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I worked in a book store when I was young, and obsessively collected books. Books I particularly liked, I purchased in hardcover. At on point, I stored about 2,000 books in the basement of my mother's house. When she sold her house, I was across the border in Canada, and could not afford to move the books to my new home (where I had easily another 2,000). I went down, intending to take them to a used bookstore, but the bookstore was closed. I left them on the street, cutting open the boxes to display the contents. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon. I did salvage a couple of boxes of my favorites. I, of course, have accumulated many, many more paper books, which fill large bookcases in my house. However, since the advent of ebooks, I've purchased perhaps 5 books. I have over 2,000 ebooks, which are backed up in several ways. I'm not going to lose my books again!
Perhaps the only thing I prefer about paper books is their physical presence on my bookshelves. I like to browse them and be reminded of what I've read, and see what I have yet to read. I've read hundreds of ebooks, and I've forgotten so many of them, whereas, paper books I notice and open when the spirit moves me. I much prefer reading on my Kindle, though.
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