Paperback book woes

[Tarana]

What you need is a reading lamp, which you should have had already. Just invest in a decent one and you won't have any problems with reading. I must admit, I was never drawn to reading any of those really thick paperbacks. They didn't really start to come out until after I started losing my vision.

For those of you who read in bed, I've always been astounded. My sister only reads in bed, and I could never figure out how she found that comfortable. She's 50 now and still does. She still does mostly pbacks though.

[MeSue]

Originally Posted by Anthem

My experience has been the opposite. With my beloved e-readers I find that there are really only one or two ways for me to hold them (being thin flat rectangular slabs of plastic and glass) and my hands will begin to get stress points due to all of the monotony. Especially due to the fact that I can't put my thumbs on the screen somewhere, which is exactly where my thumbs want to go to be relaxed but I have to force them to the side or bottom, which is stressful over time.

Then you need a better case. :-) I'm almost never holding my iPad while reading. It is propped on my lap, or propped on a pillow, or propped on a table, and I only need to reach out to turn the page. In bed I use a CoyleCushion and can prop it up to match the angle of my head as I lay on my side to read. About the only time I hold the iPad for reading is in the car, and even there I have a pillow, so I can take a break from holding it and prop it on my knee.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by Waylander

I'll probably raise some hackles but here goes. I don't see what the problem is! A MMPB is not that heavy! I know they have a lot of pages, but they do not weigh that much, even after reading from them for a long time. Also, if the font is too small, wear glasses. I do and it's then fine. The amount if complaints about paper books makes it sound as though you are all going through torture. A little perspective please! If you have an eye condition for instance and find reading from paper difficult then that is another matter, but reading a p-book is not the horrible chore it is being made out to be.

Because weight was far from the most common complaint?

I gave a whole slew of reasons in my post, none of which included weight nor print size.

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by Waylander

I'll probably raise some hackles but here goes. I don't see what the problem is! A MMPB is not that heavy! I know they have a lot of pages, but they do not weigh that much, even after reading from them for a long time. Also, if the font is too small, wear glasses. I do and it's then fine. The amount if complaints about paper books makes it sound as though you are all going through torture. A little perspective please! If you have an eye condition for instance and find reading from paper difficult then that is another matter, but reading a p-book is not the horrible chore it is being made out to be.

I suppose I could happily read nothing but paper books, but not really. Holding the thing and font sizes are really only minor issues. The main issues for me with paper books are storage(no place to put them) and availability(local stores don't have what I want.) So rather than go through the trouble of ordering books and paying ridiculous shipping charges and waiting for them in the mail, I go the ebook route which is easier and more convenient.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by PurpleStar

I suppose I could happily read nothing but paper books, but not really.

I could too, but my experience shows that I wouldn't. I read FAR more now than I ever did before getting a Kindle (except for middle school when I had far more time to read), and that's after > 3 years for the novelty to wear off.

[hardcastle]

A mass market paperback is my favorite method of reading, even despite eReaders and their wonders. Mostly due to the perfect size, weight, and disposable factor. If it gets stolen, worn, forgotten, or wet, it rarely matters because they're so cheap. And I can give it away when I'm done.

Larger paperbacks and hardcover novels are no good for me. Too big to hold and carry easily.

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by twowheels

I could too, but my experience shows that I wouldn't. I read FAR more now than I ever did before getting a Kindle (except for middle school when I had far more time to read), and that's after > 3 years for the novelty to wear off.

Me too, it's so much easier finding ebooks to read, than acquiring that many paper books. Also it's easier to read on the ereader than fumbling with paper books.

[Namekuseijin]

you guys remember the times when nerds would run around cluelessly holding lots of big thick tomes and being made fun of?

yeah, geeks nowadays are sweating already on a single Harry Potter and see the old nerd guys as true bodybuilders...

true story

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by kyrilson

Wondering if any others have had the same experience.

Oh, yes. I have the hardcover version of Shogun on my shelf; it's almost 1100 pages long. At some point, while re-reading last year as an e-book, I got the notion to pick up the hardcover.

Mwelp...

While the print was OK and it wouldn't try to slam shut like a paperback often wants to do, that book was HEAVY.

I also have the hardcover of Musashi. It's just as big, almost 1000 pages long, but the print is tinyeee... If it was printed at the font-size Shogun uses, I estimate it would be around 1200 pages long.

I'm thinking about getting myself an "old fashioned" desk reading stand, because there are some books very large books that I want to read which cannot be obtained as ebooks.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Waylander

...reading a p-book is not the horrible chore it is being made out to be.

If it's a well-printed hardcover that stays open when you put it down, and then read it at a well-lit desk, it will be a nice experience.

Reading a MMPB, especially one that's tightly glued, IS torture, especially if the text runs close to the gutter and the book wants to close all the time.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Reading a MMPB, especially one that's tightly glued, IS torture, especially if the text runs close to the gutter and the book wants to close all the time.

I'm currently re-reading a rather well worn and yellowed 1974-printed Livre de Poche (cheap French MMPB). It's an out-of-print book with probably zero chance of making it into e-format anytime soon.

Takes a couple of minutes at most to adjust but it's no great hardship

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Reading a MMPB, especially one that's tightly glued, IS torture, especially if the text runs close to the gutter and the book wants to close all the time.

Exactly. The hardship of lying in my bed having to physically hold the pages of my cheap MMPB open and try to turn pages with one hand is just..... well it's obviously not much of a hardship, but it's just so much easier to hold my ereader with one hand or rest it on my knee and tap it lightly with my finger/thumb to turn a page. None of this having to forcibly hold the book open!

That and the nice whitish screen are the most important factors for me in terms of an ereader v paperback. My eyesight is fine so the print size isn't an issue, and nor is the weight. It's pure comfort that wins me over.

[Katsunami]

Obviously, this is a first-world luxury issue.

Still, the one thing I HATE about paperbacks is that, if you open them too wide, the spine cracks and all the pages will come undone. Nrjargh.

[MeSue]

I wish I could get "The Complete Far Side" as an e-book. Talk about heavy and hard to read!

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by MeSue

I wish I could get "The Complete Far Side" as an e-book. Talk about heavy and hard to read!
Attachment 119906

I wish you could get comic books in general as ebooks. Very few of them seem to be available, and the ones that are there don't make use of the comic book features to make the panels actually readable. They tend to just be images of whole pages, and small/hard to read.