Since the seventh grade, I have been on my turbulent yet fantastic reading journey. From reading short stories online and making massive purchases at Barnes & Noble to buying books electronically, I have gathered the pros and cons of buying from different platforms and places. Although I love easy access to a good book online, sometimes I miss the pacifying feeling of the rough pages in a book and the tired feeling you get from holding a book too long. However, I am forever grateful for the new technology enabling us to access books online effortlessly. You can access books from various authors in various genres with the touch of a button. You can’t always get that indulgence when going to libraries, which is precisely why I prefer electronic books.
On multiple occasions, I have found myself being disappointed with the experiences I’ve had in libraries. Whether it was too busy or loud, or I simply didn’t want to be there, it was never too enticing. The only thing I genuinely like about a library is being surrounded by the things I love: books and, often, coffee. Call me lazy, but there is something so delightful about buying a book online and quickly immersing yourself in any book at any time. Unfortunately, your bank account may not favor easy purchases; however, your mind certainly will. I can’t muster up the energy or time to go to Barnes & Noble nowadays. I often face many obnoxious teenage girls or loud little kids, neither of whom I prefer to be around. To avoid all that, I just buy books electronically. I remember buying my first book online and how joyous and efficient it was. I got to read in class while I was supposed to be doing my homework, and nobody knew. However, I must admit there are times when I crave the physical touch of a book, usually paperback. Sometimes, I take trips to the library and read a lot of paperbacks until I get tired of them and realize I wasted my money. Moreover, with e-books, I can read anywhere, on my computer, phone, tablet, and all of the above, which is efficient and beneficial.
Additionally, you can’t read all the time with paper books. One of the irritating things for me was having to designate when and how I would read. Obviously, one cannot read in the dark, so I either have to stay up later and keep all my lights on, or I can just hop into bed and read on my phone. There is no denying that the light from your phone is not beneficial, but overall, there are more pros to electronic devices than cons in this case. With electronic reading apps, you can make many special alterations to your text size, font, lighting of the page, and much more—another perk to online reading.
Now, there are specific platforms I prefer to buy my books from. The two apps I use are Apple Books and the Kindle app. I started reading on Apple Books until I realized, more often than not, they never seem to have all the books I want. Kindle, however, does. The massive selection is a luxury you can’t get at most libraries. Furthermore, Kindle has been my favorite platform, and I will continue using it for almost all of my reading.
Overall, we are all fortunate to have these many options for reading. People can pick which method of reading they enjoy more and then stick to what they prefer, which is so special about reading nowadays.
