Shifting back to physical books...

[cromag]

Not a shift for me -- from the beginning I've continued to read "hard copy" books as well as ebooks. In fact, I'm reading one right now. We have a perfectly good library in town and I have no problem with reading from paper. Mostly, I'm a reader -- the medium isn't a defining factor for me.


But, yes, price is a major factor in decisions like this. Aside from borrowing for free from the library, the cheapest option for my current (paper) book would be to buy a used hardcover edition for $2, but I don't have room for all that many hardcovers these days. If the ebook price drops near that price, and if I like the book enough that I might want to read it again some day, I'll buy an ebook copy.

Of the 28 books I've read this year (a number which pales in comparison to the apparent average of other posters - I'm a slow reader, and dyslexic), 11 have been ebooks - and this is reflective of my ereading behaviour ever since I began purchasing ebooks. Aside from a small 'honeymoon period' when I downloaded hundreds of Kindle freebies and left my physical books and local library untouched for several months, I've never deliberately favoured one 'format'. By and large, my purchases are dictated not by format but by price - I want to pursue the story at an affordable price, regardless of format.

[Rumpelteazer]

I occasionally read pbooks, either if I have it already or if I really want to read a book and it isn't available as an ebook (which seems to happen less often than a couple of years ago). However, this year I haven't read a pbook yet and last year, I think, only one.

Although I live in a big city in the Netherlands and the big bookstores have English books their selection isn't that big and they're more expensive than the ebook version. I also like that with an ebook I don't have to think in advance what I want to read next week before going to the store or ordering online (I don't order at the store because the guy running the English department always wonders if I will pick up the book I ordered), I can just buy it when I'm in the mood for it and download it immediately.

As other's have said I also love that an ereader is so small. When I went on holiday in the past my suitcase/bag was mostly filled with books, now I just fill up my Kindle (if I don't take my notebook with me) and have a lot more space for other things.

[Mhtsos]

Nope.
Ebook (readers) are a divine blessing for me.
Before ebooks I was only able to read a few books a year.
High costs(I was living in a village) and lack of space made book reading something of a luxury.
Now I am somewhat spoiled.I want my library(or the majority) with me and I want to be able to carry it without fuss.
Also I love the frontlight.Trully allowed me to read in the night.I hate to read with normal lamplight.

[Ndaara]

I just went through this last week: I am reading a series, and have the beginning and end of the series in ebooks, but the middle of the series I have in a mix of paper book formats. No problem, I thought... until I was reading a paperback and it was making me nuts >< Got all the way through one, but when the next book was another paperback, I gave up and bought the ebook.

The only books I prefer in paper are cookbooks, because I make notes to myself. I finally figured out how to make notations on .pdfs, though, so that's changing a bit too.

A few years ago, I turned 40, and suddenly needed reading glasses. I think changing the font size is much nicer than remembering where I left my readers.

All that said, if I really want to read something, I'll read it in whatever format I can get!

[latepaul]

I had been almost 100% ebook until recently. I joined a book group and they will keep choosing books that aren't available as ebooks

Has anyone experienced this supposed effect where you retain more when reading from paper? As my memory deteriorates I'm intrigued as to whether it's true.

[ProfCrash]

On cookbooks, I use Kindle App to get to the recipie I want, go to Marvin and search by the name, copy the recipie, save the recipie in my recipie app, and make notes and changes there. Love it. And my recipies travel with me and are easily shared.

[Greg Anos]

Ninjalawyer, I was basically 100% e-book, but....

I have discovered the new(ish) rereleases of Doc Savage, with all the edits taken out. I will be adding those to the mix....

(Sadly, Conde Nast still doesn't want to release the old pulps in e-book format...)

[Ninjalawyer]

I still prefer reading ebooks even though, as I mentioned, I've definitely been reading more physical books lately. I think the reasons are really: (i) I've been focused on Kobo for new books, and Kobo has been letting me down in the price department lately; and (ii) if I hear about a book that sounds interesting, I'll run to Kobo and if I'm turned off by the price I'll most likely forget about the book rather than shop around online, but will pick up the physical book later if I see it in a store.

As someone pointed out, I should really be checking Luzme (or the search in Calibre), but Kobo was cheap for awhile and it conveniently syncs across my Kobo ereader and my iPhone. My real problem may just been locking myself into Kobo's ecosystem. Since starting this thread, I've switched from a Kobo to a Nexus 7, so will probably just start using Google's book app; I don't know how that app compares to other Android apps, but it does sync across devices for epubs I upload to Google's app store.

[Katsunami]

Just open a whole bunch of stores in Firefox, and stay logged in. Save all the tabs in one folder. When you're going to look for a book, search the ISBN in all stores, and you can quickly compare. Buy at the cheapest: done.

Is there no EPUB price comparator somewhere?

[Mivo]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Is there no EPUB price comparator somewhere?

http://luzme.com/

Frequently times out for me, though.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Mivo

http://luzme.com/
Frequently times out for me, though.

I looked for Luzme as soon as Ninjalawyer mentioned it. I've been getting a bad gateway error message ever since.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

I looked for Luzme as soon as Ninjalawyer mentioned it. I've been getting a bad gateway error message ever since.

Yep. Me too. I think we broke it...

[rwillmer]

Thanks for trying luzme.com; I'm sorry it broke!

I do believe it's fixed now, please let me know if it's not...

Rachel

[Ndaara]

Front page came up for me a couple of times, but 504 Gateway Timeout every time I tried a search... Now the front page gives same 504. Sorry we broke your site >< It did work a couple of days ago!!