My internal voice has had a workout...

[dalesys]

... asked "isn't there some sort of 12-step program for this?!?"

Yep. I need to get the new affirmations book for it.

[Slave to the Phone]

I was also anti e-reader for a very long time. One year, a friend gave me one for Christmas. Of course I thanked him for it, but privately thought that I'd never use it. Somehow it got grafted to my hand I get a lot of free books from baen and also from the library. Even if you don't have an e-reader, I encourage you to go to the aforementioned baen site and read why they give out free books. Its very interesting.

Back in the day of card catalogs, I worked in the technical services department of a library. I loved that job, and only left because my sweetie and I wanted to buy a house and couldn't afford to do it in Calif. One year, the owner of a used book store died and left the contents of his store to the library. We (tech services) went to the store and sorted the books into 3 categories. 1. to be added to the collection. 2. to go the the Friends for sale. 3. Books that nobody would want to buy but employees could take them. These books had pages falling out, broken covers and other damage. I started bringing books home (mostly needlework patterns and old pulp fiction. I'm a big Lovecraft fan).

I had books stacked on the counters, the bookshelves were drooping with the weight, there were books stacked on the floor, books next to the bed and covering the headboard.

One day my sweetie was looking under the couch for a kitty toy and found a book. He held it up and shook it in the air and asked "isn't there some sort of 12-step program for this?!?"

[wolfie]

Dalesys, here's a chocolate macadamia nut macaroon oatmeal peanut butter square. By the way, how much is that winged lizard that's picking its teeth with a feather?

Have you read any of his other books (Limbo System, and the "Wizardry" series)? You'd probably get a kick out of the trip to Comdex in "The Wizardry Quested".

[dalesys]

But would you have to remove books about dragons and fairies from the Nature section, and books about advanced physics and its relation to eastern mysticism from humour? Cookies for reference.

Mallpurgis Nacht. Rick Cook. Maraschino cherries will bounce...

[wolfie]

But if you worked there, you'd have to shelve and re-shelve books constantly, deal with thoughtless idiots who leave torn, stained and sticky books that you then have to dispose of, retrieve the Kama Sutra from the children's section for the fiftieth time, etc.

But would you have to remove books about dragons and fairies from the Nature section, and books about advanced physics and its relation to eastern mysticism from humour? Cookies for reference.

[greek_jester]

I suppose that's true. Though what you could do is have the hardcover for home reading and to look nice on your shelf and use the paperback for reading on the go...it's the best of both worlds!

I don't have room in my tiny little house for duplicates. I have one set of shelves which are currently triple-stacked on each shelf (I really need to have another prune). Hardbacks take up far too much space, which is why PTerry was the only author I'd go hardback with.

[Monterey Jack]

Besides, there's just something special about holding an actual book and flipping those pages. Also, you have that old book smell as well. Nothing quite like it.

Nothing like riffing through the pages of an older paperback and smelling the pages. Same thing with CD liner notes (which is why I don't own an iPod).

[Seanette]

My biggest problem with e-books is that I'm unwilling to take my laptop or phone in with me when I want to soak in a bubble bath and read.

[notalwaysright]

I was super-duper anti e-reader for a long time. Now I love mine. But I decided on my own to try it, no amount of people telling me how awesome it was would make me try it. In fact, when people try to convince me, it makes me less likely to do it. So I totally get the non e-book mentality.

Even when I did by all physical books, I didn't care for hardbacks. Why? Because they are heavy. Yup, I didn't like how heavy they are to carry around, and hold while reading. What can I say, I'm a giant baby. I would still buy a book if it was for a Lit class. I tend to write in books, and I don't like doing that in e-books. I just like to open the book and see all my annotations. If I ever am able to buy a house, or otherwise get into a place permanently, I'll buy more actual books. I live in less than 450 sq ft, and I have room for one bookshelf. The rest of my books are in "storage." (my parents house) I have a set of textbooks from the 40s from my great-aunt when she enrolled in a correspondence college.

[jedimaster91]

So I've been trying to NOT buy books and utilize the library. I can't afford my reading habit :P

The problem with libraries is you have to give the books back.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I can't afford to buy two different versions of every book I buy.

Me neither.

Not sure if it would be worth switching to an e-reader or not . . . a lot of the paperbacks I have are vintage (60's through 80's novels) and not sure if they are available in that format.

Besides, there's just something special about holding an actual book and flipping those pages. Also, you have that old book smell as well. Nothing quite like it.

[April]

I can't afford to buy two different versions of every book I buy.

I've really tried to stop buying books. I currently have 18 books checked out at the library, with about 12 more on hold. I read about 3-5 books a week, although on vacation, I was completing about a book a day. I have re-read books so many times, I have them memorized. So I've been trying to NOT buy books and utilize the library. I can't afford my reading habit :P

[Ironclad Alibi]

I also prefer the physical book to the e-book. Some I get in hard back, others in trade or regular paperback. (A trade paperback is larger than a regular paperback.) Although I don't have a preference on book size, I do like to have all volumes of a series in the same format.

I also have several hundred e-books, all of which were free online. I read these on my smartphone or computer. It's nice having a selection on my smart phone since I will always have a book to read when waiting for Mrs. IA.

For free e-books check out the following web sites:

Baen Books Free Library

Second Baen Books web site

BookBub - They will send a daily email with free and cheap e-books.

Project Gutenberg

Gutenberg Australia

epubBooks

Feedbooks - public domain books

HundredZeros

[Monterey Jack]

I suppose that's true. Though what you could do is have the hardcover for home reading and to look nice on your shelf and use the paperback for reading on the go...it's the best of both worlds!

I can't afford to buy two different versions of every book I buy.

[Estil]

Hardcovers are awfully difficult to lug around, especially for those (like me) who get most of their reading done on break at work, or on public transportation (or waiting for public transportation). I prefer paperbacks, myself.

I suppose that's true. Though what you could do is have the hardcover for home reading and to look nice on your shelf and use the paperback for reading on the go...it's the best of both worlds!

While I don't do the whole e-reader thing, I do have the 100 Great Books on the Nintendo DS...so you could say that's kinda like a "poor man's e-reader".