Many of us bookworms love the experience of reading a book. The feel of turning pages, the weight of the book in our hands, the smell of ink and paper. However, as technology advances, new ways to read come into play, including audiobooks and ebooks galore.
From tablets of all types to the screen on your smartphone to dedicated devices such as Kindles, there are all sorts of ways to read ebooks these days. The question is: Why should you? For some, there won’t even be a question. Ebooks have many devoted readers who are already fully converted to the wonders of digital reading. For those who are still attached to the feel, the weight, and the smell of a physical book, however, here are a few reasons why you might want to give ebooks a chance—at least some of the time.
Cheaper
For the most part, ebooks are cheaper than physical copies, for obvious reason—there are no printing costs associated with making an ebook. This is especially true of books that have limited availability. If there’s no paperback version in print and you have to choose between a hardcover and an ebook, the difference in price can be considerable, not to mention that tracking down some books in print can be difficult.
Greater availability
And speaking of availability, many books that are otherwise out of print are available as affordable ebooks when picking up a physical book might have you paying outlandish collector prices on eBay.
More discreet
Do you favor… steamier reads? Just because you’re reading a scorching hot scene doesn’t necessarily mean that you want everyone else on the bus to be able to tell. Unfortunately, it can be pretty obvious when you’re reading a physical book with the cover pointing out for all to see. A digital book on an ereader is a lot more discreet. This also works if you simply don’t like the cover art. Don’t want to see it? You don’t have to on an ereader.
Easy to transport
Physical books have a lot of great qualities, don’t get us wrong. But they’re also heavy, and they take up a lot of space. This can make them tricky to pack along for a beach read or when you want to get in a few chapters on the plane. Ereaders are a lot handier. This is especially true if you’re reading a super long book. And for students who are trying to make their way through innumerable textbooks, ebooks are a lot handier than lugging all those heavy textbooks around everywhere.
Searchable
Ebooks offer an array of conveniences within the text itself, too. You can click through to a particular chapter, or search for a word or a specific scene, if you know what to look for, and many books contain endnotes and other “bonus material” that can easily be clicked on, rather than having to flip back and forth. Some ereaders even offer the ability to simply click on a word to get the definition, in case your book is full of ten-dollar words that you’re not already familiar with.
Adjustable
Struggle with small text? There’s no need to try to find a large-print version of your favorite book—ereaders give you the ability to customize your font size, so that you can make the text as big (or as small) as you need for your own comfort and reading convenience, no matter what you’re reading.
Convenient
There’s really nothing more convenient than an ebook. You can download it straight to your device, whether you’re buying it online, using a service such as Kindle Unlimited, or checking out a book from the library. You don’t have to get up, get in your car, and drive to the library or bookstore. Just a few clicks is all it takes to download the book onto your ereader and start reading right away. Maybe better yet, you don’t have to make a trip to return library books. Once you’re done, you can “return” the book as easily as you checked it out.
What kinds of books can you read on an ereader?
These days, ebooks are available for books of all types, from beach reads to reference tomes, and just about any book that you can imagine is probably available in a digital format. We already mentioned some of the benefits of ebooks when it comes to spicy stories or textbooks, but the fact is that books of any kind can be easily read on ereader, and there are good reasons to check out many different types.
Are you a fan of multi-volume fantasy novels or long-running detective series? Not only can you download numerous books from the series onto your ereader at the same time, so the next one is ready to go as soon as you finish reading the current one, but many books in series are available in specially-priced packs together, so that you’ll save money while you’re at it.
Textbooks aren’t the only books that benefit from an ereader’s easy searchability and clickability, either. Any book that would normally have you flipping pages to consult footnotes, endnotes, or sidebars can be made easy to read and easy to reference with a well-designed digital release. This includes everything from standard reference books to cookbooks and roleplaying game books for games such as Dungeons & Dragons.
Even if you’re a book collector who wants to have physical copies of your books on hand, you don’t necessarily always want to cart them with you everywhere—or risk them getting dinged up, dog-eared, or dirty if you’re reading them on the bus, at the beach, or in the park. Some physical book releases also come with codes for ebook versions, meaning that you can read the physical copy when you’re curled up in your favorite reading chair at home, and skim the ebook version when you’re traveling, riding the bus to work, on your lunch break, and so forth.
