The Debate

E-readers are a big part of books and reading these days. There's the Nook, the Kindle, iPads, iPad minis, and basically any type of tablet. I mean, hell you can even get books on your phone if you have the app now. There are two sides to every debate. The two sides in this are fairly clear, but there is a grey area, as with most things. The people who love e-readers and those who think that they are a waste of time.

Some of the cons of e-readers to me are as follows. One is that I love having the feel of a book in my hand. I like the weight of it, which probably sounds a little weird, but what can you do? With an e-reader, I don't get that feel of the book. Another is, I like to be able to see my progress through a book, of seeing how far I've gotten, and the feel of turning the pages. I also, as weird as it is, I like to smell the pages of my books. It's a guilty pleasure and its something that I've always done. I don't really know why and believe me I've gotten my fair share of strange looks from people, even my fellow bookworms. One big problem I have with e-readers is that, I feel like with e-readers growing in popularity, what's going to become of the libraries and the bookstores? Now, I will admit that the likeliness of e-readers running a huge book distributor, like Barnes and Noble out of business is pretty slim, especially since they sell their own version of one. My fear is also for the smaller, less known bookstores and town libraries. That being said, its still a fear, perhaps an irrational one, but I digress.

Don't get me wrong, there are some pros to e-readers as well. One being that with e-books, authors can now make novellas much easier. Rather than having to go through the process of getting it in print, they can just type it out and release. Of course, its also frustrating when an author that I really like has a novella come out, and its only available as a e-book, especially with a series that I really, really liked. Another is the size, with an e-reader its possible to carry around several books, rather than one, or if you are really dedicated sometimes two or more. It also makes it easier to carry around the really big books, for example the novel Under the Dome by Stephen King is 1074 pages! That's quite the book to haul around everywhere. E-readers also make school easier and cheaper too. Instead of having to buy, sometimes the option is available to get it as an e-book, which is in most cases cheaper than buying or renting.

I used to think that e-readers were something to scoff at and that it wasn't really reading a book. That it was cheating in a way. I couldn't wrap my head around why people would chose e-readers over actual, physical books. It seemed that it was black and white, with no middle ground. Now, I see the grey area that surrounds e-readers. While I prefer physical books to e-books, I still see and understand the appeal pf e-readers. I believe now that e-readers aren't ruining books, more that they are simply a new part of the ever growing world of books. A quote I found when scrolling through Pinterest one day sums up my point perfectly.