Which Wednesday #1: Paper or Plastic

Hey everyone,

Welcome to my new Feature: Which Wednesday. Here I’ll be posing two options and then choosing one at the end. You can write your own post with your choice and add it to the link up below or you simply state your choice in the comments below!

Which Wednesday: Paper or Plastic?

It’s the age old question these days: a real book or an e-reader. Both have their advantages and both have some draw backs. Which one do you prefer?

Paper (A Physical Book)

I’ve been reading books since I was a child exploring the library shelves like an archaeologist on a new dig or a hiker through an undisturbed path. Everything was a new sight to behold and each new story was an adventure filled with memories. It was the feel of the pages against my fingers and the smell of the faded paper mixed with the library’s own scent that followed me throughout each story. These are the physical things that stayed with me through each leap into a new book and every time I stepped into a bookstore or library. These are the memories I conjured up: the physical. These feeling and scents were like a drug. Any book lover knows what I’m talking about. It’s why we crave a physical copy of a book every now and then even if our e-readers are full of options.

Plastic (E-Readers/E-Books)

The e-reader introduced a whole new world of reading and functionality. Not only could I take 20-30 books with me anywhere I went with such ease, but I could also afford/easily convince myself to buy 20-30 more books than I normally would. The books weren’t taking up space, so I could say “yes” to that extra purchase. The e-readers brought instant-gratification. One click and the book’s there. Right in my grasp for reading. No trip to the bookstore or 5-6 business days. It’s right there. And I gobbled each one up. It definitely helped when I was reading a series that was already out. I just hit “buy now” for book 2 and so on. Plus, I could pack it away for trips  and have multiple reading options. My Kindle became another avenue to fuel my obsession.

My Decision:

So which one do I love? It’s hard a question. If this was posed to me 3 years ago, I wouldn’t hesitate to say a physical book was my favorite. Back then I abhorred the idea of an e-reader. It was sacrilegious to me. I even wrote a whole article about it for my Journalism II class. But then, my parents got me a Kindle Fire for Christmas. I was hesitant about it. Would I really use it? I couldn’t just discard it. I mean, my parents paid a lot of money for it. So I tried it out. Only downloading the free classics, I didn’t really pay much attention to it. I was more drawn to the free 3 months of Amazon Prime and the seven seasons of Buffy now available at my fingertips. I don’t know when I exactly began reading more from it. It must have been a gradual thing, but a year later I was hitting more Insta-click “buy now” buttons than I thought I would. The $2.99 prices drew me in and I caved.

But thinking about it now and really shifting through my feelings, I can honestly say that the physical book is still my favorite. Maybe it goes back to those memories of the physical feel and scent of books or maybe it’s because I didn’t fully grow-up in a technology-focused generation. I was definitely exposed to a lot of technology growing up, but even now I still cling to owning the physical CD over iTunes. I just like knowing that I have it. That isn’t to say that I don’t own a TON of e-books or enjoying reading from my Kindle Fire. I just know deep down, that I wouldn’t really miss my e-reader if I didn’t have it anymore. With physical books; however, I think I’d form protests to save them. Plus there’s also the fact that I’ve purchased physical copies of books I already own on my e-reader. That has to say something about me, right?

Maybe I’m just obsessed with owning physical books. Who really knows? All I can say, is that when it comes down to paper or plastic: I’m choosing paper. 🙂

So what do you choose? Leave your thoughts below or join the Linky! I can’t wait to see what you all think! 

See you later booknerds!

xo,

NicoleLynn