Real Books or E-Books?

A few months ago, I cashed in some Aeroplan miles for $100 worth of Chapters gift cards. Ooohhh... books! If you've read some of my earlier blogs, you know that I'm a big fan of books. At the same time, I'm a big fan of lightening the load of stuff that surrounds me. Which means I'm a bit torn.

I love being able to hold a book in my hands, be able to flip back and forth through it, look at the table of contents or even read the ending. But... I've given away so many books over the years, it seems a bit of a waste to buy more physical books, knowing that they will likely just end up in the donation pile in a few months or years. That seems like a waste of money to me since books are NOT cheap. I could try selling them afterwards but, honestly, most books are not worth very much on the secondhand market. Ever go to a garage sale? Paperbacks are $0.50 and hardcovers are $2.00. Eesh...

My other option was to buy some e-books. They are cheaper than real books but not as tangible. I find it more challenging to navigate through them, and can't just flip back easily to find that page where I had read something. Yes, I can make notations and stuff but... it's a bit more of a hassle... and I've never been a "write-in-books" type of person, not even e-books!

Then I began to wonder... should I even buy books? Be they real books or e-books? After all, there is the library which has all sorts of books available for free. What was I thinking getting gift cards for Chapters? I could buy something else... maybe some journals? But I have journals coming out of my ears (bought for cheap at a garage sale), so that's not an option. Fluffy blankets? Decor? No and no... we don't really need anything like that.

After much back and forth... I finally decided on e-books. They are much lighter than real books! Easier to pack around too. And, if my eyes are tired, I can make the print bigger. (See... I don't need glasses!) And if it's getting dark, I can just turn up the back-lighting on my Kindle. Alas my Kobo doesn't have that feature but... there's always something to read on either e-book reader.

And... if I'm sitting in the Superstore parking lot, waiting 45 minutes for my online shopping order to be brought out, I can whip out my smartphone and continue reading whatever book I have on the go. Or start another book. Or whatever. It's just sooo convenient. So, e-books it is... but which ones?

I have had my eye on some fairly hefty books for a while (e.g. Digital Minimalism and Deep Work, both by Cal Newport). I've toyed with the idea of getting them from the library but I'm going to need more than three weeks to absorb them.

Sooo... after a bit of deliberation, I ordered the two books by Cal Newport and then a few decluttering/organizing books (I'm a bit of a junkie), including Goodbye Things by Fumio Sasaki. While I listened to his audio book, I really wanted to spend some more time with the book and sink into it... or rather, let it sink into me. I also got a book on simple living called You Can Buy Happiness and it's Cheap by Tammy Strobel (of Rowdy Kittens fame). I've been wanting to read that one fora while too. The last two books in the image above were ones that I bought last year and aren't part of the latest purchase.

What about you? Are you an ebook convert or a real book holdout? Or do you have a foot in both worlds?