Well over a decade ago I stopped buying physical books when I got my first Kindle. I was enraptured at the ability to push a button to buy a book and start it downloading. Which a minute or two I was able to start reading a new book. And I could read late at night without having to turn on a light. I was thrilled and excited, and at the time I was certain I would never buy another physical book again in my life. So much so that I gave away all my book collection at the time, determined to rebuild it all digitally.
One of the biggest regrets in my life.
A few years ago my love for reading seemed to fade away a little bit a time. There was a time when you would not see me without a book at my side. But at that point I started to go weeks, then months without reading at all. Soon it was over a year since I had read a book. Looking back now I think I was just missing the feel and the weight of the book in my hand, the smell of the pages, being able to look at my bookshelf and feel the joy of my collection.
Earlier this year however, after watching my girlfriend and this girl at my work place reading physical books, I decided…what the hell, I was going to buy one of my favorite books that, to that point, I had only read digitally. Man did that ever snap me out of whatever funk I had been in because I have been reading up a storm since then and have started to rebuild my physical collection again.
Me and my girlfriend have these tall, corner book shelves that we use to display our statues. One of them was half full and she started putting her books there as well, and so did I once I started again. I read a lot more than her and soon I'm gonna have to get my own bookshelf, lol.
I gotta say, it feels really good to be reading so much again. I'm not going to say that digital books and e-readers are not awesome or anything like that. But I don't think I want to ever go back to reading that way again.
TL:DR – Reading physical books again returned my love for reading as strong as ever.
by Wolven_Essence
2 Comments
I’m with you here. I had a similar arc a few years ago, but I’m glad I didn’t get rid of most of my books in the kindle/audiobook phase. Nothing beats hunting/browsing for books, which you can’t really do if it’s electronic, or having them sit beautifully on a shelf. Not to mention physically reading them.
I love physical everything. I don’t like digital crap. It is soulless. A real, tangible, physical, paper book: that cannot be beat.