I don't have a Kindle, but I have eBook software installed on my computer (two kinds!) This is not because I am becoming more ok with ebooks, but rather a combination of the following two factors:
1) I live like a turtle, with my life on my back.
Books are really heavy, and after several hellish cross-oceanic trips, I really downsized my book collection. I have a core collection of books that are read to death; these are my favorites from childhood and adolescence, ones that I can read over and over and still love. I'm a book re-reader--lots of people I know don't reread books, which is something I don't understand! So, when ebooks started being created, I, like all of you, reacted with scorn.
However, I realized that I still wanted to read things, and so books that I don't feel like buying or moving end up being downloaded as ebooks to my computer.
2) I keep the books I am too embarrassed to own as ebooks on my computer.
I have a somewhat embarrassing predilection for time-travel novels and for witty romance novels. (Not the ones with Fabio on the cover, but in particular a series by a History MA-turned-Regency-romance-writer that has lines that make me laugh out loud.) However, when you're in transit or have somebody poring over your bookshelves and judging your character, it's best to keep the regency romance and Diana Gabaldon in your computer. Plus, I can bring it on the airplane!
I am also not a purchaser of e-books; I tend to get them from, um, questionable sources.
The way this ends up working out is that, like Chrissy, I get headaches from reading on the screen for too long. Lately I've been giving myself stress migraines with visual distortions (a whole other story...) and that's making screen reading even MORE difficult. So reading a book in print is relaxing, whereas reading one of my trashy novels on the computer is not necessarily enjoyable. However, it ends up being a bit like Netflix watching--you're inert, but you're not really resting. I always feel more ready to sleep after reading a print book than watching an ebook one.
I don't think I'd ever get a ebook reader, but if I had a tablet I might put my trashy novels on them. Or maybe when I'm done school I'll just put down roots and rebuy all my books!!
You are definitely not alone in your reading habits. Have you ever heard those stories about how 50 Shades of Grey kind of exploded at the time that e-books were getting big because people liked the idea of reading on transit without having their books judged? But, while there is so much hype around the convenience of e-books, I think you identified an important tension that probably keeps people away from digital reading - that you're having trouble physically relaxing while pleasure reading. It's hard trying to doze off to a lit screen, and because tablets, computers, etc are not just ereaders, there are always more distractions (like notifications, availability of social media, etc). All this talk about the importance of physical comfort while reading (including my eyesight rant) is kind of bringing me back to the first weeks of class looking at that giant book wheel and the guy in a weird chair-computer thing. It's kind of funny how the simplest solution still kind of works best.
ReplyDeleteI do remember that--I was in London when 50 shades happened and there were SO MANY PEOPLE reading it on the tube. You could always tell the furtive readers from the non-furtive readers too--they looked shifty.
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying we should all install book wheels? I just want a chaise longue that I can lay on all day while people feed me bon bons and bring me books.
I definitely censor my reading material on public transit. I'm into graphic novels, so I read Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie a year or so ago and very deliberately did not carry that around in public. I even felt weird reading Game of Thrones on the subway, though that was mostly because I occasionally say things like "eww" or "seriously?" aloud at inopportune moments.
ReplyDeleteI'm also guilty of being that person who creeps other people's books on the subway. It's really fascinating stuff, though.