E-books? E-gad! Why I prefer paperbacks to electronic pads...

I am a Paperback Purist. At least that’s what CBS Sunday Morning called me and others like me on their program the other day. I have to say, they are right. I love everything about books; I love the feel of holding a real book in my hands, I love to peek at the top and see how many pages I've gone through, I love reading a brand new book and trying not to crease the spine and I love the way books look on my bookshelf, all lined up like little soldiers.

I can glance at any book I own and tell you whether I have read it or not and, if so, what the story is about. When I choose a book I want to read, I do so by looking at the cover first, scanning for a title and even artwork that draws my eye. Then I flip it over and read the back cover. If the blurb on the back gets me, I open to the first page and start reading. If it doesn't get me on the first page, I put it back. I know within the first few lines if I will read a book and, usually, whether or not I will enjoy it.

Some books come home with me and get read immediately and some sit on a shelf for a bit until just the right moment comes along. New, old, used, paperback or hardback...It doesn't matter. As long as I can hold it in my hands and turn pages made of actual paper, I'm happy.

     More than just holding and reading a regular book, I love owning them. A bookshelf whose shelves are filled with hardbacks and paperbacks, books stacked anywhere they will fit, is a sight I adore. Books make me smile. I collect them. I try to pick up the classics anytime I see them at garage sales and flea markets. Some that I have read, others that I have not. I just want to own them, pass them on to my children, read them to them at bed time and open their eyes to the worlds I fell in love with. The condition matters not, the edition is not a concern. I don’t care what they are worth because I will never sell them. In fact, the copy of The Lord of the Rings that my dad gave me is worth more to me than any first edition print you could find.

     The books I have read and enjoyed gain a place on my shelf. Once there, they never leave. The books I love are the books I keep, no matter how full those shelves become. I will make room. 

     I can’t imagine my life without books. I have been reading like a fiend since, well since I learned how to read. I always have a book with me and, quite often, I have two or three. They are in my bag, on my bedside table, in the dining room waiting for me to pick them back up and finish their stories. It is common place to see me with my nose in a book.

     It is not common place, however, nor will it ever be, to find my nose in a kindle. Or a Nook, or any of the other e-readers out there. I am completely, utterly, one hundred percent, entirely ANTI-ELECTRONIC BOOKS.

     If you own one, good for you. But don’t try to sell me on how great they are or how cheaply or quickly or easily you can get “books” on them. You will not change my mind. I know they are everywhere and growing in popularity, some of my best friends have them. (So what if I shook my head at them and told them I was disappointed in them for going all techie on me?) But I don’t think paperbacks or “traditional books” will be going anywhere anytime soon, if ever. There are enough purists such as myself out there to keep them circulating for a good long while. And, besides, like my best friend said when I curled my lip at her new toy, “I’m still keeping the books I have and it’s not like I’m not going to read regular books anymore.”

     It was true, she’d bought three paperbacks at Barnes and Noble just that weekend. So, it eased my mind a little. Just a little. But when the electronic books had first come about, I had felt a little more strongly in my negative feelings. I felt like the future was barreling down before I was ready and, besides, my dream as a writer had always been to see my name in print on a paper page, not in type on a computerized screen. I can see that anytime, like now for example. 

     Believe it or not, over the last year or so, I have come to terms, somewhat, with the whole Kindle/Nook/whatever thing. I know they are around, I know people are going to use them and now I only feel slightly betrayed when someone I know purchases one. I don't want to get rid of E-books....not really, I have just come to realize that it may be up to me to help keep paperbacks afloat amidst the drowning waters of this technical sea. I guess I just need to start buying more books. Let’s just hope my husband understands….

     E-books, like most technology may come and go but paperbacks and printed media are here to stay...well, at least in my house. :)