They both have their pros and cons. Epubs are easy to acquire and carry, and easy to read, since the display is customizable. But a physical book is nice to have away from home, so I don't have to spend too much battery on reading. And it's nice to admire some covers in person.
this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2025
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Ebooks, because I can pirate that way (Kobo Clara BW). That way I can also take a light e-book reader for traveling and not read it instead of taking a heavier book and not read it.
I've been reducing my small paper book collection.
- E-mailing my library and asking if they are interested in any and they picked up four (still can't believe they didn't want "Algeria: France's Undeclared War" wtf)
- Putting them up on a local auction site (if they aren't already oversaturated with copies of what I have)
- For the ones where there are already many copies on the auction sites, I donate them to my library's "give away a book" shelf, where other librarygoers just take them. Apparently the books disappear pretty quickly
I prefer paper books, don't care about the smell, but it's just the tactical feel of paper book vs ebook.
I think you meant "tactile".
You've never taken out a sniper with a well aimed Terry Pratchett?
eBooks. I have close to 400 books on my kobo, and it takes up no extra physical space.
I don’t really care but it's significantly more convenient to use eBook, especially if you're not reading at home.
I see ebooks and paper in much the same way I see streaming music and vinyl.
I love my vinyl collection. I love the feeling of putting on a record, the old school analogue nature of it. There's a kind of ritual in dropping the needle.
But I can't bring vinyl in the car or on a plane.
I love paper books, but they're not always the most practical thing. So ebooks are often a better solution. Which is better is really situational.
Personally, as someone who has published, a couldn't care less what medium someone uses to enjoy my novel. Ebook, paper, audiobook; the words are the same, and the words are what matter. How those words are delivered is not important.
I would like to enjoy your novel in the form of a series of people slowly walking by me, each with a single sentence of your book tattooed on their back. Chapter headings tattooed on the side of a horse, so I can quickly glance down the street and know how soon the chapter will be ending.
Not gonna lie, if someone actually arranged that, it would be the raddest thing that had happened in the history of the universe, and I would immediately question their sanity for picking my book to indelibly ink on a bunch of human bodies, instead of many far better options.
As I get older ebooks are simply better. I can adjust font, font size, line height, kerning, leading, margins, backlight warmth on a device that can carry all the thousands of books I have and which weighs ounces.
Ebook. Specially epub format.
kepub or gtfo :)
My dream invention would be a blank book that would let you download texts. Feels and smells like paper, but with the advantages of an Ereader.
Until then, I'll stick with paper.
Oh that would be sooooo good!!
As a reader take these suggestions.
[in nor particular order]
'Red Harvest' by Dashiell Hammett. A tough detective arrives in a lawless town and proceeds to clean it up by tricking half the town into killing the rest. If the plot sounds familiar it's because people stole it from this book, the original.
'Night's Master' by Tanith Lee. A demon prince spends his night's seducing and tormenting humans. Like Neil Gaiman? He stole a tone of stuff from her.
'Dark Star' by Alan Furst. On the brink of WW2 a Soviet reporter is drafted into the KGB. He's lead to a mysterious suitcase and soon finds himself hunted across Europe.
Enjoy.
I've got over a thousand paperbacks on my shelves, and I'm realizing that I just have too many to move house or to make someone deal with when I die. I don't like ebooks, but I think I'll switch just to reduce how much STUFF I have.
I realized about 1/3 of everything I had to move when I moved were boxes filled with books. I ended up getting rid of 90% of the books and just use an ereader for everything now. And my digital library has swelled to many times the size of my old physical library.
Nice.
I mostly read sci-fi from the 50s-70s, so I bet I can easily find those ebooks just laying around somewhere.
I don't have an e-reader, and reading on my phone is annoying. I see recommendations for readers often in the FOSS and piracy communities, so I'll bet there's a good one out there for me.
Ebooks. Much more accessible just by virtue of being able to change the font, size of text, colour, etc. Can also fit a whole lot more books into a much smaller space.
ebooks are more convenient, paper is more nostalgic
I prefer paper, but since my wife claims 90% of the shelf space I usually read ebooks.
Paper
Paper is always preferred but as others have said, ebooks don't take up any space so I end up owning a lot more of them.
Paper.
Ebooks don't have the right smell.
I fully switched to my ereader the last time I moved. I need a book smell candle.
I'm told it's the evaporating lignins in the paper that give it a distinct smell, and the smell is vanilla-adjacent.
I read my Kindle in the bath, and the case has picked up a musty smell It's the worst
Might wanna take it off and check for mold.
I've taken it off. No mold, but I've scrubbed it with hand soap and left it in the sun to dry.
Both lol.
Hardcopy for ensuring I actually own the book and an ebook version for convenience.
Plus, it's hard to fill up a physical shelf with ebooks.
It depends on the book.
If it's a book I will be cherishing and valuing, paper. If it's a book I'm just going to read and toss, or if it's a book I'm going to use for reference purposes, ebook.
Physical book to support the author.
Ebook to actually read the book .
Ebook for fiction books. The convenience is amazing and i don’t have enough space for all the books as physical copies in my place. Plus generally much cheaper to buy.
I do however buy some non-fiction books (ex. books on writing/editing/crafting techniques/etc.) as physical copies as I reference them more often and searching is much easier in physical format.
Exactly my feelings.
Ebooks are so convenient but I buy paper or hardback for historical and biographies (they usually contain maps, diagrams and pictures which are more easily referenced and viewed in real life).
I recently bought a Ereader. It’s really convenient and I think that’s its biggest forte. I think I prefer reading on paper however
I still prefer paper books. I'm behind a computer all day long so it's a nice break. Just ordered Good Omens so I'm excited about that.
Ebooks since 2007, I just don't get people that insist on dead trees and give some bullshit justifications.
I was unaware that I have to justify a preference. Silly me.