Kindle (Paperwhite) vs Real Life Book: Pros and Cons
For years, I debated on whether or not I wanted a Kindle. For years, I hated those electronic readers as they slowly crush and kill the paper industry… but finally, and very slowly, I started to change my mind. As a belated Christmas gift, my mama gifted me with the Kindle Paperwhite and now that I’ve read a few books on it, I wanted to share my thoughts!
Cons to the Kindle…
What I Love and Miss About Real Books
Smell: there’s nothing like paging through a new (or old) book and breathing in that sweet smell of paper and ink.
Cover Art: First and foremost, a book is most recognized by its cover… and I love Instagramming photos of the book I’m currently reading. I dearly miss having that beautiful (color!) book cover to gaze upon! I’m sure reading ebooks on an iPad or other Kindle versions help, but the Kindle Paperwhite just has a low quality black and white version of the cover that is rarely seen.
Tactile feel: In addition to the book cover, book designers and their authors go through a strenuous process to choose the best typeface and paper stock to give their books a visual voice. Whether its a modern sanserif font or the pages have that uneven cut paper, the book’s actual design in your hands gives it a life past the author’s words.
Size: Along with the cover, typeface and paper stock, the overall size of a book also makes a difference—whether its a small paperback beach read or a large heavy hardback. Reading a book that’s the same shape every time even can get a bit dull. Although I do love my leather rooCASE Kindle cover!
Percentage read: There’s nothing like knowing you only have 5 pages left in a book, knowing it’s about to all end. With the Kindle, sometimes the “percent read” will still read 8% to go, and then BOOM! the end—dumb appendixes!
It’s a lot harder to flip through, seeing how many pages are left… referencing back to an older portion (that you didn’t realize was important at the time so you didn’t mark it).
Borrowing Books: Sharing books is next to over… I love going over to someone’s house and perusing their bookshelves and striking up conversations over our shared favorites. And then borrowing one other!
Okay, basically my list primarily consists of the cons.
Pros to the Kindle…
But what I do love about having a Kindle…
Convenience: Buying more books on the go… a road trip must. I always over pack books (rarely would I under pack). And only having to carry 1 book around.
Book light: The light in the Paperwhite lets me read all the time, again, handy on a road trip… while also letting me read late at night—if Andy’s sleeping—or even in dimly lit areas.
Highlighting: The highlighting function is awesome… I never would write in my own books (they’re too sacred to me! haha) so this feature is so awesome!
Cross Platform: The cross platform “bookmark” allows me to read on my Kindle and then when I’m out and about without it, I can still read on my phone at the exact spot I left off on.
Overall though, I love my Kindle. And I know that this will be my primary choice to read in the coming years. Although I hate to say that on principle! While my pro list is technically shorter, the overall convenience of reading on the Kindle does outweigh the longer con list. But for now, I’m alternating between an e-read and a paperback! Best of both worlds, I guess!
Please tell me in the comments, I’d love to hear your thoughts, on your preferred reading method!
P.S. The book shown on my Kindle above is another book from Gone Girl author, Gillian Flynn. Not really the friendly for the G-rated audience, I realized, as I was editing the photos!
