On Dec. 26, Amazon reported that it sold more e-books than physical books on Christmas Day. Also, the Kindle was the top gift sold on Amazon this holiday season (and apparently the top-selling gift on Amazon.com of all time).
These stats—at least regarding sales of e-books vs. physical books on Christmas Day—did not surprise me. One of the lures of e-books is instant gratification, and if anyone got an e-reader under the tree this year, I would bet that one of the first things they did was some online shopping for an e-book.
I received only physical books this year (including Jane Austen’s Little Advice Book – Aww), although I have big plans to blog about my experience reading on BookPage’s Kindle.
Since I know readers of The Book Case are some of the busiest readers around, I wondered how you received books this year. Did you get a new e-reader? Or did your family and friends stick to gifting classic ink-and-paper books?
Also: What was your favorite book you received? My family didn’t give me too many books this year (probably because my bookshelf is about to topple as it is), although I was intrigued by Michael Crichton’s Pirate Latitudes; my cousin excused himself from our Christmas dinner table in order to race through the final pages…
I read physical books. I don’t have a reader and don’t intend to get one anytime soon. If for no other reason than I don’t have the money for how easy it is to buy another book. Like you, my shelves are toppling as it is with physical books! Besides, I still like the feel of a book in my hand and the progress of a page turned.
I got an ereader for Christmas too (Sony)and a gift certificate for ebooks. I’ve been finding the whole “instant gratification” thing to be a little bit of a canard because my ereader is no longer working with my computer- and nobody seems to be able to help me fix it. Considering I don’t have these problems with print, I’ll stick with real books for now! I also got a ton of real books for Christmas and will be able to keep myself busy enough with them not to miss the e-experience!
I prefer physical books. Nothing beats the load time of my fingers flipping open to my book-marked page–I can read in an instant and don’t have to turn anything on or get frustrated if the technology goes buggy.
There’s just something about feeling the paper beneath my fingers and the smell of a new (or old) book in my hands that an e-book will never top!
Instant-gratification in this case, is way over-rated.
When one thinks of the life cycle of technology and then compares it to the life cycle of a bound book, how can e-books be explained? Simply, my children have discussed this and believe it’s all a marketing strategy to make money. As for us, we’re sticking with bound books and our money!!
I gave and got ebooks for Christmas – I admit that while I like the feeling of reading bound books, the luxury of both immediate gratification and not having to find shelf space for new books is wonderful. For years I have tended to buy only nonfiction, reference, or beautiful picture books and gotten my fiction from the library, so I am not actually buying fewer books now, just buying them differently. I love the convenience and ease of use of my Kindle!
Only bound books for me, please! I love the smell and feel of real books. There is something very cold and impersonal about e-books. And, as Marie (above), says, bound books don’t break down!
I have a Kindle and read bound books, too. The problem with the Kindle is that in this rural area I first have to download to the computer then to the Kindle. I received a pop-up book for Christmas, The Little Prince, from my sister because when we were in college, we each gave the other a paperback copy of it.