This post was originally posted as part of Blogmas 2018.

Today’s post could be very controversial, so I want to remind everyone to play nice in the comments and that we are all readers here who love stories no matter what format they are in.  

Now that that’s out there- I’ve wanted to do this post for a while and it’s been sitting in my backlogs. I figured blogmas was the perfect time to do this (if nothing else then I’m running out of Christmas-themed ideas). And I thought it would be interesting to do this topic because most of the time I’m pretty neutral about it. I have some pros and cons to each format which I’ll outline and I lean towards one (that you will have to read to the end to find out), but most of the time it’s whatever works. 

Convenience 

The main reason I read eBooks at all is they are really darn convenient. When I was away at college I could bring so many more books with me. Same goes for people who travel a lot (which since I’ve moved halfway across the country is starting to be my life). 

The other huge convenience to eReaders is when you finish a book in the middle of the night you can buy the net one in the series immediately! That was always my favorite thing as a kid when no one would drive me to Barnes and Noble and my e-Reader was hooked up to my dad’s bank account. I’d just call him up and ask if I could buy the next book! No library or bookstore required. And now since a lot of libraries have eReader programs you can check a book out without leaving your house! 

Indie Authors

Another huge push for eBooks is that a lot of indie authors find it easier to start out only publishing to eBooks. So as a member of the online reading and writing community a lot of my friends only have their books in an eBook format. For one, it’s cheaper, and for two, self published authors don’t have to worry about the distribution themselves. Reading eBooks opens up new indie authors to me and I’ve found a lot of favorite books this way! 

Coziness

Now, of course, the real reason I read and love reading is that’s it’s an overall calm and cozy activity. Generally, paper books make me feel the most amount of cozy from their smell to the feeling of unplugging for a bit. However, I’ve noticed lately that if I’m reading in bed laying down, that the way I hold an eReader is more comfortable then the way I hold a paper book. I have bad joints, so this might just be a me thing. I still hold the opinion that paper books are cozier (and paperbacks are better than hardcovers), but I thought that tiny observation was interesting.

Aesthetic

As far as aesthetic goes paper wins every time for me. There’s something about the feel of the pages and a new book smell when you curl up with tea and a candle that never ceases to calm me down. It’s part of why I fell in love with reading as a child and why I still love it as an adult. Paper will always look better in my blog and bookstagram pictures and it will always be slightly better, in my opinion, no matter how convenient eReaders are. 

What’s your favorite reading format and why? Let me know below!

---