Sunday, September 23, 2012

The problem with e-books

I have a very pretty Kindle.  It was given to me as a present for my birthday and it has this nice brown leather case around it.  It fits very nicely into my handbag and the storage is seemingly endless on it.  I do really love my Kindle. 

The only problem is that I have maybe 30 titles on my Kindle that I've bought myself or downloaded from NetGalley that I haven't yet gotten around to because e-books just do not compete for my attention in the same way as physical books. 





As much as I really should be reading some of these titles, especially as some are VERY exciting to me (The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa, Department 19 by Will Hill, Speechless by Hannah Harrington, Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott to name just a few!), I just don't think to read a book from my Kindle.  It's very rare that I will choose an e-book over a book that is taking up space on my book shelves or is part of a towering pile of books on my bedside table.


I did go through a very brief phase last year in which I just blitzed through a bunch of NetGalley books, but I'm fairly sure that was down to a reading slump.  In order to work my way out of it, I found that reading in a different format seemed to help. 

So what to do?  How do I keep these e-books in mind when choosing my next read?  How do the rest of you manage it?  


18 comments:

  1. I'm the opposite! I read my ebooks first and struggle to find time for paperbacks. *blush*
    It's because I have apps on my phone which sync up with my e-readers, so wherever I go I'm always sneakily reading. It's harder to sneak a paperback out of my bag...
    I hope you find time for some of your fab Kindle books!

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    1. I can see how that happens, I just don't really understand it! Imagine reading mostly ebooks? No way! :)

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  2. I'm using my 'to-read' list on Goodreads more, slotting Kindle books in among the physical ones and using the numbering thing to tell me what to read next. It does mean that review books are getting slotted in ahead of those mega-splurges I have when Amazon have a sale, but it does seem to be working.

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    1. Yeah, I don't think that I utilise the functions on GoodReads very well at all! That sounds like a good way of going about it though!

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  3. I'm exactly the same. I haven't picked my kindle up in months even though I know I have review books on there because my pile of physical books are both staring at me and too tempting. Reading on it really isn't the same. In fact I think the only time I prefer it is when I'm travelling on the train as it saves the amount I have to carry about

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    1. Yeah, for travelling, I can definitely see the work in having an ereader. ANd I totally have to get used to the different feeling of reading from my Kindle.. I'm just not used to it. It feels strange.

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  4. I definitely agree with you! I am much more appealed to physical books than e-books. The pretty, shiny cover, the smell and the feel of holding a book. However, I love my Kindle, and it is so handy to carry around. Brilliant post, I hope you manage to read those reads too :)

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    1. I hope I manage it as well! Since writing this post, I've read half of an ebook, so there's some progress, no matter how small it is! :)

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  5. How about making a list of books you have to read and putting an asterisk beside the books that are on your kindle? That might help you remember them. I always find lists helpful! :)

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    1. Lists ARE definitely helpful! I keep a list of my netgalley books in my blogging notebook, but I keep skipping past that page. I think you're right though, if I lumped them together instead of keeping a separate list, that might help things!

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  6. I used to find it near impossible to read ebooks. It just felt too odd. Like I could barely get my hands to comfortably hold an ereader... and turning the pages... everything was just wrong!

    Ever since I started using NetGalley, however, I've actually grown strangely comfortable with ebooks. I guess it was something that needed a bit of time. And while I would nearly always pick a paper copy over an ebook, I don't find myself grumbling as much when it comes to an ebook now. ;)

    As for keeping track of them, Goodreads is the best option for me. I have an up soon list for review books and anything else I plan to read sooner rather than later. It's a way for me to reduce my 1000+ to-read list to around 40-50, so I know what I need to pay attention to.

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    1. I definitely don't use GoodReads to its full potential! I'll have to see what I can do about that. Since writing this post actually, I've gotten better at it. I've set myself a target of reading one e-book a week until I get myself caught up!

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  7. I have a very short attention span so I'm usually reading 2 or 3 or more books at a time and so I try to make sure at least ONE of those is an ebook! I use the app on my iTouch as well so it's handy for sneaky quick reads!

    But I totally know what you mean!! I am always more drawn to my fabulous paperbacks!!

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    1. Eep! Reading 2-3 books at a time would rarely work for me :( I don't have the brain capacity to juggle that many stories :)

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  8. I totally understand what you're saying. On my Kindle, there are a lot of classics that I wanted to read or Netgalley books that I download and completely forget about because, the physical books are RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME when my Kindle is in a draw.
    The way I tackle them is by reading the Netgalley books when I go on holiday. Then, also you don't have to take a zillion books and therefore, more space for packing!

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    1. Ah, but it's probably different for you when you're on holiday! I have my two little boys to deal with and don't do as much reading :) It's an interesting suggestion though, thanks!

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  9. I do this too! When I'm looking at my to read pile, I always forget that I have books on my kindle too - this could be because I am terrible about picking the next cover that I like the look of, and I can't do that with my ebooks...
    What I do to help remind me, is when I'm looking at my to read pile, I remind myself to pick up my kindle as well and flick through the contents list to remind myself what is on there. I also go through and read reviews of some of the books on there cos that can sometimes jog me into wanting to read something on the kindle. It's hard to, but the more I use it the more I get used to it. I am terrible though, I bought it initially so that with travelling I can take just that instead of a hardback, only when I went away earlier in the year I'd just started Bitterblue, and I couldn't bear to leave it, so I ended up buying the kindle version as well and flipping between the two depending on where I was reading... (I've ended up with a lot of duplicate books!)

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    1. Duplicate books! I guess that is quite easy to do.

      I think just using the Kindle more has helped me to remember the ebooks on there. I never really took it out of the drawer before, but now I keep my Kindle on my to-be-read pile on my bedside table amongst the other books I want to read next.

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