A Book by Any Other Format...

I know I've mentioned before how much I enjoy reading and books, especially fiction. I love to get lost in a great story, and I have read literally thousands of books in my life. 

There is a big controversy over the best format for consuming books. Hardcopy paper books have their aficionados, while others prefer ebooks, and still others audiobooks. 

Audiobooks are great and definitely have their place. I particularly enjoy them on long trips. But they will never completely replace the written word for me, partly because you are so dependent on the interpretation of the reader. If you have a great reader like James Marsters, the experience of the book and story are enhanced. But others are less effective or even distracting. 

I love both hardcopy books and ebooks. I often prefer the hardcopy because it's easy to flip back if you forget a plot point or something about a character, and paper books are easier to read if you happen to be outside in sunlight. Plus they are enjoyable to display and browse, although they do take up space in your home or office if you have too many (is that possible?)

Ebooks have some great advantages, as well. You access them wherever you go through your phone or tablet, and after moving several times and having to pack and lug boxes of books from site to site, I appreciate the portability a great deal. Plus they are super easy to search, which is very helpful in non-fiction books. You can also highlight or copy the text easily if needed.

I did just read an interesting article about the advantages of paper books over ebooks, though. Here is a portion of an article by John Stonestreet at the Colson Center: 

We might tell ourselves there’s no difference between reading on paper and reading on a screen. But as Dr. Martin Tobin writes, “Our eyes lie to us.” 

“Cognitive scientists have discovered that reading is not only a visual activity, but also a bodily activity,” Tobin writes. “A book is a physical object . . . you see and feel the texture of its pages. Leafing back and forth provides a mental map of the entire text, aiding comprehension …and recall.” 

And, of course, when we read a book, we’re not tempted to check email, voicemail, Facebook, texts, and on and on.

So, that's a good argument for paper books. 

The irony, of course, is that I came across this article while scrolling through Facebook posts on my phone.