E-Reader, Book or Tablet. What’s Your Read?

I love books. Real books. Books with pages I can smell (and I do sniff them often). I love holding books; flipping through books; browsing new and used bookstores; receiving books as gifts; giving books as gifts; sharing and borrowing books; selling, trading and swapping books; and lining my bookshelves with none other than…books!

So when my husband hinted last year that he wanted to try an e-reader, I cringed. He and I swap books all the time and I wasn’t ready to give that up. But it made sense (and dollar savings) for him to have one, and now he’s hooked. I, on the other hand, am still having a hard time accepting such a switch. What about you?

E-readers are becoming ridiculously inexpensive, and with the holidays coming up, it seems like a good time to weigh the pros and cons of making the big switch. But what’s truly best? A Nook? A Kindle? A Kindle Fire? An Ipad with the Kindle app? Or do you agree books are best?

I already gave you the reasons above why I love books. Despite how my husband and friends rave about their e-readers, I’m not sold. Here’s yet another example of why I am finding the switch difficult: A friend was sharing excerpts from a book she’s loving on her e-reader. When asked her how much she had left to read, she replied 22%. Ok, what?

Change is usually not hard for me, and once I tried to experience an electronic book through a Kindle app on my Ipad. That lasted for one book. Summer arrived and I did not want to cart an expensive Ipad to the pool or beach and risk getting it wet or full of sand. Not to mention, Ipads (or any kind of tablet) are not equipped with screen glare protection (making it nearly impossible to read outdoors) and I had to constantly remember to charge my Ipad each night before I read. It’s no longer summer, yet I still haven’t gone back to that Ipad app.

So that narrows it down to Nook versus Kindle. Sell it to me.

If you own an e-reader, I’d love to know what you like best – or least – about your e-reader, as well as which version and/or brand you’d recommend. Why should book lovers make the switch? Or if you’re a book lover like me, share your reasons why you haven’t yet switched!