Wednesday, March 25, 2015

BACK TO THE PAPERBACK


This year I've decided to give my Barnes & Noble Nook a rest (well, ok, I'm still watching plenty of Netflix on it at the gym).  Usually I read three books in a row on the Nook and the fourth in paperback (reserved for my in-progress collection of the Richard Sharpe series).  Reading an eBook versus a paperback is a whole different experience and there's plenty written about it on the internet I'm sure.  What I am going to do this year is write a short first hand account of what it is like reading each book on paperback and at the same time see if I have the urge to go back to the eBook.

March is almost over, so I've already got a head start.  Here are some things I've noticed so far:

No Features
I need to stop touching the edge of the page and expecting it to turn itself.  I only waited a half hour the first time I tried this on a paperback before concluding it was not going to magically flip to the next page.  Next time I try, I'll press harder and give it an hour to see if it happens.  I'm guessing glaring more sternly at the page might help.

No matter how hard I press on a word, the paperback won't look up the definition for me or allow me to make notes (unless I get a tool like a pen or pencil, but hey, I'd never deface a precious book like that, even if I'm never going to read it again (oh, and these are library books so I can't do that anyway!).

No Internet Access!
This is a good thing.  There is no internet access on those paperbacks which means less distraction and more reading!  I can go to sleep after closing the book instead of looking up stuff on the internet for another half hour.  And even better, I don't pause reading to look up stuff either so I get more reading done.
Does anyone else have this problem?  How much time do you spent on the internet when trying to read?

Having to read with the lights on!
Well, even with the Nook set on a black screen and the back-light turned down all the way, its still murder on my eyes to read in the dark with the thing, so no change here- I read with the lights on anyway.
Does anyone else have this issue?

Reading in the Car
Not much difference here except I can toss a book up on the dash and not worry about stowing it away.  I doubt anyone will break into the car to steal a book.  At least I hope not!  And by the way, I'm talking about riding in a car and reading, not reading while driving.  Just saying.

Falling Asleep While Reading
Waking up with drool all over the Nook screen is an easy clean up.  On a paperback, its just gross.
Reading laying on my back and holding the Nook over my face can be mildly dangerous when I doze off and said Nook slips from my fingers to land on my face (and makes me feel like a moron).
I'm not the only on that does this, right?  Right?  I've never had this happen with a paperback- have you?

Here's the paperbacks I've read already this year:
Sharpe's Trafalgar (by Bernard Cornwell)
Empire in Black and Gold (by Adrian Tchaikovsky)
Shaman (by Kim Stanley Robinson)

NEXT POST:  I am currently reading Viperhand by Douglas Niles.  Yes, it is a Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons novel.  When I'm done reading Viperhand I will write about why I'm reading it  in addition to my experience reading it for my next post on "Back to the Paperback".

In the meantime, what are your thoughts about reading an eBook versus a paperback?