A long story, bear with me please...
My dear husband knows I love Murakami so he got me 1Q84 for Christmas. He did not know that I already have it on my ereader, and I didn't tell him. So that he wouldn't find out, I had to read the darn thing in the big heavy hardcover (it's 920 longer-than-normal pages).
Well I fell in love with this big book (and not just the story). I appreciated the heft of it, Chip Kidd's beautiful design, the wacky floating page numbers on the side, the elegant typeface. The whole experience of reading a nice fat hardcover. Maybe the bloom is off the rose of my ereader, I thought, and I will start reading more "real" books. (Plus let's face it, the golden age of library ebooks is also fading...)
And then I got sick. I had swollen glands, body aches, chills, etc. I had to rest but every way I turned in bed, I could not get comfortable, let alone lie in bed and try to hold up a giant book. I just couldn't do it. I had a lot of doctor's appointments and I didn't want to carry the heavy thing with me. Then I got a rash on my face (you don't want to know) and it was uncomfortable to wear my glasses.
So I switched to the ereader, and it was much more comfortable for me. I could hold it in bed much more easily, and I could boost the font size and read without glasses. I really see how fantastic an ereader can be for people with disabilities. Maybe when I get really old I will reach a point where it's got to be on the ereader, or I won't read it. But until then, I will enjoy both ebooks and pbooks for their respective merits.
And I will also enjoy putting the big fat 1Q84 hardcover in some prominent place on my bookshelf when I'm done with it, so that everyone can see what a SERIOUS reader I am. If I ever finish the darn thing.
eP