I Guess I Just Need Paper

Ebooks don't cut it for novels

I do a lot of reading online, and I enjoy it. Generally short pieces, most often nonfiction, I can’t do novels.

Way back when Barnes & Noble introduced the Nook I was an early adopter. And I rather loved the concept. How cool to be able to walk around with a whole library in one’s hand. To be honest, I really loved the form factor too. I bought a really cool case for it, the outside was tooled leather, the inside was lined with fabric featuring old school tattoos. The thing was beautiful.

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash

But to be honest, I didn’t stick with it for long. I just sort of preferred reading actual ink on paper when it came to books I guess.

Then my local library came out with this app where I could borrow ebooks. And to make it that much better, they reached agreements with a large number of other public library systems. So I wasn’t limited to just borrowing what my library had available, I could borrow from all sorts of libraries. How cool was that?

So, I slapped the app on my phone and gave reading on it a whirl.

Same deal. I loved the fact that I could really easily find, and borrow just about any book I could think of, but I just couldn’t get into reading on my phone.

Ah, but the allure of convenience is always there.

It’s siren song calling me in.

Early this past week I was lurking in a literature sub over on Reddit, looking for book recommendations. And I found two. They both sounded just about precisely what I was looking for.

One did though, sound just a touch better than the other.

But it was only available as an ebook.

Not my thing, I know, but I really was interested in reading it, so I got out my phone and downloaded away.

Alas, I wasn’t able to finish it. Not because the book is bad. It’s not. I just can’t get lost in the flow of a good novel when it is coming to me through an electronic device. I have no idea why this might be, but for years and years now I’ve found it to be true.

Lots of things can ruin the flow of fiction for me. Typos certainly do it. Some errors in usage or vocabulary will do it too. But for me, there’s that other thing. Something about the electronic gizmo kills the flow for me.

Short nonfiction, no problem at all. Novel length fiction, something about the screen in hand just makes it impossible for me.

So, I moved on to my second choice.

For some reason, Bookshop.org (where I prefer to buy my books online, in hopes that it helps brick and mortar bookstores)¹ didn’t have it, so I had to go with Amazon, but for a few extra bucks they were willing to deliver next day, so it all worked out, and last night I was able to begin a new novel, printed on paper with ink.

I know that ebooks are extremely popular, particularly with people who read a great deal, but I wonder if there are also people like me. People who can’t get into the flow of a good novel if that novel is being read on an electronic device.

And I wonder why I might be that way. Is it something about the distinctive touch of the paper? Something about the unique scent of a printed book? Something left over from my childhood, since I grew up prior to the adoption of the personal computer?

I wonder if this is just an odd personal quirk, or if others share it.

1. Unfortunately my little City does not have a brick and mortar new bookshop. The closest independent is about an hour away, so I’ve set it to receive whatever profits bookshop.org are able to deliver from my purchases. Or however the organization works.