Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
The Daily PollWITH THE GROWING popularity of e-book readers and general reading online, bookshelves across the country may be feeling a bit naked.
Despite this, we’ve discovered that a lot of people in one Irish city still love a good old fashioned paper book.
But we want to know about the rest of you: Do you still read (paper) books?
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Reading on an IPad not as relaxing as a paper book & can’t loan them out.
No you can’t loan them at all.
The internet doesn’t exist.
Digital media is never shared.
No one has ever been concerned with that.
You don’t read books at all do you? You use them to prop up your TV to watch Game of Thrones or The Wire or Breaking Bad?
Ever read Trolling on a Sunday by Bored Stupid?
Shut up Rodger.
No you fool, you mean stop typing.
Do you have any redeeming qualities Rodger? Genuine question. Are your mates all on this tabloid?
Its Sunday, go play in the traffic.
1980 wants it’s gag back
Books all the way. Unless they bring out a dog eared e-reader
That gives off old-book smell!
Nothing better.. :)
New book smell!
Books and reading are for losers and nerds
Of course they are captain, you missed a bit when u were washing my merc last Sunday morning…
Read books every week. Mostly business books but the occasional fiction. Great way to tune out. I work in IT, constantly connected…. a book connects you to your brain!
Exactly! I have a Kindle and it’s great for getting books that aren’t easily available in bookshops, and it’s handy for holidays or commuting but it doesn’t connect the same way! You don’t engage fully!
I think they mean read paper back books. I wouldn’t read them any other way. I love the smell of books old and new. I read as often as i can sometimes a book every three days. Depends on how much time i have.
Those Kindles etc.. never will be as good as a paper book.
If you drop an ereader in the bath you can’t dry it out on a radiator
maybe you should stop having baths then
If you use a ziplock, you can just fish it out and read on.
I do. And no child should be let next nor near an e-reader. Books, pens and paper. End of.
Ridiculous.
Ok.
Oh, well that’s the argument won then Alan, because you said ‘End of’. If you had said FACT that also would have won every argument…
I prefer the book . I did have an iBook on my phone but found myself getting distracted and going on Facebook and the journal so went back to a book from the library and leave the phone downstairs .
That doesn’t sound so bad…
I do still read books but read mostly on my kindle now. I have injuries to my hands and find it very difficult to hold open a weighty tome, but my kindle in always the same size and weight.
I love books, but I don’t fetishise then to the degree some people do; for me the content of the books, the words inside them, are far more important than the package in which those words are delivered.
That so many respondents don’t read books at all explains a whole heap about some of the comments on here at times.
I expected that proportion to be much bigger.
I read about one or two books a week. I love my Kindle, its a wonderful piece of technology but I will always read the printed format over the electronic. As handy as it is, for me, there is no substitute to the look, feel and smell of a real book.
Books all the way. Every few weeks, I go into O’Mahony’s bookshop in Limerick and spend over an hour sticking up for the weeks ahead. Getting into bed (especially on clean sheets day) with a good book at the end of the day is sheer bliss. Have piles of them everywhere. You’ll never be lonely with a book.
*stocking
I went into O Mahony’s in Limerick yesterday to get Morrissey’s autobiography on hardback. Thirty something euros. The paperback was less than a tenner and the Kindle version even cheaper. When the book came out I got the paperback and the Kindle version as they were so cheap but thirty euro for a hardback? Clever Morrissey’s publishers had a few new photos included for the fans to entice them to buy again.
And all that was available before Christmas was the boring ol’ Penguin paperback. Bought it anyway and won’t be falling for that trick. He writes well (surprise, surprise). Enjoy it anyway.
I buy all my books from charity shops and then give them back when I’ve read them.
well wup-dee-doo, would you like your medal engraved…
E-reader for holidays. Paper book will never disappear because there is a difference and only serious book lovers know why.
There are advantages to both. You can write in the margins of a book but you can take notes on an e-reader. For fuddy duddy journal readers like us of course we will prefer books as we were brought up with them. However as an English teacher I can tell you that paper books are on their way out. Parents and schools are investing in electronic reading devices and it is a relief to see them as the weight of the books was ridiculous. The only worry I would have is that Irish publishers are not producing versions of their book specifically for the Kindle or any other e-reader but just for devices with conventional screens. Personally I could not read a book on an ipad where I could on a Kindle Paperwhite. I would also never ask a student to read a book on a device which is going to make their eyes tired so either we get Kindles into schools or we stick with the books, for the subject of English at least.
Agree with this. There is no comparison between a proper e-reader and tablets etc. With back-lit screens. I would NEVER read a book on a device not specifically designed for that purpose. I’ve always been a bookworm and had hundreds of books but it came to the point that I caved and got a kindle because I like to have a book wherever I go and it’s light and fits in my handbag, I can read one-handed in bed which is great in winter, and my house is not crammed to bursting anymore with paper books. I still love bookshops and could spend hours browsing and some books are really beautiful objects but when it comes to practicality, when all you want to do is just read, I’m completely won over by my treasured kindle.
I love books and can’t use kindles or iPads, not the same as all!
My kids use iPads instead of books for school all the time and come home with their eyes practically burning in their heads! Not a fan at all.
Proper e-readers are not the same thing as tablets such as ipads etc. Kindle do make a tablet also called kindle fire but that’s not an e-reader. Reading from an e-ink screen is as easy on the eye as paper and causes even less glare than some brighter, shinier paper. All of the most avid readers I know younger than 70 are all converted to kindle now. Electronic reading does have drawbacks e.g. not owning a physical copy of the book. It takes getting used to but I do believe it’s the way things will go. Same as music even though CD is still the highest quality audio available.
Absolutely Niamh but the school my kids attend only allows iPads, no other device not even another brand of tablet for software reasons apparently!
I’m sure eventually they’ll sort out the kinks as technology becomes more and more utilised but at present even the children are finding it tough going!
As for me as an avid reader all my life, I’ll stick with the books. I just love them.
Different OS would be the reason for it. Software designed for apples iOS is not compatible with Android
And all the more reason why it is very shortsighted of schools and textbook publishers to tie kids into using the products of a notoriously proprietary company as Apple. Not to mention the seeming lack of research into how potentially damaging prolonged periods of reading from tablet devices can be for young eyes.
That 11% upsets me.
I’m part of the 11%, I’d love to be able to read a book, but lose all concentration a few pages in. The most I ever got on a book was page 67.
Sounds like you could have ADHD or a similar condition Chief.
I bought a kindle to take on holidays but it’s totally taken over my reading life. The only physical books I now own are ones that were gifts or ones that have a sentimental meaning or any that I was lucky enough to get on 1st ed or signed.
It’s purely a convenience thing.
Wouldn’t have it any other way…..BOOKS!!
I’ve started reading novels again recently and I’m finding them fairly interesting. I’ve got two instalments now of “captain underpants” which I read to my 5 year old young fella!
Love my Kindle, probably one of my favourite presents ever. Best features are portability and the great selection and suggestions on the Amazon store . However ebooks are still too expensive considering how much distribution costs have reduced, and I can’t pass Chapters without having at least an hour for an browse.
E books attract VAT which paper books don’t, currently at levels from country of sale which allows amazon to charge the cheap Luxembourg rates but due to EU legislation it’ll change to country of purchase from 1st January 2015.
Really dont like ereaders… nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when you reach the last page of a book and close it up!
A friend of mine once suggested I give all my finished books to the local library or charity shop. An Garda still haven’t found where I put his body.
Love reading books but I also download audio books to listen to working night shift.
I would recommend audible.co.uk for audiobooks. You pay a small monthly subscription – easy to transfer onto ipods and if you don’t like the book you can return it, no questions asked. A great alternative for the car – I get through about one a week. At the moment I am listening to Stephen King’s collection of short stories: “Night Shift”, the extra bit of dramatisation really brings in alive In another of his books “on writing” he reads it himself so you can get the New England Maine accent pronunciation.
I cant get into the Kindle at all, nothing béats going into à real bookshop to browse, and buy à good book., i like the Kindle for holidays so not packing the suitcase with more books than clothes.
I got one for christmas but it’s yet to come out of its box.
There should be a fourth option. Do you read books and read books on an eReader? I read both.
I’m 31but i still get a kick out of asking my ginger friends; ‘Read any good books lately? Have you read ‘Pubes?’ #classic #immature
There is nothing like feeling the crispness of a page turn in you hands, the smell of a book and the excitement you feel when you can see when you are racing through the pages and feel the weight of the book transfer from one hand to the other dying to see the ending and yet wanting to know more and more – am I a book geek – absolutely and I love it!!!
There is nothing like sitting down with a good book. The ebook just isn’t the same!
I’m always suspicious of people saying paper is on the way out. Impossible to know for sure, but the figures would suggest otherwise. Even in the western world, paper book sales rose recently (and that’s in a recession). Of course, e-books are recording phenomenal increases year-on-year, but these are being measured against very, very low bases (never mind that certain online book retailers want you to go digital so you can’t purchase second-hand).
Most people who are very anti-Kindle seem to have never actually used one; however, all of us who are pro-Kindle grew up reading paper books, so at least we can speak with authority on which is better. If you’ve never used a proper eReader, then you can’t speak as to which is better.
A proper eReader is not an iPad or a phone – these are multi-use devices – eReaders are designed with just reading in mind.
For me, the simple convenience of the Kindle is why it wins. It’s a very comfortable way to read. Reading a big book in bed is a pain, especially if it’s a hardback.
We have three Kindles in our house, all tied to the same Amazon account – this means we can all read the same book at the same time, at no extra expense.
Also, removing DRM from ebooks to share them is actually pretty easy. Before anyone gets all antsy about this, it’s pretty much the same as copying a CD for a friend, so if you’ve never done this, by all means get on your high moral horse.
I think many would argue that paper books are pretty convenient. No investment in hardware, no relying on charging, and (if you’ve a Kindle) no relying on Amazon’s selection (and occasional bizarre actions regarding copyright). But ereaders can be great for particular circumstances. If it suits, why not use both?
I’ve no problem with people arguing that they prefer books, as long as they do so from a position of proper experience of eReaders. If those people want to continue using real books after having read a few books on an eReader, that’s their loss. It’s all the people who clearly have never properly used an eReader, but nonetheless are convinced that they are bad, that I would have an issue with.
For serious readers, the investment in hardware pays for itself quite soon. My Kindle is 3 years old and still going strong.
My Kindle goes for a month without needing to be charged, it gets say 5 hours use a week. It warns me when it needs to be charged. Only once in the last three years have I been caught out by it being out of power.
Pretty much every book is available on Amazon. You can also get ebooks from other sources and convert them to Kindle format using software called Calibre (it requires about as much techiness as burning a CD).
I’m not sure what you mean by ” bizarre actions regarding copyright”.
I understand that some people are simply technophobic and see eReaders as being like computers, which they may have had a bad experience with or just have very little experience. The book fetishists are just plain weird though.
New book smell = solvents
Old book smell = mould
It’s not really ‘their loss’, though, is it? My point is each to their own whereas you keep on talking about technophobes and people misunderstanding ereaders. I don’t think that’s necessarily the case and in my own personal experience (most of my friends are avid readers and I have worked in the book industry in some form or other for ten years) anyone who has an ereader also reads physical books. And the majority of them tend to gravitate towards physical books, but use ereaders when they suit them.
I have an ereader, and have previously had a kindle (and I used to sell ereaders when they first came around) so I think I can speak from experience. Again, as I said previously, each to their own, but I would disagree that the investment quickly pays for itself, as there is no corresponding investment in physical books. I had issues with my Kindle (it seemed to have a shelf life of approximately two years, although it’s great that yours is still going strong), so I abandoned it, but eventually got a different ereader as a present, and that has been working fine.
There was a big copyright story about Amazon wiping a book from people’s kindles (think it was 1984) as it wasn’t supposed to have been sold in a particular jurisdiction, and, of course, they have clamped down on the ability to get cheap American imports of books (although I have a feeling that they may are technically illegal in physical form too).
Fair enough the ‘their loss’ bit was not correct.
When I says the investment pays for itself, I mean in the sense that ebooks are cheaper than paper books and that the difference in price soon adds up to the cost of the eReader (after, say 20 books).
Yeah, again, I would disagree. I think you’re right about cost on a large percentage of recently published books (and definitely right if the books are downloaded illegally) and classics but on nearly all occasions, I can get the paper book cheaper than digital (this is by buying second-hand but also sometimes applies to new books). And, of course, libraries haven’t quite caught up to the whole digital lending (at least not yet over here) so for the most part you can get a book for free.
I use my ereader for when I would be doing a fair bit of travelling, and will use it for classics and some new stuff that actually is cheaper.
I love books read all the time. I go to the library every couple of weeks to stock up
I take my kindle on holiday as I read so much and books are too heavy to pack.
Nothing beats laying in a bath with a book.
I read my kindle in bed in the dark and that helps me get really into it. Love it. This nonsense about needing a physical book to fully enjoy it, or to be a true book lover is rubbish. Also purchasing from amazon online is cheaper and gives u suggestions for similar books to those you have already read.
It might be rubbish for you, but as someone that didn’t grow up reading screens, I find books much easier to use. For example, in one subject in the course I am doing, we use an e-book resource. Out of 320 people, over 250 of them bought the hard copy. So maybe it’s better for you, but it’s certainly not for everyone.
Im 30. I certainly did not grow up reading from screens. I only started using a kindle last year. The point you make about your course not buying the e -book has no relevance unless it is a piece of literature because I was talking about connecting with what you are reading. And besides that, all I was saying was that it doesn’t need to be a hard copy. Not that books are obsolete.
Connecting with with what I am reading? I study the course because I strongly connect with the subject. Are you trying to tell me that people can only connect with novels? And you are wrong about it not needing to be a hard copy because for some people it does.
Fair enough man
I read my (paper) book in the bed in the dark, but that’s not why I connect with it. It’s about what’s easier and more logical for yourself. For me, it’s paper books (I have lots and lots still to read and don’t do much travelling at the moment) but for others it’s digital. I would say that even digital natives (teen to 30, I guess) seem to prefer getting their hands on hard copies where I work (a university). There are options on many of the most popular books to get a digital copy, but the vast, vast majority of them would rather go on waiting lists for the hard copy.
I can see the advantages of kindles et Al for people who travel or whatever, but I’m not sold on them yet.
Whilst e-books are plugged as being cheaper, if you’re shopping with your head, you can usually get a real book cheaper: book-shop sales, second hand bookshops, charity shops, Amazon, ebay. Also, I like to donate my books to charity shops if im done with them.
Besides, there are some problems that ill never have with my good old paper book:
“i just dropped my book on the floor and smashed it”
“I want to read a book but I can’t find my charger”
“Got caught in a sudden downpour, my book got damp in my bag, now its broken”
And I dont have to spend a hundred quid or whatever they cost to replace my book if I lose it!
“Got caught in a sudden downpour, my book got damp in my bag, now its broken” Paper can get wet as well you know. Ruins the ink and the pages will tear easily.
“”And I dont have to spend a hundred quid or whatever they cost to replace my book if I lose it!” What if you misplaced a box of your 20 favourites books. Happened to me with the Discworld series.
I only started reading books a few years ago,and have to say you can’t beat a good crime fiction book,
When people would say the book is better than the film I’d say na I’ll just watch the film,
But the likes of Michael Connelly has some brilliant books,great detail in them!
I read both. E books are handy for older books because you can use the dictionary search to find unusual words and references to events that happened when the boook was written.
Nothing better buying a new book and opening it up and smelling it!!!! Call me crazy but I know there are other people do the same thing! Hate reading books from a kindle or computer reader, nothing better then curling up with a good book and having a bookmark to show where one stopped! And handy as it is reading the news online it’s still nicer to physically have a newspaper in your hand to read Over your morning coffee!
I was given a present of my first kindle 2 Christmasses ago. Prior to that had always pooh-poohed the idea of using an e-reader for the reasons given – smell of a new book, feel of turning pages etc. However I have a long commute to & from work & now I wouldn’t be without my kindle. So light, fits in my handbag & I always have a new book ready as soon as I finish one. Also as I have the kindle paperwhite I can read in bed in the dark without disturbing the hubby
Where is the “don’t know” option.
Thanks
How can you not know whether you read books, maybe you should start, it could possibly expand your mind.
I am a long time advocate of the “don’t know” option on Journal polls. It is presumably a statistical necessity, I felt the need to draw attention on its exclusion from this particular poll. Thanks for your kind words of encouragement. I might even read a book about it (statistical analysis) but first I have to finish Five go to Kirrin Island, that one has me stumped for years! I am building myself up to Ulysses, or diary of a wimpy kid, decisions decisions.
New book in hodges figgis I saw last week €9.99. iBook store €2.99. Guess which one I bought!
The pricing of ebooks doesn’t seem to follow a normal model, though. Some ebooks will be far more expensive, others not so much. And anything that has been released more than two years ago you will be able to pick up in paper cheaper.
Love books but also love my Kindle ap on iPad. So many great reads available free on Amazon.
Nothing like a good, old-fashioned e-book burning!
I don’t think it makes sense to limit yourself by choosing one or the other. I do appreciate paper books as objects as well as reading material. My ereader is convenient and there are lots of bargains to be had.
Looking at the comments, 73% are hungover and lashing out for no reason!
I am dying lad.
Please don’t ever buy me a book. .. I already have one. .
Still devastated that the exchange closed in dalkey, does anyone know of a nice second-hand bookshop in dublin that could compare?
Both, although probably more books.
Went through a phase of just reading ebooks on my Nexus 7 using Kindle or wattpad, handy for travelling but have been reading more actual books since last year.
I find I use both. I will read a book if it is something historical, poetry, or a manual that will be laid out on my work bench. If it is a quick read like Hunger Games or Divergent I use a Kindle.
I haven’t used a kindle so I can’t really comment on them, but I know the numbers joining libraries have been growing fairly steeply over the last 5 years or so (don’t have exact numbers or percentages). As someone who commutes, I can imagine that a kindle would be great for that, but those saying that physical books are on their way out are mistaken, it’ll be a long time before they’re gone!
Books are best,free from the library,even better!
Does reading junk mail count?
Reading is soooo lame!
Thanks Big Mac sorry I forgot Ben Elton. I’ve read his as well.His piss take on X factor chart idol is very good.!
Sometimes but I prefer ebooks.
My aunt took me to join the library when I was about 10! One of the greatest gifts I ever got! Love my books for 5e membership a year its a great service!
Thank you for the recommendations I will go to the library tomorrow and take them out. If they don’t have them in stock I will order it .By the way Irvine Welsh is an a gifted writer.!!!.
Recently finished reading Irvine Welsh’s entire works. Brilliant (apart from some short stories which I found a bit lame). Filth is absolutely amazing – gripping, hilarious, clever and filthy.
Love books ,travel especially.!!!.Can someone please recommend any funny books ??.Tom sharpe cracks me up and spike Milligan too .Douglas Adams….I love a good laugh any suggestions ??..
Ben Elton’s Stark, Gridlocked and blind faith are all good, read them on the bus and the people will look at you as the crazy one who laughs out loud
David Sedaris is also very funny.
I highly recommend Carl Hiassen, it’s not easy to pick my favourite but his book ‘Lucky You’ literally had me in pain from laughing.
I love Carl Hiassen too, Bad Monkey is so funny it puts me in such a good mood, it’s infectious
have your say