A case for e-books and e-readers

I don’t think I’ve put it out there enough but I’m gonna say it: I absolutely love e-books. I’m going to go as far as say that I read e-books more than I read physical books lately. Besides the frequent sales and affordable prices, it makes new releases available to me in a really timely manner. Granted, some may say, that it’s not bookstagram-friendly most of the time (hey, who wouldn’t say that great, colored covers are one of the major charms of physical books), I do feel that e-books have their own appeal (at least, for me.) So I am making a case for e-books, and, by extension, e-readers just to show my love:

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Random snapshots from my Insta stories. I’ve used it anytime and anywhere to pass time. Going to work. Waiting for a train. On a random road trip. You name it.

Here are the top 5 things that I absolutely adore about reading e-books and using e-readers:

1. It takes the weight off my shoulders (literally).

Gone are the days when I would lug around a number of books in my backpack. I was so guilty of doing this that I developed scoliosis when I was in high school because I was so used to bringing so many things in my bag. This really helped me physically, as well as mentally, ever since I subscribed to using it e-books more often. I am the type of person that needs to have at least one book with me whenever I travel because it calms me and it makes me feel safe for some reason. So now, I can store so many titles in a single device. Granted I always bring one particular book in long distance travels, my anxiety is lessened because I won’t have to spend time narrowing down the books that I can bring in a trip (yeah, because it sometimes feels like I’m leaving my own children, LOL).

2. It makes annotating so much easier.

The thing is I love to annotate. I highlight. I underline. But that makes it so hard to read whenever I am on transit or commuting to work or wherever – so sometimes, I ended up dog-earing a lot of pages in my books. Sometimes, when I am not really in the mood (my hands are just like that), I can’t draw straight lines or highlight properly so it feels like I am just vandalizing my books which doesn’t really feel right. Ever since I started bringing my Kindle to work, I get so much reading done – and so much annotating done. It’s also easier to transfer my favorite quotes whenever I am blogging because I could just copy it in a notepad. Unlike before that I need to type each one of it. My notes are more legible because I type them and leave it at specific parts of the book it is related to. It helps me keep track of my thoughts about the books I am reading.

3. It makes searching for things inside the book easier.

Of course this is pretty obvious but this is one of the things that I really appreciate in e-books. Books being digitized means that I could search for anything so much faster. Type in a key word or two and you’ll be able to find exactly what you’re looking for. It makes it easier to revisit specific parts of my favorite books.

4. I can read with the lights turned off!

This is a luxury I won’t get if I’m reading physical books. Before Kindle, I tried using e-readers in my phone before going to sleep but that turned out harmful for my eyes: my eye grade went up and my migraine attacks became more frequent. Since Kindle uses e-ink, it does not have the harmful blue light that most devices, like mobile phones, tables and laptops, have. Which is pretty rad, right?

5. I can finish a book so much faster.

For some reason, using e-readers drastically increased my reading speed because I can read anywhere, anytime. If I am bored, I can just whip it out and start reading. Alone in a restaurant or a cafe? Long commute because of traffic? Casual, short breaks in the office? I can do it all. I can even read when I am in our office sleeping room (which have its lights turned off). I can really get so much reading done it’s amazing. It’s also useful when what I’m reading is a really big title. I usually download a digital version of these books so I could read it anywhere because the big books are usually for reading at home. And it helped me so much in finishing my reading challenges.

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All in all, it’s not about comparing and saying that one is better than the other – as I’ve seen a lot of comparison posts in Bookstagram and Book Twitter do. Of course, reading physical books has its own unique charms. The rustling of pages. The smell of books both old and new. The feel of actual paper, something you could actually touch. But in the end, this post basically boils down to one thing: convenience. One cannot deny the unparalleled convenience e-books and e-readers have brought to us – at least, to my reading life, that is. And highlighting that is the reason I am writing this. I hope this could lessen the bias and negative opinion people has on e-books. I don’t know if this still should be said, but just to reiterate: e-books are real books, too. As well as audiobooks – which I hope I can also explore more in the future.

How about you? Do you prefer reading e-books or physical books? Do you agree with any of the points I’ve raised above? In any case, happy reading to us all!