When I got back into reading as an adult, I read mostly on my e-reader but over the past year, I’ve slowly shifted to reading physical and digital copies of books equally.
I began to notice that certain books or types of books are so much better when read in a specific format (physical, e-book, or audiobook). Books with lots of footnotes (that contain actual content and not just citations) such as Plain Bad Heroines or Babel are so much better when read in a physical copy because having to click the footnote to jump around on an e-book is such a pain. I’m not even sure how they handle footnotes like that on audiobooks.
Books where I need to look up stuff frequently (eg: definitions of words or concepts) are better on an e-book where I can just highlight a word or phrase and it will search it up automatically instead of having to keep my phone by my side. An example of that would be Greek mythology retellings where I want to look up the historical info/original myths about the characters.
Has anyone else noticed other types of books (or even a specific book) that are so much better when read in a specific format (physical, e-book, or audiobook)?
by ZookeepergameGood962
14 Comments
I read a lot of graphic novels where the size and scale are beyond any e-reader (Building Stories by Chris Ware, for instance). They’re garbage on e-book, even with good resolution or zooming. I need the physical book and the layout of each page visible throughout. Almost anything where images or paratextuality are important does better in print.
The Ink-Black Heart by Robert Galbraith is extremely long and much of the story progresses through internet chat logs. You absolutely do. Not. Want. To hear an audio interpretation of chat logs, and the repetition of the usernames after every tiny message the characters post.
I like reading fiction in a physical copy mostly because I just think e-books don’t replace the feel and the excitement that I get from a real, physical book. The simple act of turning a page is itself lovely!
I mean, you could *try* to read the E-book version of House of Leaves. But you will absolutely hate yourself while trying to navigate the bloody thing.
The King Killer Chronicles are amazing as an audiobook. Rupert Degas is an incredible narrator and really brings the story and characters to life.
“The Wipers Times” (parts 1 & 2) is awful in e-book. It’s images of the pages of the original work, which was published in the form of newspapers. You have to open and close each image to read it. TWT was a ‘trench’ publication from WWI and very much proto-Python satire. Michael Palin appears in an excellent film adaptation of the books.
Inthink books with photos, drawings, and other graphics are far better in printed form. All others are better as ebooks
The quality of footnote formatting varies massively on ebooks. Sometimes they are really handy, other times they are a massive pain in the arse
The JW Rinzler books on the making of Star Wars are 100% better as E-books as they actually put audio and video elements into it giving you a lot more content. Not sure I have seen a lot of other ebooks really embrace the format like these.
Awesome topic! Two types for me. One is fantasy fiction that includes world-building and maps. I like to follow the story on the map, and it’s so much easier to flip back to the map in a paper book.
I also think the maps are more readable on paper, and they’re often beautiful in their own right. (I like maps in general anyway) Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series is one of my all-time favorites, and as a preteen reader I knew [that map](https://www.ursulakleguin.com/maps-of-earthsea) by heart. I was prepared to find my way around in case I got transported there suddenly lol 😜
The other type is historic fiction or non-fiction that has family trees. I read a lot of Tudor-era history, and as with the maps, it’s just easier to flip back to the front of the book when I need to look at the family tree.
(edited to fix link)
Cookbooks.
If I have to wake up my screen one more time while trying to cook something I’m gonna have a conniption.
I always recommend listening to the audiobook for Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq over reading it. Not only does she do a great job narrating, but the throat singing adds so much in terms of mood and atmosphere.
E-books are terrible for books with copious endnotes, or footnotes that haven’t been converted properly. I read *Infinite Jest* as an e-book and I was so angry having to constantly pop back and forth. Much easier in dead-tree format.
A tablet can be destroyed physically, but hardcopy is really difficult to affect by EMP.
I buy pretty much everything as a physical book, especially if it is something I see value in. In part because the technology of physical books is centuries old and we know that they last, whereas the technology for e-books is only decades old and changes/updates regularly. I grew up in a house filled with books (like, over 10,000 volumes, dad was a bit compulsive). Much of my discovery of literature and art came from just pulling a book off a shelf and flipping through it. Stumbling on Vonnegut and Barthelme. There is something appealing about how the browsing of physical books without the intention of a search allows for random discovery. Also, I like that my kid will eventually get them and be able to have her own experiences with them, if she wants. I don’t have nearly the collection that my father has, and I don’t intend to, but as a new reader I already see her pulling books off our shelves and asking questions, exploring. I don’t feel like this would happen with a kindle. That said, for travel, I take ebooks. Lighter, easier, etc.