I love reading. Novels precisely. Growing up, I always owned those inexpensive paperback novels which I read through in few minutes and looked out for more. With time, I found no interest in them, and so looked out for bigger ones with even more thrilling stories.
For a few years now, I've been inclined towards surfing and consuming books online. I've been a user of so many softwares. And while I had my fill using each one, there were also downsides. I always lost my downloaded books and worse of all, the sites/apps get shut down. It started with Anybooks which is by far the best book app I have used, not only because it's free of cost but because of the large array and plethora of books it houses. Think of whatever book and author, visit the app, you'll find it. Every single feature I adore, it had it. Maybe that's why every other app I've tried ever since seems below standard. I tried Wattpad, freebooks, okadabooks, inkitt, ReadEra and just last week I checked out Goodreads(never knew it was for reviews). Somehow, I had been sleeping on lightreader and when eventually I decide to give it a try, which was just a few months ago, it got shutdown.
Pexel
One time, I tried reading an academic book online and I wasn't having it; comprehension and concentration wise. I guess it's easier with novels for me.
But, knowing how much ebooks have helped me, here are some reasons i find them appealing;
I can go almost anywhere with my device knowing that I have access to hundreds of books.
I love the mobility and flexibility that comes with using e-book.
With ebooks, I do not have to put down my book and go search for a word in my dictionary. Instead, I use the one made available by the app or can easily check for it on Google or in my phone's built-in dictionary.
For someone like me who likes to put down exercepts from books, I could use the highlighting feature ebooks possess which is very easy to look up later by the way. Reading in dark or well lit rooms isn't also an issue as the brightness feature is there to help balance and air my vision. I can stay comfortably in any position and adjust my gadget as i see fit.
Unlike in hardcopy works where if a particular page where I am reading gets closed, I will face the stress of searching for it, Ebooks mostly just take you back to where you had stopped reading the moment you switch open the app.
Because of the array of books available, I am not limited to whatever a book store has in stock. At any time I please and for whatever book I seek, the chances that I will find them is high. Book hunting takes very little time so in less than a minute, I could come face to face with my desired read.
I love love love books but like most things, they're not free. Because I do not own as much as I wish and because I cannot afford to buy every single book I wish(that's like all the books in the world), I am more inclined to using e-books as they cost very little to almost nothing. That way, I can manage to read as I please and not go broke.
Now.....
I read everything I wrote up there and it didn't sound like me.
So, pretend you never read what I wrote up there cause frankly, I'll pick a hardcopy book over an ebook. Why?
Well, I love to flip through my books, I love to feel the weight, the rigidity. I love the sound the pages make as I run through them, I love the smell of my books especially new prints. There are less distractions with a hardcopy book and I get to grasp more, concentrate even better and create perfect descriptions in my head. Also, I love to stack up on books. To look at my shelve and see the beauty I have amassed and also perceive their damp or cool smell. There's just this sort of comfort holding a book in my hand gives me which I never seem to get no matter the number of times I use an ebook. Asides cost, everything I wrote up there about ebooks, I could comfortably pull them off with hardcopies. Do you know the thrill that comes with holding your books in your hands.
Call me crude. I don't mind. I just like the 'old' way of reading. It's the little things like this that get me excited. And believe me, hardcopy prints could never go out of fashion.
But then, being a book lover who only really cares about having every book at her disposal, the both are just okay. They're only different.
Thank you for stopping by.
Greetings!