One advantage of eBooks... - Page 2

4691mls · 01-28-2021, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmw

I only do it (skip to the end) when I've already decided the book is a "did not finish", and then only if/when I have a vague interest in knowing if the book really is as predictable as it seems to be. (The answer is pretty much always yes.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

I do this sometimes, too. Or else I read some of the one- and two-star reviews at Goodreads, to see if others agree with me and find out what happened. Otherwise, I’m a total spoiler phobe.

I do this too. Of course those seem to be the times I can't find spoilers on Goodreads.....

sun surfer · 02-03-2021, 05:01 AM

It would be a very rare fiction or plot-driven nonfiction book that would cause me to skip ahead. That said, sometimes when I've finished a book I wished I had done the skipping.

On the other hand, I have a very hard time not reading something when I see the words in the book. This was more of a problem with pbooks (that I rarely read now) because they sometimes somehow happen to open in the course of things on another page or more specifically, god forbid, the end, and if the words are there in front of me I'd end up reading enough (too many) of them before I could help myself. This was a recurring motif when I was young and I tried to be careful to never let the book open to a later page, lol.

But I'm still not out of the woods, not even with age and ebooks, because this also lends to the associated though lesser problem, when I'm really into a book or nearing the end, of absorbing the end of a page when I get to it before properly reading the upper parts. My eyes just won't behave! Even if I'm focusing on the top of the page my peripheral vision will somehow pick up the bottom if my mind's in the mood of 'really want to know what's going to happen/how it ends'. If I remember in time, something I do to combat this whenever that mood strikes is to use a piece of paper or my hand or whatnot to physically cover the page and move it down line by line so that I can't let my eyes spoil myself.

And don't even get me started on chapters with vaguely (or explicitly) spoilerish titles that are all listed in the front of a book. Naively opening a new book, my naughty eyes will have read them before I can get the page turned past.

issybird · 02-03-2021, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun surfer

And don't even get me started on chapters with vaguely (or explicitly) spoilerish titles that are all listed in the front of a book. Naively opening a new book, my naughty eyes will have read them before I can get the page turned past.

Victorian novels can be particularly egregious in this respect; there’s no need to read the chapter for plot at all once you’ve plowed through the chapter title.

ownedbycats · 02-03-2021, 12:58 PM

Or even better, when the plot seems just about resolved but you're only 2/3 through the book.

Thasaidon · 02-03-2021, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun surfer

It would be a very rare fiction or plot-driven nonfiction book that would cause me to skip ahead. That said, sometimes when I've finished a book I wished I had done the skipping.

On the other hand, I have a very hard time not reading something when I see the words in the book. This was more of a problem with pbooks (that I rarely read now) because they sometimes somehow happen to open in the course of things on another page or more specifically, god forbid, the end, and if the words are there in front of me I'd end up reading enough (too many) of them before I could help myself. This was a recurring motif when I was young and I tried to be careful to never let the book open to a later page, lol.

But I'm still not out of the woods, not even with age and ebooks, because this also lends to the associated though lesser problem, when I'm really into a book or nearing the end, of absorbing the end of a page when I get to it before properly reading the upper parts. My eyes just won't behave! Even if I'm focusing on the top of the page my peripheral vision will somehow pick up the bottom if my mind's in the mood of 'really want to know what's going to happen/how it ends'. If I remember in time, something I do to combat this whenever that mood strikes is to use a piece of paper or my hand or whatnot to physically cover the page and move it down line by line so that I can't let my eyes spoil myself.

And don't even get me started on chapters with vaguely (or explicitly) spoilerish titles that are all listed in the front of a book. Naively opening a new book, my naughty eyes will have read them before I can get the page turned past.

I am similar but not quite as bad.

I also have to be careful when editing books or the text/story just sucks me in and I stop editing and start reading.

JSWolf · 02-04-2021, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Or even better, when the plot seems just about resolved but you're only 2/3 through the book.

That would be Battlefield Earth except the first place where it could have ended was less then 2/3rds in. It has a number of places it could have ended but didn't. Awful book though.

JSWolf · 02-04-2021, 06:46 AM

One advantage of eBooks is you don't need multiple bookcases to store your eBooks.

SeaBookGuy · 02-04-2021, 08:44 AM

Another point is that you don't need to turn on a bright light to read which might disturb others.

ekbell · 02-04-2021, 10:27 AM

I find the main advantage of ebooks is that my children can't easy lose or accidently damage them.

JSWolf · 02-04-2021, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ekbell

I find the main advantage of ebooks is that my children can't easy lose or accidently damage them.

What about the device used for reading the eBooks? Can they accidentally damage or lose it?

Quoth · 02-05-2021, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What about the device used for reading the eBooks? Can they accidentally damage or lose it?

Absolutely, which is why backups and DRM removal is important. It's obscene to lock a purchased ebook to one device or even one account as people can be banned from Amazon for too many returns or other reasons and be unable to register a new device without an alternate identity. And lose so called Cloud Library access.

ekbell · 02-05-2021, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What about the device used for reading the eBooks? Can they accidentally damage or lose it?

Yes, they could and then they would have to wait until they've earned the money to replace it. So far not one device has been permanently lost and with proper covers all devices have had acceptable lifespans.

bookaho!ic · 02-05-2021, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ekbell

Yes, they could and then they would have to wait until they've earned the money to replace it. So far not one device has been permanently lost and with proper covers all devices have had acceptable lifespans.

i am 46 and whenever i purchase a new reader its not allowed out of its box (except for first set up) until i have suitable case for it am clumsy. Not killed one yet

JSWolf · 02-05-2021, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bookaho!ic

i am 46 and whenever i purchase a new reader its not allowed out of its box (except for first set up) until i have suitable case for it am clumsy. Not killed one yet

I did the same thing when I bought my H2O.

crossi · 02-05-2021, 11:27 PM

I have a kindle keyboard that goes everywhere with me in my bookbag that I use instead of a purse. It is kept in a quilted oven mitt while in the bag and I've never used a case. In all the years I've carried it around along with lunches, books, groceries in the same bag it isn't even scratched.

As for why I love ebooks? before I got my reader I had 40 carboard boxes of paperbacks and 4 bookcases crammed full cluttering up my apartment. Books stacked everywhere there was space and there wasn't much in my apartment.

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02-03-2021, 05:01 AM	#17
sun surfer languorous autodidact ✦ Posts: 4,235 Karma: 44637926 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: smiling with the rising sun Device: onyx boox poke 2 colour, kindle voyage	It would be a very rare fiction or plot-driven nonfiction book that would cause me to skip ahead. That said, sometimes when I've finished a book I wished I had done the skipping. On the other hand, I have a very hard time not reading something when I see the words in the book. This was more of a problem with pbooks (that I rarely read now) because they sometimes somehow happen to open in the course of things on another page or more specifically, god forbid, the end, and if the words are there in front of me I'd end up reading enough (too many) of them before I could help myself. This was a recurring motif when I was young and I tried to be careful to never let the book open to a later page, lol. But I'm still not out of the woods, not even with age and ebooks, because this also lends to the associated though lesser problem, when I'm really into a book or nearing the end, of absorbing the end of a page when I get to it before properly reading the upper parts. My eyes just won't behave! Even if I'm focusing on the top of the page my peripheral vision will somehow pick up the bottom if my mind's in the mood of 'really want to know what's going to happen/how it ends'. If I remember in time, something I do to combat this whenever that mood strikes is to use a piece of paper or my hand or whatnot to physically cover the page and move it down line by line so that I can't let my eyes spoil myself. And don't even get me started on chapters with vaguely (or explicitly) spoilerish titles that are all listed in the front of a book. Naively opening a new book, my naughty eyes will have read them before I can get the page turned past.

02-03-2021, 12:58 PM	#19
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,557 Karma: 61170925 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Or even better, when the plot seems just about resolved but you're only 2/3 through the book.

02-04-2021, 06:46 AM	#22
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,897 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	One advantage of eBooks is you don't need multiple bookcases to store your eBooks.

02-04-2021, 08:44 AM	#23
SeaBookGuy Can one read too much? Posts: 2,015 Karma: 2487799 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Naples, FL Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650	Another point is that you don't need to turn on a bright light to read which might disturb others.

02-04-2021, 10:27 AM	#24
ekbell Guru Posts: 603 Karma: 12345678 Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Canada Device: none	I find the main advantage of ebooks is that my children can't easy lose or accidently damage them.

02-05-2021, 11:27 PM	#30
crossi Guru Posts: 992 Karma: 12000001 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Seattle Wahington U.S. Device: kindle	I have a kindle keyboard that goes everywhere with me in my bookbag that I use instead of a purse. It is kept in a quilted oven mitt while in the bag and I've never used a case. In all the years I've carried it around along with lunches, books, groceries in the same bag it isn't even scratched. As for why I love ebooks? before I got my reader I had 40 carboard boxes of paperbacks and 4 bookcases crammed full cluttering up my apartment. Books stacked everywhere there was space and there wasn't much in my apartment.

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