the rest for pretty much 10 to 15 hours a day.

Hmmmm...I typically go to the bookstore when I have the urge to buy a book and do not have anything specific in mind. Other times if I know exactly what I want, I'll order it off Amazon. I love browsing Amazon for books and I love going to the bookstore.

I used to love browsing in bookstores and as a result I wound up owning too many physical books. It's a habit I got from my mother. After my last move I swore to never buy another physical book and I've stuck with that except for some non fiction which I bought from Amazon. For me it's all e-books or audio books now. I haven't browsed in a bookstore in years.

Nothing beats browsing a bookstore (or library), but the convenience of online shopping for either ebooks or physical books (we should totally call them pbooks) is pretty keen.

So I mix and match.

I have too many p-books owned and unread, from taking casual vacations to towns that had used bookstores. No bookstore here, so no temptation... except the wonderful library which displays so many tempting titles.

I'm not yet in the habit of reading e-books, only doing so when a specific title I want is only avl on Overdrive, OpenLibrary, or Project Gutenberg.

To find specific titles, I just choose Group BotMs, and other books by an author I just liked, and books that friends rated highly. I get plenty of 'em that way, no need to 'browse' per se. But plenty of need to winnow, so thank you everyone who writes helpful, concise reviews!

In sum, my answer to the OQ is 'neither.' ;)

Great question, Jonas!


Buying on-line and in vivo are different pleasures, I find. As well as the immediacy of going online and finding the almost infinite variety available, there is the frisson of expectation of getting that package through the post. However, the joy at rooting around in old bookshops - specialist second-hand shops, or charity shops - is something else; that the stock is random and I don't know what I'm going to find - an early Fritz Leiber I haven't heard of, a reference book I've seen referenced elsewhere, or some gem that just grabs me because of the title, cover or blurb.


I'm lucky in that the city in which I live (Sheffield in the UK) has plenty of charity shops - a good run of em just down from where I live, and other collections in the city centre and various studenty, or poorer, parts of town, and still has a goodly number of second-hand bookshops despite closures over the years.


( I do also by new books, btw, and almost always do so from Waterstones rather than Amazon, as this does more for the economy and the writers )

My favourite is definitely a well-stocked (and indexed) second-hand bookstore (charity or otherwise). For some reason, the smell of 'old' books is much more appealing to me than 'new' and you get a much more eclectic mix of books from every year imaginable, too.

For 'new' books, I favour buying the physical copy from an online store as the sheer amount on what's on offer it much greater and you're also unlikely to find indie authors gracing the shelves of your local bookstore.
Suppose it doesn't help that regular bookstores near me don't exactly have much in the fantasy/sci-fi genre to begin with.

E-books only happen to enter my life sporadically or when Beta reading - mostly because I read much, much faster when not staring at the same screen I also write on and because I spend too much time before that screen as it is ^^;

But they're all books - so it'd be impossible not to love them regardless of form.

I am almost strictly e-books. My husband can't sleep with a light on, and the mellow backlight of me e-ink kindle does not strain my eyes in the least, or disturb his sleep. Plus it's really small so it hurts a lot less when I fall asleep and drop it on my face than a physical book would. There is also the benefit of it fitting in my bag, and even sometimes my pocket so that I have all my books with me all the time. Add to that the amazing amount of e-books that the library now offers and it's kind of no contest.

I did used to enjoy browsing in an actual shop. Particularly the last couple years since my city opened a dollar book store, where every book was a dollar. And there were some real gems like Lil BUB's Lil Book: The Extraordinary Life of the Most Amazing Cat on the Planet and Fat Vampire. I also found Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter there. And they were all new. But, most of the books I got there were novelties and really only purchased because, I mean, they were a dollar, and I'm probably never going to read them. Plus, the store recently closed down.

Like others, I also like seeing ratings and reviews. With an in store purchase you risk picking up something that isn't worth your time. And time is something I don't have enough of to waste.

So, internet browsing and ebooks win for me hands down. I've never been much of one for the "experience" of a physical book. If the writing's good, I completely lose the physical world anyway. So I'd rather have the completely unobtrusive tap to change screens than flipping pages anyway.

As Douglas Adams said "Lovers of print are simply confusing the plate for the food."

Not that I begrudge those people their experience. We all read for different reasons and get something different out of it.

Yeah, depends on the book. Nonfiction and picture-books generally, ime, work better in print. But I see my reader now has 'page flip' so maybe I'll try a non-fiction on it soon.

I do both. I ride the bus to work, five days a week and due to an experiment to increase my short term memory, I no longer read one book at a time, so a Kindle is just more convenient in that sense.

I read a lot of WWII books and it is very hard to go back and forth between footnotes and comparing one book to the other unless they are in a solid format.

And call me old fashioned, but I still enjoy the feel of a book in my hands.

Don't remember the last time I actually buy a book from a store. Now I use book stores to browse and scan the ISBN of books I am interested in with Goodreads app, then put them in Kindle wishlist.
It is a matter of price and availability.

I don't have the space for physical books. So I browse bookstores to find what I want and scan it into my GR app.

Then I buy the e-books. If I really love a book, I have no problem shelling out the additional money to own a physical copy too. The only exception is used book stores, since these are generally cheap anyway.

Living in Asia where bookstores selling books in English are a rarity, I buy probably 99% on-line. There is a mega bookstore in Seoul that has a huge English book section, and the few times I go there I buy a few books, but I hardly make the trip down there. Our Base PX has a very small book section, and I probably buy a book there that interests me a few times a year, though I go to the PX a few times a month, they have a pretty crappy selection of books, especially in the SciFi department.

Sarah wrote: "I don't have the space for physical books. So I browse bookstores to find what I want and scan it into my GR app.

Then I buy the e-books. If I really love a book, I have no problem shelling out th..."

I have taken that route a number of times, especially since WWII hard bound books can be quite pricey.

I do both, and I especially like used book stores. I have also found some wonderful books in stores that sell assorted second hand stuff. We have a group that puts on a huge annual book sale (coming up in two weeks!!!) where I have found some great deals.

Sometimes though, there is a particular book that I have to get my hands on and for that I have had excellent experiences with the used book dealers who sell on Amazon. In this way I have acquired a group of former library books from far-flung and interesting places.

I discovered a few years ago that I can't read on my phone--something happens where I forget whatever I just read when I turn the page. I don't have a Kindle, so I haven't experienced formats meant to be read online, although I will confess to having read my fair share of fanfiction (as any 22-year-old should). And I listen to waaay too many podcasts to have time for books on tape. All of this is to say that I only read physical books, if I can. I have rules when I visit bookstores (no more than $20 used, or only one book if it's new) but truthfully I get away with it by planning the library my house will one day contain. Yes, I have quite a collection of books I own but haven't read. But I try to visit the library when I can, and if I need to own something, I visit my local bookstore and order it. There's something immensely gratifying about feeling the balance of pages shift, seeing yourself progress through the book, feeling the accomplishment when you finally close the back cover. And I worry about what happens if I don't patronize used book stores and new book stores and libraries.

I agree with you about the satisfaction of physical books, and the need for our support of them. I'm so peeved that half.com got shut down.

But fyi, digital readers do display both page and percentage, and I love to look at them when I do wind up reading an e-book on my Android tablet. It'll say "241/417 pages" or "65% done" if you want it to.

I sometimes want to hide that though, sometimes when I know it's the last book and there are only 20 pages left it makes it too obvious what is going to happen.

I buy lots of physical books, both from bookstores, second hand stores, charity shops, bargain shops, library sales or online. But I also buy e-books simply for the convenience of having then available at all times on my phone. However, I am very, very unlikely to buy e-books at full price.

Aaron wrote: "I sometimes want to hide that though, sometimes when I know it's the last book and there are only 20 pages left it makes it too obvious what is going to happen."

That's an interesting point. Sometimes my kindle switches to not showing this randomly and it annoys me. I have this obsessive need to know how far into the book I am. The 50% mark is really important to me for some reason. Whenever I am reading a physical book I check the last page for the page number (making very sure not to read any of the words) to find out what exact page the mid point of the book is. I have no idea why this matters to me.

Although, I also get really annoyed when a kindle book ends abruptly at like 85% because there is a preview of another book at the end. I'm happily reading, thinking that there is a whole bunch left and then suddenly it's over. That doesn't generally happen with a physical book.

I read almost exclusively e-books. For me, they’re the most comfortable and convenient, allowing me to focus on the actual content without distractions. The lighting is always perfect, the font is always consistent unless I choose to change it, the weight is negligible even if I'm reading a tome, I can operate it one handed, I can get instant dictionary, Wikipedia, and translation information to better understand what I’m reading, I can quickly search for past references of a character to make it easier to keep all of the details straight, etc. Those are the things I care about; I’m not much of a collector and I tend to place a higher priority on function versus aesthetics in most aspects of my life.

I haven’t regularly browsed libraries or bookstores at random since I was in my teens. In my early 20’s (about 20 years ago) I used the local library a lot, but my town’s library was small so I typically requested books online through interlibrary loan. I would decide what to read in advance, researching things I thought might appeal to me, and verifying that I knew which book to start with or read next if it was a series. I think that broke me of the habit of random browsing. I liked that I was more likely to pick up what I really wanted to read by planning ahead a little. Even as I got older and had more disposable income, I typically already knew what I wanted when I went to the bookstore. I usually still browsed a little and saw other things that looked interesting, but I’d just buy what I went there for and then research those other things later.

These days, I watch for e-book sales on the books I already know I want to read. (That list is heavily driven by this group’s bookshelf.) I also keep a Watch List on eReaderIQ. If a book I already wanted to read drops below $3, I’ll usually buy it. If I don’t already have the e-book by the time I want to read it, and especially if it’s a new-to-me author or an author I’ve had a mixed reaction to before, then I’ll try to borrow it from the library. When using the library, I try to borrow them as an e-book if I can, but will borrow a physical book if I must. Otherwise, unless the price is really outrageous, I’ll usually buy the e-book.

I particularly love being able to just wait until I finish a book in a series and then getting the next book instantly. Before e-books, I’d have to choose between buying the books in advance, possibly ending up with books I didn’t want to read if I later decided I wasn’t enjoying the series enough to continue, or having downtime between books because I waited until I finished the current book.

Aaron wrote: "I sometimes want to hide that though, sometimes when I know it's the last book and there are only 20 pages left it makes it too obvious what is going to happen."

I can’t speak for other devices but, on the Kindle and Kindle App, you can touch the bottom-left hand side and it will cycle through various options, including an option to turn off the progress indicator altogether so that you have absolutely no idea where you’re at. If you don't have that option set (with everything turned off), then the right-hand side always shows what % you’re at. The left-hand side cycles between numeric location (not that useful), actual page # (if available), time left in chapter (if the e-book has chapter breaks defined), and time left in book.

I usually have mine on the page # if it’s available. I have a rough idea of how many pages I typically read in a day, so that gives me the best feel for what kind of progress I’m making, even though it varies a bit since some books have more words per page than others. When I’m ready to stop reading, I switch it to show the time left in the chapter to decide whether to hold out for a chapter break or just stop. For me, the estimated time left to read the whole book is inaccurate and fluctuates a lot, so I don’t use it much. Of course, this means the chapter times aren’t accurate either, but it works well enough on a smaller scale to help me determine whether or not I’m close to a chapter break.

Kristin B. wrote: "I also get really annoyed when a kindle book ends abruptly at like 85% because there is a preview of another book at the end."

That has annoyed me too. I’ve tried to get into the habit of, shortly after I first start a book, checking the “GO TO” menu to see where the book actually ends, and whether there’s any additional content listed at the end, so that I’m prepared. If it looks like there’s a lot of content at the end, I’ll select whatever the first thing is after the end of the book to see what % it’s at, then hit the back button. That’s also a useful way to discover those sneaky glossaries that tend to be hidden in the back where you don’t see them until you no longer need them.

YouKneeK wrote: "I read almost exclusively e-books. For me, they’re the most comfortable and convenient, allowing me to focus on the actual content without distractions. The lighting is always perfect, the font is ..."

All of this! But especially:

I can quickly search for past references of a character to make it easier to keep all of the details straight,
I'm reading a physical book right now and I really wish it had the Kindle X-Ray feature. There are so many characters.

I’ve tried to get into the habit of, shortly after I first start a book, checking the “GO TO” menu to see where the book actually ends,
I should really start doing this.

I sincerely appreciate all those suggestions about how to benefit from the features of e-readers. I've discovered some, but I will look for more when I start reading more e-books. That X-Ray feature sounds amazing.

Question: are all the features available for all books? That is to say, are they a function of the reader? I seem to recall trying to do something interesting with a public domain title and the feature wasn't avl... I got the impression that some features are a function of the book, not the reader... - ?

Kristin B. wrote: "I'm reading a physical book right now and I really wish it had the Kindle X-Ray feature. There are so many characters."

Not being able to look up characters is probably the thing that annoys me the most when I read a physical book. That and the awkwardness of the weight when reading in bed. When I read in bed, my favorite reading position is on my side. From my earliest childhood memories, I remember being annoyed by trying to balance books sideways while reading on my side. It’s so much easier with a Kindle because you don't have to flip from the left side to the right; you can just prop it up and keep it there.

Cheryl wrote: "Question: are all the features available for all books? That is to say, are they a function of the reader? I seem to recall trying to do something interesting with a public domain title and the feature wasn't avl... I got the impression that some features are a function of the book, not the reader... - ?"

You’re right, some of these features aren’t in all books depending on what the publisher allowed. The X-Ray feature is one of them (but there’s another option, see below) as well as the actual page # references. A couple of the other variable features are whether or not the text-to-speech option works (on devices that support it) and whether or not you can lend the e-book to other people.

I actually avoid the X-Ray feature itself though, because I feel like it often gives away too much information, telling me things about a character that I haven’t yet learned myself through the text. I’m one of those major anti-spoiler freaks with a very broad definition of “spoiler”. :) I’ve gotten used to just not looking at it when it comes up, and navigating to what I want to see.

What I do when I want to refresh my memory about a character name is use the magnifying glass to pull up a list of occurrences of that name in the book. The list shows a little bit of the surrounding text, and you can click on the entry to go to that spot in the book if you need to. This lets me see the exact context in which that name first appeared, which helps me keep all the dots connected but only with information I've read so far for myself. (You can see future references too, of course, but I ignore those.) Also, if I’m reading a series, I keep all of the earlier books from the series on my Kindle so that I can search all text and see references even if it was in a different book. This is really helpful for a long series with lots of characters.

I got a Kindle last year for my birthday, so right now my answer is "all of the above." Most of the things I've been loading onto it are extra (cut-price) copies of books I already have in paper format, though there have been a few new ones I was curious about--plus the Penric novellas by Lois McMaster Bujold that are (or were) only available in e-format. I still don't entirely trust an e-book not to "go away", if Amazon so decides.

One other thing that bemuses me is people saying they can use their Kindle one-handed. My hands aren't (quite) big enough to do that comfortably.

Margaret wrote: "One other thing that bemuses me is people saying they can use their Kindle one-handed. My hands aren't (quite) big enough to do that comfortably."

My hands are fairly small and I had a harder time reading one-handed on some of the previous models, depending on my reading position.

I currently have the Kindle Oasis though, which makes it much easier. It’s a funky shape that distributes the weight in a way that makes it feel lighter, and also gives your hand something to grip more easily. It has physical buttons on the side, so the thumb being used to hold the device rests between the two buttons, and I just lightly shift my thumb to turn the page. The other hand is usually petting a cat. ;)

I love DTBs but I live in a suburb. So I get most of my DTBs from Amazon now.

I still use my library heavily and I shop for books wherever i find them. FYI - the Dollar Store sells DTBs. If you visit often enough, you can end up with entire series, lol.

@MrsJoseph: "DTBs"?

Dead Tree Books, I assume.

Thank you again, YouKneeK, for the tips!

My Favorite authors are bought preordered from an actual bookstore, authors I really like I buy from an actual bookstore.

I treat ebooks like used books, looks interesting? Under 5 bucks? I'll give it a whirl.

Kristin B. wrote: "Aaron wrote: "I sometimes want to hide that though, sometimes when I know it's the last book and there are only 20 pages left it makes it too obvious what is going to happen."

That's an interestin..."

I also always want to know when I'm 50% into the book because at that point I can make a good estimate of how long it will take me to finish the book. One good reason why I need to know this information applies to print copies. If it's a library book, I need to know whether I'll finish it by the due date or whether I need to renew it.

Margaret wrote: "@MrsJoseph: "DTBs"?"

Cheryl wrote: "Dead Tree Books, I assume."

Yes! Sorry about that. I came into online books/social media via a site focused on mobile reading. Each discussion normally referenced the format of the book in question so everyone was on the same page.

ebooks = generic
.epub
.mobi
.awz (is that right? it's been awhile), etc
DTB = Dead Tree Books (included all formats)

I have the Oasis as well, and I was lucky enough to be able to turn in some points from work for Amazon gift cards which made it a lot less expensive. It is one of the best purchases I have ever made.

I've been almost 100% buy/read eBooks for the last 3 or 4 years because:

1) Portability
2) Ease of use (can easily read one-handed, turning pages and all)
3) Instant dictionary
4) Ability to highlight and notate books w/out marring them
5) Doesn't clutter up my already overflowing bookshelves

But ... I hate that they are nearly as costly (sometimes more so) than physical books. And I miss browsing bookstores, and supporting local retailers.

I love physical books ... but have succumb to the tide of technology.

Relevant post from my Insta:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCiMKdRO2kA/

GASP!!!!!!!


HOW COULD YOU????!!!!!

I don't even know who you are anymore!

I'm 26 and pretty much grew up with the internet around. I will always choose online shopping (amazon, specifically), over going to a physical store. If I'm already in the area for some other reason I'll pop into a half-price books or look at the book section in a thrift-store just for the novelty of it and sometimes come away with a used book or two, but that's about it.

In the last year or two I've even lost my fetishistic obsession over physical books that I've had my entire life. Partly because I'm more or less out of room in my apartment for more books and partly because I think I might straight-up prefer just reading e-books on my phone in basically every way. It's smaller, lighter, easier to hold in weird positions (try reading a physical book laying on your side), has it's own light source so I don't have to worry about being in a spot with good lighting, and I can see exactly how many hours it's going to take me to finish the book.

I have an old nook e-reader that works fine, but I never used it much because it's another device to keep charged and carry around and being a guy that doesn't wear a purse I have no place to put it when I go out. I already have my phone on me at all times, so that was really the missing ingredient, I think.

The latest episode of the Radiotopia "Ways of Hearing" podcast was spot on about the difference - that if you're finding books on digital (or music on spotify / amazon / etc) you find exactly what you're looking for, or recommendations tailored to match precisely your taste - but going into a brick and mortar store, or a library, you browse and maybe find what you;re looking for, or maybe become distracted and find something else. Presenter Damon Krukowski puts it that you have to navigate the physical space but the digital space adapts itself to you.


Well worth a listen.


https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/sh...

Paul wrote: "The latest episode of the Radiotopia "Ways of Hearing" podcast was spot on about the difference - that if you're finding books on digital (or music on spotify / amazon / etc) you find exactly what ..."

There was a similar discussion when dictionaries went digital, first in the home floppy disk version and then online: digital versions may be more accurate and efficient in helping you find the word you're looking for, but you give up serendipity. You don't see all the words around it, and because you don't flip through the pages searching, you never stumble across new words that might interest you.

David wrote: "I think I might straight-up prefer just reading e-books on my phone in basically every way. It's smaller, lighter, easier to hold in weird positions (try reading a physical book laying on your side)"

Laying-on-your-side readers unite. :) I mentioned something similar in post #27.

I prefer not to read on my phone, but I do if I’m away from home and have some downtime while I'm waiting for something. I’m not sure about the Nook (that’s on the B&N ecosystem, right?) but, with the Amazon ecosystem, your books are stored on the cloud. You can download the same book on multiple devices and sync them to the same page, so there’s no need to carry your e-reader around or be tied to a single device. You can just read the same book on whichever device is convenient for the current situation and, as long as you stay connected to the Internet, you never have to search for your place.

David wrote: "I have an old nook e-reader that works fine, but I never used it much because it's another device to keep charged and carry around and being a guy that doesn't wear a purse I have no place to put it when I go out."

I’m a female who doesn’t carry a purse. They’re just a nuisance. Purses, that is, not females. :p

An e-ink device uses so little power that I easily keep my Kindle charged by just plugging it in for a few minutes while I go about my nightly routine before bed. My device usage is pretty consistent, so I find it easy to keep my stuff charged, mostly using a single charger on my nightstand. The phone charges overnight, and whenever I'm in my car. The tablet charges during the day while I'm at work. The Kindle charges while I'm getting ready for bed.

YouKneeK wrote: "The phone charges overnight, and whenever I'm in my car. The tablet charges during the day while I'm at work. The Kindle charges while I'm getting ready for bed. "

I love a good, organized routine! This made me smile.

Another reason I love my e-books, I can read on my computer at work with the Kindle web browser app. It's harder to get away with reading actual books. It's a bit more obvious that I'm not actually working. ;)

YouKneeK wrote: "David wrote: "I think I might straight-up prefer just reading e-books on my phone in basically every way. It's smaller, lighter, easier to hold in weird positions (try reading a physical book layin..."

I just really have no complaints about reading on my phone is the main thing. It's no harder on my eyes than print. I've heard people claim it is and I honestly think it's 100% a placebo effect. Studies don't really back that up, not to mention I've literally been staring at computer screens for my entire life without issue. Just slap a blue-light filter on, which any decent e-book app should have, and you're good to go.

I'm just not sure what an e-reader brings to the table that makes it preferable to a phone? What about reading on your phone don't you like? Have you tried a blue-light filter and/or changing the font and background color to something besides dark black text on a stark white background? You don't want such a harsh contrast as pure black and pure white. A very dark grey background with very light grey to white text is generally the best way to read on a computer/phone screen.

To me it just seems like an unnecessary thing to own. I feel similarly about buying a dedicated mp3 player when my phone also plays music, like, why would I do that? My phone does all the things, everyone's does. Isn't a single, tiny device that does everything the scifi future we've been waiting for all this time? Why not embrace it?

As for Amazon's ecosystem and switching devices, the thing is I get e-books from a variety of sources like indie bundles and whatnot, so committing to amazon's ecosystem isn't really a good option for me, not to mention the fact that I just don't feel comfortable having all "my" books stored on their cloud in their proprietary, copy-protected format. I've heard at least one horror story of Amazon locking somebody out of their entire kindle library with no recourse for breaking their terms of service or something. I'd like to build an e-book library I know will still be around when I'm an old man. When I buy an e-book on amazon or from anywhere else it immediately gets ripped into my calibre library, converted to a DRM free epub, and synced to my dropbox. When I was using my nook I did the same thing, I just put epubs straight on it from my calibre library. In many cases I was reading e-books purchased on amazon on a nook, which is a particular sort of irony that I enjoy.

David wrote: "YouKneeK wrote: "David wrote: "What about reading on your phone don't you like?..."

The tactile interface on phones was not optimized for book reading. I find my phone to be way too finicky; I'm always accidentally navigating to places I don't want to be while reading, or I shift my position and the screen flips from horizontal to vertical or vice versa. Sure, I could turn off the screen flip while reading, but that's kind of a pain.

Also with a phone the internet is always too close by, as are social media, texts and phone calls. These are temptations away from reading which diminish my reading experience. Distractions make reading less immersive. At least it does to me. Reading is about getting sucked in and absorbed in another world. It's harder for me to do that when reading on a phone. YMMV.

I'm not sure I'd buy a separate eReader if I had the phone first, but I've had my Kindle Voyage for a while and purposefully avoided getting one of their tablets for just the reasons above, when apps and internet and other distractions are so close at hand, it spoils my reading experience. The Voyage, though, has a good screen, can be read in full blazing sunlight, and has a UI specifically designed for reading--one-handed I might add.

But as I said, I'm not sure I would have bought one if I had a smartphone first (which I didn't), but they do have advantages, IMO.

Kristin B. wrote: "YouKneeK wrote: "As for Amazon's ecosystem and switching devices, the thing is I get e-books from a variety of sources like indie bundles and whatnot, so committing to amazon's ecosystem isn't really a good option for me..."

You can email ebooks you've downloaded from elsewhere to your Amazon account so that they are available on all your devices. Or you can transfer files directly via USB.

So the source of where you get books from isn't an issue really.

One cloud server is much like another. You still have copies of the files on all your devices so whether you use Amazon or Google or Dropbox or Apple or whatever storing to cloud is just an easy way to make all your files available to all your connected devices.

David wrote: "I just really have no complaints about reading on my phone is the main thing. It's no harder on my eyes than print. I've heard people claim it is and I honestly think it's 100% a placebo effect. Studies don't really back that up, not to mention I've literally been staring at computer screens for my entire life without issue."

Actually, numerous studies from all over the world have shown just the opposite: staring at a computer screen all day significantly impacts your eye function in numerous negative ways. Everything from causing chronic dry eye to damaging the color receptors, as well as general myopia. Some people (mostly women) who experience light-induced migraines, have to limit their screen time or suffer the consequences.

Which makes sense, since we blink a lot less when staring at a screen, and we are effectively staring into a ten-watt lightbulb for hours on end.

Congrats on not experiencing noticeable effects, but the reality is for most people staring at a screen does cause measurable physical harm. Just because you don't doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

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ETA: I would also point out that you are still in the "bounce back from anything" age group. At 26 you can still go out and party all night and if you get two hours' sleep you can function normally the next day. You can even repeat it. You can eat just about anything and not feel any deleterious effects from it. Trust me when I tell you that those days are rapidly coming to an end.

It seems like every year I see some interview with the model du jour where they ask about their "beauty regimen" and the kid always says something like, "Oh, I just spritz some water on my face and run my hand through my hair and I'm good to go." Yeah, because you're in your 20s! We were all like that!

All this abuse you're putting your body through -- and staring at computer screens all day is abuse, believe me -- is going to exact a price. In 15 years you will be angry at your current self for not taking better care of yourself now.

Ideally, I'd prefer to support brick and mortar stores. But there's literally one bookshop within walking distance of my house, and the selection is poor. The only credible alternative is a bus into town, and that's going take an hour and a half (there and back, plus waiting) as well as a fiver. If I happen to be in town anyway that's one thing, but it just doesn't make sense for an individual book.

In terms of hard copies and e-books, I generally buy fantasy/sci-fi e-books and physical copies for history. I think that's better for quick reference and picture/map quality.

Trike wrote: "ETA: I would also point out that you are still in the "bounce back from anything" age group. At 26 you can still go out and party all night and if you get two hours' sleep you can function normally the next day. You can even repeat it. You can eat just about anything and not feel any deleterious effects from it. Trust me when I tell you that those days are rapidly coming to an end.

It seems like every year I see some interview with the model du jour where they ask about their "beauty regimen" and the kid always says something like, "Oh, I just spritz some water on my face and run my hand through my hair and I'm good to go." Yeah, because you're in your 20s! We were all like that!

All this abuse you're putting your body through -- and staring at computer screens all day is abuse, believe me -- is going to exact a price. In 15 years you will be angry at your current self for not taking better care of yourself now"


QFT

Good LORD! I remember those days! Staying up 24+ hours at a time and looking absolutely fabulous while doing it. Eating complete and utter crap while maintaining great skin. Not gonna lie, my momma gave me some great genes and I made those genes work when I was young (er). LOL!

There's this club we used to go to... It was only open on Tuesdays starting at 11:30pm. WHAT? Yes. Hubby and I were out of college and working full time and were there regularly.