Are you buying books for your eReader?

[plain jane]

I've only had my Kindle for about 2 weeks and an ePub reader for a couple weeks before that so I'm not a long time user of eReaders. :o

 

I'm wondering if those of you who have eReaders are purchasing books to read on it over printed materials?

 

I have to admit that my main motivation for getting an eReader was to take advantage of all the free books available (mostly classics for my WEM reading) as well as to be able to get the books from YC. I don't like reading off a computer so I've managed to meet my objective for buying the Kindle. :D

 

Thing is, I'm still buying books. :confused: In fact I caught myself buying a few books the other night and realized I really could be buying them in Kindle format... but I really didn't want to. When push comes to shove and I have to PAY for a book, I still prefer to have the plain old paper version. :tongue_smilie: Now I feel like I'm not using my Kindle to its full potential since I'm not exactly saving a ton of bookshelf space when I'm still buying paperbacks. :001_huh:

 

I'm wondering if I'm the only one who does this or if I should really try to push myself and buy Kindle versions of books?

 

I love my Kindle, don't get me wrong. I think it is a real pleasure to read from and I like taking it everywhere but I still like the feel and smell of real books. Plus, I didn't realize that Kindle books are pretty much the same cost as printed ones (at least for all the books I've looked at). I also find it much faster to go to a bookshelf and pull a book down than it is to scroll through my list on my Kindle (and I only have about 400 books in 30 odd collections on there, can't imagine with more :001_huh:). Part of me also feels like my books are "safer" in printed format- completely unfounded, I know, but I can't help that they feel more "real" that way. :001_huh:

 

Maybe I need someone here to give me a shove in the virtual direction? I'm not really leaning that way on my own accord.

Edited March 8, 2011 by plain jane

[Jyniffrec]

I mostly buy my utilitarian books on Kindle. Self-help/motivational books, teaching guides and books that I know I'll need to read to the kids for school. If I get the latter books on Kindle I don't get anything that we love or that has amazing illustrations. I also put loads of pdf documents on it. This includes schedules that I have scanned. Otherwise I mostly get free books or very cheap books with a searchable table of contents.

 

I heard a talk from a bookshop owner who said that ebooks are gnostic - almost not there, barely existing. It clarified how I want to handle the paper vs. Kindle books from then on. I am certainly not going to go forward with plans I had to buy a color ereader so that I could have children's books illustrations on it. And if I have a beautiful book, I will not replace it with a Kindle book. At the very least I will keep the book and also get the Kindle version.

[lionfamily1999]

There are some books that I need to have in their physical form. My kindle is great, but it doesn't let me flip back and forth and around like an actual book.

 

Now, if it's fun reading, I get the e-version (for me). I get a lot of the kids' school books in e form, but again, there are some that we need to have in paper form.

[jplain]

No, I don't. I have only freebies on my Sony Reader. I also borrow recently published books from a public library that has a subscription to Overdrive. Since I got an e-reader in mid-December, I've read a total of 16 ebooks borrowed from the library.

 

(Unfortunately, Kindles aren't compatible with Overdrive, and that was a deal breaker for me.)

[Amira]

I think we have nearly 700 ebooks and I bought 10 of them (most were scanned). And I've had lots and ebooks come and go on our ereaders. But I wasn't buying a lot of books before the ereaders because we didn't have any more room for them, nor did we have the money to buy them. Ereaders just make it easier for me to collect books now.

[kitten18]

I got a Nook for Mother's Day last year. I have bought 1 book for my Nook.

I have read dozens of books from the library (Overdrive) and many free books from manybooks.net.

[Mrs Mungo]

I only had freebies on my Sony e-reader. However, dh just bought me a nook for our anniversary. I have purchased some books for it rather than buying paper copies. I've also downloaded quite a few free books. I have yet to try it out through my library.

[dm379]

I'll buy fun books for me that I would have bought anyway if it is cheaper and I'll only read it once. So far that has been like 3. Other than that I download from the library. The kids aren't allowed near my Nook so I still buy all of their stuff.

[plain jane]

I use my ereader for fiction, mostly free as I think the price is still too high. I buy real nonfiction as needed, since we have educational needs and many of these books are not available in e-read format nor are they easy to read that way and - prefer to flip back and forth from illustration and chart to text. We have one of our son's high school texts on DVD..it's very hard to flip back and forth quickly although it's nice if he's just needing one or two pages. It looks fantastic in color on the large monitor screen and frees the desk up for room for good handwriting. We also love the access that ebooks have..my children are going to the internet for foreign language reading practice. I couldn't afford all that, nor could my regional library system.

 

I see the Kindle as the best thing ever invented for a middle or high schooler .. can't beat that instant dictionary feature or access to all the classics.

 

I also download from the library..understand there is a free program called Calibre that will convert files to Kindle form but haven't tried it yet.

 

Anyone in NY can get a library card from NYC public library for free and download their free downloadable material too.

 

 

Having access to many many books and podcasts makes me choose how to use my time wisely.

 

Yes, Calibre will convert ePub files to a Kindle friendly format but only does so for files that don't have DRM protection. Books from Overdrive, as far as I know, fall into the protected category so I don't think there's a way to read them on a Kindle quite yet. I'm hoping as my library's eBook offerings expand that somehow the books will be available for Kindle. So far, it has not been a deal breaker to me.

 

I'm glad to read I'm not the only one who's not paying for eBooks. If I need book X and it's $12 for paperback for $10 for Kindle it's worth the extra $2 to me. I guess all those $2 add up eventually though.

[Jyniffrec]

I use my ereader for fiction, mostly free as I think the price is still too high. I buy real nonfiction as needed, since we have educational needs and many of these books are not available in e-read format nor are they easy to read that way and - prefer to flip back and forth from illustration and chart to text. We have one of our son's high school texts on DVD..it's very hard to flip back and forth quickly although it's nice if he's just needing one or two pages. It looks fantastic in color on the large monitor screen and frees the desk up for room for good handwriting. We also love the access that ebooks have..my children are going to the internet for foreign language reading practice. I couldn't afford all that, nor could my regional library system.

 

I see the Kindle as the best thing ever invented for a middle or high schooler .. can't beat that instant dictionary feature or access to all the classics.

 

I also download from the library..understand there is a free program called Calibre that will convert files to Kindle form but haven't tried it yet.

 

Anyone in NY can get a library card from NYC public library for free and download their free downloadable material too.

 

 

Having access to many many books and podcasts makes me choose how to use my time wisely.

 

I really do think of the ereaders as a tool. They don't completely replace paper and ink books but they are great in many ways, as you have just illustrated, Heigh Ho. That means sometimes buying the books, sometimes adding pdfs, sometimes getting free books and sometimes downloading audible files.

 

There is one thing that I don't like about Kindle and their free or extremely cheap versions - it is hard to figure out which translation you are getting. That can be very important.

[gingersmom]

I have had my kindle for about 18 months now.

 

I have purchased about 15 books.

 

I still go to the library to check out books several times a week.

 

I have a subscription to the NY Times on my kindle so I use it everyday.

 

I am not a fan of free books as all the ones I have downloaded have had some kind of issue.

 

When I got my kindle I did not think I would purchase a ton of books. I read too fast and I am too cheap.

[JudoMom]

I've had my Kindle since Christmas of 2009 and I haven't purchased one book for it. I use it for Classics, and I also have a bunch of free books that have been posted on the Kindle Boards.

 

I purchase all of our literature books for school, our family read alouds, and I just bought History of the Medieval World. I also buy books for my boys' free reading.

 

I don't like the Kindle for books that I want to flip around in (like the WTM or the Bible). I prefer to buy the literature, read alouds, and books for the boys' so they can pass them around.

 

I still use the library for newer books that I want to read (for instance, I just returned Decision Points, just finished the Tiger Mom book, and am about to read Unbroken).

 

So having the Kindle hasn't changed my book buying habits--I still buy the books in hard copy that I would've purchased before, and I still use the library for books I would've used the library for before--but it has expanded my horizons (I slogged through Pride & Prejudice, for example) because I read more books that I wouldn't have read before.

[ColoradoMom]

I buy my books - the fiction I like to read, at least the good ones, aren't free. I was not a free book reader before I got it, and I'm not one now. Didn't change anything except that when I finish a book I can instantly get a new one to begin.

 

I love my Kindle and only buy paper books now if they don't have a Kindle version of it.

[redsquirrel]

I only own a kindle because dh won one at a conference. I would never have bought it.

 

I don't buy books for it. My husband is an academic librarian at a major university. I can get about any book in print. I don't buy many books, lol.

 

I did learn recently how to load PDFs from my computer onto the kindle so I have been reading lots more trashy fanfic :lol: One benefit of the kindle is that no one knows what i am reading..thank god.

 

If I had to buy one, I would go with a nook. The whole "no library books' thing is a deal breaker for me. But, then again, the purpose of the ereader is to sell books, so I can't begrudge them that, can I?

 

One thing that really IRKS is that there is no built in booklight. Why? My sister just bought a holder for her kindle with a built in light and it cost 60$! No thank you.

 

I am considering buying some homeschool books as PDF next year and try them on my kindle. But so far, I am not really impressed.

[jplain]

One benefit of the kindle is that no one knows what i am reading..thank god.

Yes, that thought has crossed my mind too. :tongue_smilie:

 

I am considering buying some homeschool books as PDF next year and try them on my kindle. But so far, I am not really impressed.

The Kindle's PDF handling really isn't impressive, though the Kindle DX's screen size makes it attractive as a PDF reader. In my opinion, Sony is the only e-reader currently on the market that does a truly good job with PDFs, but screen size can still be an annoying limitation unless you get the PRS-950. Ultimately, tablet computers are still better PDF readers than any e-reader on the market, but screen size may still be limiting, and of course tablets have LCD screens rather than e-ink.

[3lilreds in NC]

I do buy books for mine. For example, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon was free, and I enjoyed it so much I bought all the rest of them. I thought that was an excellent marketing ploy. :lol:

 

I don't buy things that I love for my iPod, like Stephen Lawhead, Terry Brooks, Harry Potter (not that there are any more of those and I had them all LONG before my iPod touch). I got Staci's book on organization for my iPod, because I do want to read it and I will have a better chance of making it happen if it's on there.

 

I'm thinking about getting Kindles for the girls for school. Many of the books we read are not ones that they will love forever and ever, and I think they might do better reading them on the Kindle. I have found, for whatever strange reason, that if there is something I don't LOVE, I can read it on my iPod - whether the little screens make for shorter chunks that work better with my short attention span, I don't know. :D

 

I love that in general, they are cheaper for the Kindle, if not free (gotta love those classics), and I LOVE that I can put our school books on the iPad/iPod and carry them with me like that rather than hauling around a big bucket. Not that I do that often, but I like to pretend when we travel sometimes that we're going to get school done, and it will be more fun taking the iPad and not reading than it has been to take all the physical books.

 

There are definitely some books that you have to have in real, paper form, but I think eBooks have their place, too.

[ChristusG]

I'm buying the e-version of the books. I can get them when I want them (like right this second since I'm not very patient LOL), I don't have to leave the house, and the e-versions are usually cheaper, at least by a bit.