Welcome to Gaia! ::

So, I recently found the site Fictionwise and am considering crossing over to eBooks, since I spend an ungodly amount of time at my computer reading. But it brought to my mind a discussion we had in one of my history classes...

How do you prefer to read books? Do you read at your computer or would you rather have the book in your hands? If you do read eBooks, do you have a download service to recommend?

While I own tons of books, I prefer reading at my computer. This is mostly because I'm at the computer at least eight hours a day, so it makes sense for me. And it requires less focus, since I've already trained myself to flit from browser window to browser window, so I can spend ten minutes reading, then do something else, then come back to reading without having really lost the flow of things. Reading in real life, I have to be doing NOTHING else, or else I lose my spot on the page.

Plus, I have a physical handicap when reading books, because I have a vascular problem in one arm. When I hold a book open for long periods of time, my fingers go numb and my whole arm starts to hurt. So reading on the computer is a whole lot less painful. sweatdrop

I personally prefer reading a physical book. I just like to read in bed, and generally while lying down and relaxing. I also find it quite difficult to concentrate for long periods on the computer, I find I skip bits without meaning to.

As much as I like the Internet, there really is no substitute for paper books.

I'm the opposite, I have a disability that makes reading off the computer next to impossible (though paper is getting much harder as well). That being said, there is nothing I love more than books. They are so pretty and I love the smell. I love the way the spine creaks when opening an old, loved book. The crispness of new pages being turned or the delicate, brittle turn of old brown pages. The cool smooth paper nestled is the warm soft leather. Books should hold something for all the senses. Computers just can't compare.