Let’s Talk Bookish is a bookish meme created by Rukky @ Eternity Books where bloggers write posts discussing the topic of the week each Friday! Now it’s run by Aria @Book Nook Bits.

This is my first time taking part in Let’s talk Bookish since I’ve only recently discovered it while I set up my new blogging schedule/plans.

Bookish Thoughts

So. eBooks. Ages ago, before I got into blogging, I didn’t like eBooks at all. I only read print books and even though I got quite a few from my library, the shelves in my bedroom at my parents’ home were overflowing.

Quite often I was forced to sell books, just to make room for new ones. And then my parents went ahead and got me a kindle for Christmas because the book situation got out of hand. We’re talking a-wooden-shelf-breaking out of hand.

I was… not amused, to be honest. But alright. Now I had that thing and so I was forced to use it. Fine. The reading felt… weird. Wrong, in a way. But I got used to it and I got really used to being able to be at home, order a book, and immediately be able to read it. On top of that, most English eBooks are cheaper than print editions, so my bank account was quite happy as well.

And then I had to stay a week in a hospital that was specialed to treat chronic migraines. Being able to take that many books with me without having a suitcase full of books was… amazing.

I was reminded of that one and only vacation my parents took me on that wasn’t a car drive to camp at the Baltic Sea – which I always absolutely loved! – but travel by plane. My carry-on baggage was heavier than my suitcase because I filled it with books.

The Queer’s Reviewing

Especially for blogging purposes, it’s important to have a way to read digitally. I read backlist titles too, and I still buy print books, but most ARCs are eARCs. Providing a print ARC to every blogger would be so freaking expansive – even without taking into account how expansive shipping from the US to Germany is. Especially if a publishing house or author decides to print special ARC editions.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the print ARCs I got, especially those that were signed by the author, and I admit, receiving one via package does feel wonderful, but I’m more than fine with my eARCs. That way I can fill my bookshelves with those books I’ve really enjoyed or simply had to read in print.

Because the thing is, my reading comprehension is better when I read in print – especially if it’s nonfiction. I need to mark important bits with a text marker, I need to write notes into the books. If I can’t really work with a text, I don’t understand it as well.

Poetry on my Ebook reader? Ugh. I can’t read it that way. The words don’t flow as well if they are digitally presented. It’s also easier to be sucked into a story if I’ve got an actual book in my hands. It happens with Ebooks as well, but if I count the times I nearly missed my stop on the bus or train? 90% of the time it’s because of a print book.

So even though I appreciate the benefits of eBooks and I read more eBooks than print books as of now, if I had to decide to stick to one version for the rest of my life, I’d choose print books.

The Queer Bookish would be a different The Queer Bookish though. I’m not saying it would be a worse The Queer Bookish but it definitely would be different. If you read that sentence out loud I might appear in your mirror at night.

Do you distinguish between eBooks and print books or is it all the same for you? Why?