I'm not a digital hater, I just prefer printed.

E-Book on an iPad
Credit Here

When e-books and digital readers first came out I was horrified. Who on earth would trade in a trusty paperback for a computer screen? How are you supposed to get comfortable in front of a computer? And what about bookstores and libraries? Are my days of spending hours drifting happily between stacks of books, running my hands across the spines of volumes of untold secrets and knowledge on their way out? Panic rose up and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I imagined this world without printed books. It was not a pretty vision.

Luckily this was all a bit of a wild overreaction but not without cause, it must be said. The way some folks were talking this nightmare vision I had seemed imminent. But just like the television did not kill off radio and internet has not made everyone unsocial hermits who sit at home all day in their underpants and have no idea how to interact with each other, digital readers aren't going to replace printed books. It has merely added a new, convenient and lightweight way to read - one with a multitude of benefits, for sure.

Being 28, I'm not quite a digital native but was a young enough digital migrant so that living with and using technology seems like second nature. So why haven't I run out and bought myself some kind of digital reader yet? Surely it seems like the next logical step but truthfully I have zero desire to have one and today it finally dawned on me while I was reading this blog post on Accidental Moments this morning why this is. It's not just the act of reading words that form a narrative that I love about books. It's the whole experience of it.

My bookshelves
Photo by Kath Liu

My book experience starts, ideally, in a good bookstore. Quite often I have a mental list of books I want to buy as well as a sub-list of "If I find them that'd be nice" books. But I'm not really there just to buy a product and get out. It's not the purchase, it's the browsing. The smell of the pages of new books. The muted silence punctuated only by the sound of a page being turned or a book being slotted back into a shelf. The feeling of being surrounded by one of the things I love most in the world. I swear that if heaven is your happy place, my heaven is going to be an immense bookstore with a cosy coffee shop with massive sofas overlooking the ocean.

Once the book comes home with me, it's time to find it a place on my bookshelves. I don't have a massive collection of books as my bookshelf space is necessarily limited by the fact that I live in an apartment in Taiwan but with a bit of 'creative stacking' I've managed thus far. I love the way my bookshelves look, stuffed full of all of the different coloured spines. It looks inviting and friendly. It makes me happy looking at them. It's nothing impressive but it's my own little library.

Which brings me to my favourite part of the experience: sharing books. On average about 7 of my books can at any time be found floating around various locations in Taiwan, being read and enjoyed by other people. It's one of the best feelings to recommend a book to someone and have them absolutely love it. The love of sharing reading experiences is why I love Bookcrossing, book clubs and book blogging so much. Passing a much-loved book around to be enjoyed by others feels like sharing a slice of happiness. You just can't do that with a book downloaded to a digital reader unless you're willing to surrender your reader to someone for a space of time.... not something people are typically willing to do, understandably!

Me, reading.
Photo by Kath Liu

So aside from the fact that I don't think there's anything quite like curling up on the couch with a hot cup of tea, a biscuit or four and a trusty paperback, it's not only the actual reading of a book that makes me prefer the printed book to the digital books. From bookstore to shelf to my lap to someone else's and back again - it's the love of this whole process that makes me choose printed every time. Call me old-fashioned if you like. It's just my personal preference.

Which do you prefer? Printed or digital? Why? Does it change according to situation? Let me know!