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Reading has always been my idea of fun!
I love reading and I love books, plus I believe writers are usually great readers. We spend our lives immersed with our minds elsewhere, in someone else's world or one of our own creation. Happy times indeed!
Hugh Howey posted a video about his reading habits and thoughts on the state of e-readers last week, and I was inspired to create my own version.
In the video below, I talk about how I read, I show you some of my book collection, how I discover books, what annoys me as a reader and how I review and share the love.
You can watch the video below or here on YouTube, or read the notes underneath, which include (affiliate) links to the books I talk about. The mic is a little off (I've got a new one on order) but I hope you enjoy it!
How do I read now … and how I ended up that way
I read primarily on the Kindle Paperwhite at home, the Kindle app on the iPhone 5. In the video, I demonstrate my ‘reading on the Tube' technique, page turning and highlighting!
I love the auto-synch between devices. I finish in bed on the Paperwhite and start on the Tube on my iPhone. I get highlights from non-fiction on the Kindle app on the Mac when I am working – I LOVE highlighting. I'm probably an addict! I later transfer my highlighted notes to my notebooks by hand.
I own over 1000 books on Kindle and have about 200 samples on my Paperwhite right now. In the same way that owning print books was part of my life even without reading them, it's the same for ebooks.I also think it's an extension of my brain and I use search on the Mac app when I want to research stuff and often find books I haven't read in a while.
I rarely read paper and never read fiction in print anymore. I do own some non-fiction in print and I show you some of my books in the video:
- Textbooks – STORY by Robert McKee
- Poetry – An African Elegy by Ben Okri (only available second-hand)
Beautiful art books / Talisman books – Alchemy and Mysticism. I mention the Wellcome Collection Blackwells bookstore which is my addiction, as well as Waterstones Piccadilly and Foyles on Charing Cross Road.- Books to keep forever – The Red Book by Carl Jung oversize full color edition, The Empire of Death by Paul Koudounaris and Palestine by Henry Bordeaux (antique)
- Travel books – Lonely Planet South India and Kerala from our cycling trip
I also listen to some non-fiction audiobooks: Jack Canfield – The Success Principles and Steven Pressfield's Turning Pro. I own both of these books in ebook, print and audio formats as they continue to have a huge impact on me.
One of the reasons I believe digital is the future is the demographic shift into cities and smaller space living. Americans may not see this so much, but in Europe, we mostly live in smaller spaces and physical books clutter the place quickly.
We left behind over 2000 print books when we left Australia – many of which I had paid to ship from England to New Zealand and then on to Brisbane. It was practically impossible to sell them second-hand so we gave most of them away to local students. I find I am now replacing books I used to own in paper on ebooks even if I am not ready to re-read them yet.
I probably read about 5x as much fiction now as I used to in print, because of the prohibitive cost in Australia and New Zealand.
Why am I a Kindle customer?
It's basically first mover advantage! I love Kobo and iBooks and Nook and all the other options but they weren't around when I started on ebooks.
I was living in Australia in 2008/2009 when e-readers started to emerge. At the time, print books were AU$25-$35 which is about 3x the price of UK books. I had almost stopped reading fiction and my non-fiction reading had dropped significantly.
The Sony Reader was the first on my radar but it wasn't compelling. Then the Kindle launched and I was hooked. Here's my review of the first international Kindle. [That brings back memories!]
I continue to be a very happy Kindle junkie!
How do I find books
If I know and love the author and the book is available on Kindle, I will pre-order it. I don't worry too much about price.
For impulse purchases, I will buy anything I fancy under £2 (US$4), but I don't usually download free books. I prefer to pay, and I'm not a member of Kindle Unlimited, mainly because so many books are not in KU that I want to read.
I don't have a budget for books, so I buy what I want, when I want. I buy books almost every day, but then it's pretty much my only vice!
I will buy books to keep for later and I don't necessarily read everything I buy. When I'm researching something e.g. mythology, I will search in my own ebook library first to see if I have already bought something on the topic since I often buy in order to “own” books, as I did with print.
For fiction, I browse the genre categories of thriller, dark fantasy, non-fiction etc for books released in the last 30 days.
I rarely browse the overall bestseller lists as my book turnover is so fast. I definitely download samples based on cover design – I picked up Jonathan Maberry's Code Zero because I loved the cover and have spent the last month binge reading his Joe Ledger series.
I will pay more for non-fiction and will buy from unknown authors more easily if the topic grabs me. If I can learn a couple of new things per non-fiction book, I consider that worth the money.
I will often buy based on listening to author interviews on podcasts or books recommended by bloggers like Tim Ferriss. I also monitor the fantastic Brain Pickings site and get a lot of books from there. Plus, I find books on twitter through recommendations that way.
When I find things I like, I sample. That means that I download a percentage. I usually give the book 4- 5 clicks/page turns and if it hasn't grabbed me, I delete the sample. If I make it to the end of the sample, I will usually buy and continue reading. I've talked in length about the importance of sampling for authors before.
What annoys me as a reader
- Books not available as Kindle books, for example, the entire James Michener backlist, which is
substantial and weighty. The Source is one of my favorite books and it's not on ebook. Seriously Random House, sort that out!
- US first releases. In a world of online marketing, staggered releases by region is just a pain and annoys readers. I will see a tweet from the author on release and then I will forget about it unless I can immediately download a sample.
- Print only launches. I generally won't buy books in print so if you don't release a Kindle version on launch, I may well have forgotten it by the time the ebook version comes out. At least include a pre-order button if you want to do print first.
- Samples that include acknowledgements, forewords, essays by someone else etc. That should all go at the back so I don't have to wade through that. Make sure your words hook me and I don't have to wade through
- Ebooks that are clearly just scanned versions of print books so they don't flow properly. Please invest in doing a specific edition for Kindle.
How I review books
Since the sock puppet controversy, I have mostly stopped reviewing on Amazon in case of any issues there. So I review on Goodreads instead – follow my reviews here.
I include book recommendations in both my newsletters – fiction for J.F.Penn subscribers and non-fiction for TheCreativePenn subscribers.
I do blog posts with lists of books like my Christmas reading list, or thrillers for a winter's night. Plus I have this list of fiction books I love, and this list of non-fiction books for writers.
I also share a lot on social media, primarily Twitter, with buy links. Plus, I buy books for others as my primary gifting.
OK, now it's your turn. I'd love to know about your reading habits so please leave a comment below or leave a link to a blog post or video on the topic. How do you read? How do you find books? How do you review and pass on the love?
What a great vlog! I was laughing so many times, and saying, “yes!” in agreement.
I have a KindlePW too but I barely pick it up cuz I use the app on my iPad mini. Weird huh? I like you, pretty much only read e-books now and always thought I’d never convert, but I read more and I’m quicker at reading too, which I never expected.
I also regularly read on iBooks now as well as Google Play Books, I look who has the cheaper version. I read non fiction, self-help. I bought a KindlePW initially because I like to read out of copy right 19c classics, which are free on Kindle.
Your points about Samples was excellent but I don’t have as much patience as you, I give it only a few pages before I know if I like it – if I like it I’ll read to the end of the sample and then buy it.
I like to pay for new books too, and will rarely take a free book, it’s knowing the time and effort gone into the book, which I think must be respected by the author enough to get paid.
Good reads is where I look for new books and review all that I read. (Owned by Amazon now, right)
A book I had to buy hard back was ‘s’ – jj abrams, an amazing production and so ‘meta’, full of postcards and things inserted between the pages, so wonderful.
I love the smell of new books, but I also love the romance of opening an old book. The smell of old books, even though the same for every book is a mark of the time and history, a monument in a smell.
Thanks again for the great web content! And, you’ve inspired me (among others) to go ahead and become a freelance science communicator and writer.
I’ll be fitting more reading into my work life now, cuz it’s required, innit!
ooh, I saw that JJ Abrams book as well, I was going to buy it – may still do!
Interesting to note that you buy and read on multiple stores – I guess that’s because of using a tablet as the reader. Fascinating! Thanks.
Excellent post, as always! I’m often interested in the reading habits of others, and I learned a lot from this post. There are a lot of features on Kindle, such as highlighting, that I don’t take advantage of. Like you, I’m also (unpleasantly) surprised whenever there’s no Kindle version of a book available. How is that possible?
Especially if it’s a new book – I mean, come on publishers!!!
Our reading habits are surprisingly similar, ebooks for fiction and print for non-fiction. When the Kindle ereader first came out, I traveled frequently for work and carrying hefty loads of books to not only enjoy on international flights but to sustain me for several weeks in non-English speaking countries was painful. I paid US $400 for the first Kindle and have purchased several versions since. Like you, I have 1000+ books on Kindle and loaded bookshelves in every room of my home, though I have donated most of the fiction that I can replace on Kindle (if I still want a copy) to a home for low-income elderly or handicapped residents.
I didn’t warm up to audio books until the Kindle Fire immersion reading, where you can buy the audio for a credit or reduced rate to follow along as you read the print. I find that once I’ve read a book I enjoyed, I can also listen to it in my car on long drives. When Kindle began, Amazon seemed to be making an effort to work on acquiring very popular author backlists, or those deceased, but now they seem to be concentrating on current and future releases exclusively.. Perhaps dealing with heirs or publishers who didn’t have digital rights because ereaders weren’t anticipated is a bigger headache than Amazon wants to take on. It is sad.
In terms of the large backlist authors have, Amazon was able to pick up some estates while the traditional publishers were resisting digital – but now they know they’re sitting on assets, those estates aren’t selling! I think they will all make it onto digital eventually!
Joanna, your video is wonderful. There must be something about addicted readers because my habits are similar to yours. I no longer read on my Kindle PaperWhite- I lost my charger and have not bothered to replace it. I do read on the iPad sometimes. But mostly I read on my phone. It’s light and surprisingly easy to view for reading in bed.
I’ve started giving away my print book collection, a large number of mystery series. It’s difficult to let them go, but I need space in my office for writing. I keep telling myself that I’m releasing them to new readers, and the workers at Goodwill are buying whole bags as they unpack our car, so I feel a little better. Like you, I’m keeping some art books like Hiroshige’s Floating World, my collection of Italo Calvino, large pop-up books, and some of the odd little pre-WWI fiction books I picked up second hand, especially those with fly leaf illustrations or maps. I’m now at the replacing series on Kindle stage, but am intimidated by the cost of duplicating my print library.
I find books when Amazon pings me for new releases from favorite authors. I am reading the most recent book in both of your series, Alan Brady’s Flavia De Luce books and Craig Johnson’s Longmire series. I also pick up books recommended by other authors. I love the recommendations on Google Plus. I am bad at Twitter and only use GoodReads for the daily quotes.
I did not like Kindle Unlimited, because it seemed to restrict your ability to build a library.
I have just started reviewing books that move me in some way. I have been using Amazon reviews, because I know that those are important for discoverability. I might start using GoodReads based on your recommendation.
My biggest gripes as a reader are writers who do not maintain consistency with their own rules or who disrespect groups of people. I don’t object to a character with ugly views, as long as it is clearly the character and not the author.
I hate when books are unavailable in eBook format. And in the rare case when part of a book is missing, I really get frustrated.
But for the most part, I love reading.
Thanks Cathy, and I agree that reading on the phone becomes the new normal once you get used to it – but I love the e-ink aspect of the Paperwhite in bed. And I do get distracted on my phone – twitter is too close! Thanks for trying out my books as well, and for adding some others you enjoy – it’s so important to keep the eco-system going through reviews and recommendations.
I like this comment “I did not like Kindle Unlimited, because it seemed to restrict your ability to build a library.”
Maybe that’s also why I didn’t like it – it seemed to restrict me, and I hate restrictions!
On Kindle you can also highlight. Thank you Joanna for your recommendation for The Beam in your email – I had the feeling it would be nice and so far it’s very interesting.
By the way, you say you buy through Twitter too – does that include only recommendations by the people you follow or paid advertising on Twitter? I am curious because some companies’profiles offer paid advertising to their large followers which I have always wondered if it’s worthy.
I pretty much get recommendations from people I am connected with on Twitter – or when I check people’s profiles I find something I like. Not from promoted tweets so far at least!
Truly fascinating, Joanna. Especially from the point of view of someone sitting here surrounded by books. I could build a nuclear shelter with my hardcovers alone, and some sort of interesting extension with the softbacks.
Thing is, I fell in love with books (and magazines) as a child and I’ve never really fallen out of love. Coupled with that, I have a deep and abiding love of history – especially military history – and that has led me to books that are often highly illustrated, particularly with uniform studies and maps. Ah, maps, I love them, and military history really makes full use of them. I even draw my own, some for the magazine I edit, some for the books I write, and some completely imaginary. Atlases are a thing of joy for me – but they don’t work on a Kindle!
And cookery books. I do like a nicely designed cookery book, Heck, I’m salivating even thinking about them. Am I weird?
But I’m no luddite. I started producing PDFs of my own waaaaaayyyyyyyyy back in the mid 1990s, when they got the same response from my clients as websites: “what’s one of those, and why on earth would I ever want one?” I started selling PDF copies of my magazine back in 2006, and when my first book was published by a traditional publisher in 2013 I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to discover that they had a policy of delaying the Kindle/iBook version by six months.
Duh. Why? Their fear is that releasing Kindle too soon would mean a loss of sales of the hard copies. Really? Interestingly, the way it’s turned out is that many of my readers have bought the hard copy AND the digital version.
And you’re right about fiction. With very few exceptions (which tend to be titles with sentimental value, or those where the publisher or printer went to special lengths to use beautiful typography, or to include illustrations), the vast majority of my fiction collection I now realise I would happily give up and replace with Kindle or iBooks. In fact, watching your little video may well have given me the impetus to go ahead and do that as my first big clearout of the year.
Incidentally, no wonder I think of you as ‘bouncy’ as a person, because when you were picking up those great big books, you actually *were* bouncing! I take it you sit on one of those Swiss ball things, or is your middle name Zebedee? 😀
Hi Henry, yes, I sit on a swiss ball to work 🙂 I was having chronic back pain 2 years ago and after lots of scans and tests, there was nothing wrong. The physio suggested a swiss ball and within 2 weeks the pain was 90% reduced! So now I am sold on them and also do back stretches while working – as well as bouncing. Super fun!
I can see that history books with maps would be better in print – and also some cookery books – although there are some amazing apps with salivating pics 🙂 Happy digital fiction 2015!
I don’t really read for pleasure these days so I’m an incredibly fussy reader when I do, and I only read indie books on kindle. The vast majority of my reading is for my indie book review blog which means that I finish everything I start, no matter how much it drives me mad! I love books and I always have, I was very much a bookworm as a kid. I focused much more on non-fiction in sixth form and uni, but the kindle allowed me to come back into fiction again.
Full details here: http://shenhart.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/my-reading-habits/
Thanks for sharing in detail on your blog – I think this is a great meme and so interesting from a writer’s perspective as well as a readers! Like you, I enjoy supernatural thrillers and I will always pick up a thriller if it has certain keywords in the blurb – ancient manuscripts, dark powers and the like!
Great post, Joanna! I too am addicted to my Kindle Paperwhite, which I bought as soon as i came out to replace my original Kindle, which I loved but lacked the backlight. I got fed up with the little clip-on torch gadget dropping off, and the upgrade was totally worth it!
Like you, I read fiction in e-format as first choice, for several reasons: portability (I travel a lot but also like to just have a book in my handbag wherever I go should an unexpected reading opportunity arise!); lightweight (I have rheumatoid arthritis and my hands ache if I hold open a print book for too long, particularly paperbacks where you have to apply pressure to keep them open); and cost (I can afford far more books at e-prices than if I bought everything in print!) My only gripe is that it makes it difficult to support my local independent bookshop, as I can’t buy ebooks there – so I try to compensate by buying print books as birthday and Christmas presents for friends and relations! I do also own a lot of print books, not least because friends and relations often buy me books as presents too!
I’m therefore always adding bookshelves to my house, even though I rehome a lot of books via the “Little Free Library” in my front garden! (More about that here: http://authordebbieyoung.com/2014/10/09/books-are-my-scarecrows-bag/)
But for non-fiction books, I much prefer print, so that I can have them at hand to dip into easily and to find what I’m looking for quickly. If it’s a good reference book, I know I’ll want to refer to again and again, rather than just reading it sequentially once only, and even if I highlight an e-book as I go through, I can never find things as easily as in print.
How do I find books? If indie author friends have written something I think I’ll like, I’ll try to support them. I don’t seek out free downloads, but if a friend is running one, I’ll do a download because it helps them get their numbers up. I often catch an alluring snippet of a book on BBC Radio 4, and have made some great discoveries that way. I also look out for recommendations from my local bookseller.
In addition, I review professionally for several organisations – HNS, Vine Leaves Literary Journal, Awesome Indies, and Today’s Child magazine. For the first of these, I have to pick a book from their lists, which is great, because it makes me read outside my comfort zone, and again, I’ve made some really enjoyable discoveries. For Today’s Child, I get to call the shots, picking a different theme for each issue – a great excuse to enjoy children’s books, which I have yet to grow out of!
When it comes to reviewing, I didn’t let the sockpuppet fiasco deter me – in fact, it strengthened my resolve to carry on, as I knew I was behaving ethically. I therefore review just about every book I read on Amazon, and I put some on Goodreads if I have time, but I’ve never enjoyed using the Goodreads site. I also try to put as many as I can on my own website, usually including more detail than on Amazon (e.g. things they wouldn’t allow!) As an author myself, I know how good it feels to get a new review, and I like to make other authors’ days that way – but also I do it because being a habitual reviewer makes me read in a different way and hones my skill as a writer too. Here’s a link to a post that explains more about why I think every writer ought to also be a reviewer – even if they never share their reviews publicly!
http://authordebbieyoung.com/reviews/
Thanks for another great post, Joanna!
Thanks Debbie, and it’s interesting how you also get book recommendations from audio – I increasingly listen to podcasts at the gym and pretty much always download the person’s book if they are an interesting guest.
It’s great you review so much on Amazon – I just had so many of mine deleted by Amazon that I just do them on Goodreads now. I only write good reviews as I only finish books I consider good 🙂
For some reason I was an ebook snob for a long time and stuck to my paperbacks. Then when some of my friends started self publishing on Kindle I bought their books and became hooked. I still read paperbacks but I read more ebooks – and I find I read more in general because I can sync my reading between devices. I read genres I never would have considered before because spending a pound or two on an ebook doesn’t seem like wasted money if I don’t enjoy it. Whereas £7 or £8 for a paperback is more of a risky outlay. The lovely surprise has been that I’ve enjoyed loads of books in genres I never would have considered before. I read more than I ever have and keep an eye on Kindle / ebook deals. Reading like this has expanded my imagination for my own writing too. Great post.
I agree that the low prices and ease of sampling means it’s very easy to try new things. I still find myself saying “I don’t read zombie books” but actually, I have read a number of zombie books since trying some on the Kindle 🙂
I bought a Kindle when we moved to Europe in suitcases and I had to leave my book collection in Hawaii–the second time in ten years (the first time was when I left my books in California when we moved to Hawaii). I love the Kindle!
I buy more books, more often, than I have in years. I find books all kinds of different ways–authors I love (first and foremost), topics that interest me, especially for nonfiction, Also Boughts for books I like, books from people who have blogs I like (especially humor blogs), books friends recommend. Books, books, books!
Thanks for sharing your reading habits!
I still read a little more than half of my books in paper format. I prefer paper when I’m sitting on my couch at home or lying in bed, and having a paperback hit my face when I fall asleep hurts less than a Kindle does. 🙂 However, reading on my Kindle or the Kindle app on my phone is super convenient when I’m commuting or when I have a few minutes to kill while waiting in line.
By the way, if you like Jonathan Maberry and read YA, I highly recommend his Rot & Ruin series.
Hi Joanna,
Great post! The kindle paperwhite has been something I’ve wanted to purchase for a while now, but since I moved to Istanbul, I haven’t been able to get my hands on one yet. I primarily read ebooks on a combination of my iPhone or iPad on the kindle app (for the synching!) One the go, it’s the iPhone and when home I prefer the luxury of the larger screen. I, like you, am a serial highlighter and love the ease of which I can recall key passages and information from books I’m using for research or simply writing that inspires me. You should know I’m obsessed with understanding how readers are discovering books these days. I’ve learned by conducting the #bookdiscoverysurvey that you helped design the questionnaire for last year, that face to face is still the primary way books are recommended – it’s certainly true for me, I’m always talking about books I’m reading. I’ve gotten much more into goodreads as a discovery source for new books and just wish listed at least 10 books from the 2014 goodreads awards that came out last week.
One interesting tidbit from the #bookdiscoverysurvey was that in terms of trust, social media recommendations ranked last in influencing future book reading, is that true for you as well? Why do you think this is the case?
Thanks Omar – and in terms of the last question – it depends what you define as social media. I get a lot of recommendations from podcasts, or from people I follow and trust on Twitter because of their podcast. But that’s mainly for non-fiction which is more predictable than fiction reading taste IMHO
Thanks for this! It was cool to see your reading habits, as well as Hugh’s when he posted his. I decided to jump in and post mine as well. We have some similar issues 🙂
http://www.spajonas.com/2015/01/12/reading-habits/
There’s definitely a theme in the moving house aspect of keeping print between us all – and hence my point on demographics. People are moving to smaller places, so most will need to downsize book collections eventually!
“Creative capitalization is also a big turn-off for me” – that made me LOL – I find too much italics is also a turnoff and sometimes books seem to do that for pages and pages when it’s a diary entry or a different POV. Definitely a no-no!
It’s fabulous to see a writer talk about their reading habits. It’s always a shock when I see a writer’s post on FB saying they don’t read. It makes no sense, and yet I see it over and over again.
I think books are part of my DNA. I’ve always read everything and anything as long as it’s been well written and holds my interest. Pre-ebooks, my library was 7,000+ tomes, and we did have to buy a bigger house to accommodate them. When the crash of ’08 came and we drastically downsized, I had thousands of books upstairs but no way of bringing them downstairs without triggering a heart attack. Large, flat produce boxes seemed the answer. Loaded them up and sent them flying down the stairs, but that was a disaster, books flying everywhere. I needed sometime large and heavy to hold them in place. My butt fit the ticket. I was so proud of my cleverness I couldn’t wait to show my daughter my discovery. Hubris took over, I was careless, and that poor child watched as her mother slammed into a wall with a box of book pinning her in place. That cost a small fortune in therapy for the girl.
I now have my first generation Kindle, Kindle Fire, PaperWhite, iPad , Iphone 6+and my first iPhone 3 for audiobooks and a cheap alarm clock I can throw across the room if I’m so inclined. I buy from all the vendors and will download free books. As a writer myself, I feel no obligation to support writers. It’s their obligation to support me as a reader who is giving them the one thing I’ll never be able to get back again–my time. If a writer shows appropriate respect for that most precious resource, I’ll buy everything they write, even if I don’t read it. I expect nothing less from myself as a writer and always write “from the other side of the page.” For the classics, I use a speed reading app (the speed training turned off) for the thousands of classics I can access through the program. I also like the iPad for cooking. I find I set the oven on fire far less if I have the instructions right in front of me, if I don’t skip over to read a bit of fiction.
I still love cloth books and bookstores. Old habits die hard; first loves are never forgotten. For research I still rely on big, luscious books and had a truckload delivered the other day. I now use Dragon voice recognition for taking notes from cloth and keep them organized in OneNote so I can synch across all devices (come on, Scrivener!). I’ll also buy some fiction in cloth for the feel of the deckle edge and the weight of it across my lap, as well as the investment. I have some books I bought for 10USD that are now worth 7,000USD. Can’t beat that with a stick or a stock or a mutual fund.
I think I’d panic if I didn’t have reading material on me at all times in one form or another, and I don’t know why. I don’t question why. It’s futile. Thanks for opening the door for a discussion on this obsession/fetish/delight. It’s always a joy to know one is not alone, especially when neighbors and friends think one is a bit peculiar.
Great point Cyd – “As a writer myself, I feel no obligation to support writers. It’s their obligation to support me as a reader who is giving them the one thing I’ll never be able to get back again–my time.”
I will often buy a book from a writer I know and like as a person, but I may not read it 🙂 unless it suits my reading choice.
also, “I think I’d panic if I didn’t have reading material on me at all times” – I never feel any panic as I ALWAYS have something to read on me 🙂 My husband and I were discussing this the other day – there’s a business book out called “Never eat Alone” – and as introverts and bookworms, our goal is to ‘always eat alone’ as then we get to read!
I must come visit your antique books – they sound amazing!
My door is always open 🙂 What a treat that would be.
Brilliant, Joanna! It’s great to see how different people read when there’s such a wide expanse of possibilities with the move to digital.
Personally, I only read on my iPhone, and almost always in the iBooks app. I recently upgraded to iPhone 6, and one of my main reasons was that I hoped the bigger screen would be better for reading. It is, and I’m almost convinced I’ll get the Plus version next year for an even bigger screen.
I chose the iBooks app because I like the aesthetics, particularly because of the infinite scrolling mode. I’ve always found the Kobo app not to be very user-friendly, with a bad UI, and I don’t like that the Kindle app doesn’t have infinite scrolling and no epub support. One thing I will say for the Kindle app though is I do like to see which parts of the book other people have highlighted, which iBooks doesn’t offer.
I’ve never really thought about where I find books, but it’s probably mainly on Twitter, especially for non-fiction (mainly politics, philosophy, and history for me). I follow a few writers and independent publishers I really like, so I always see when they share new and interesting books. If I’m researching a particular topic, I’ll do a wide google search, then narrow down my options by looking at reviews.
For fiction, it’s still probably mainly on Twitter, though seeing which books my friends are interested in, instead of writers or publishers I have little personal relationship with. I also get some in-person recommendations, especially for fiction, and I occasionally go to bookstores just to browse, but I almost never buy physical books anymore. If a book is only available in a physical format, I’ll usually just let it drop down my reading list, or find another book on the topic which is available as an ebook. Physical books are inconvenient.
When it comes to pricing, I’m pretty open. I prefer not to pay more than $10, but if there’s a book I really want I’ll get it regardless. If the book isn’t an urgent read, I’ll wait and read something else to see if it gets reduced. I try to buy books directly from the author or publisher if they’re independent, as that usually means I’ll get the ebook in multiple DRM-free formats and there isn’t a middleman taking a cut. However, if it’s a big publisher, even buying direct will usually only get me a single format with DRM, so I’ll buy from iBooks for convenience.
Looking to the future, I am intrigued by ebook subscription services, though I’m not sure they yet have the books I’d be interested in reading. I’ve considered an Oyster subscription, but last I talked to them they were still US-only, so I’m content to wait and check it out when they finally expand internationally. I do think they’ll grow a lot in the next few years, just as subscription services have for video and music.
I’m not sure if you listen to a lot of music, Joanna, but I got Spotify about six months ago and I love it. I don’t care about owning digital licenses as long as I can pay a fee to access a huge library on-demand. As someone who used to buy 3-4 albums each month, Spotify is saving me a ton of money, and making it incredibly easy for me to discover new music more easily than ever before because I’m not constantly hitting a paywall or having to jump from one site to another to try to listen to a new artist’s music.
The future is so exciting! Thanks for sharing your reading habits, and encouraging this conversation.
Thanks Paris and you nailed it with “Physical books are inconvenient” – I totally agree and I much prefer highlighting on Kindle to my old way of notetaking in print (I was a corner folder!)
In terms of Spotify, I’m not a massive music fan – I’m still listening to tracks from when I was 15 🙂 but that’s precisely the difference I see with music. You often listen to the same thing repeatedly as it brings a certain mood – whereas how many books do you read that many times? (although my husband has read LOTR like 28 times or something!)
In the end, like most things, I think it will come down to cost-benefit. Is it cheaper and more convenient to buy ebooks or subscribe to a reading service?
I’m not sure if your last point was in reference to subscription services, but I think it’s actually a good argument for them. If people only read a book once, I see more of a reason for subscription services than purchasing. Assuming it’s cheaper per book to subscribe to a service than purchase, which really depends on how much the person reads, and you’re only planning to read the book once, why buy it? There would be a reason to buy books you plan to read multiple times, as cost per read would be reduced, but if you’re only planning to read the book once, it seems like subscription services would be the better economic choice, depending on how many books you read in a month.
I hope that makes sense.
Also, your husband sounds awesome. Admittedly, I’ve probably only read LOTR 5 or 6 times, but he has a headstart. :p
In the past twelve months I’ve written seven books of fiction (Thaddeus Murfee legal thrillers) and read maybe three novels. I find that I read much better when I’m playing the audio and following along the ebook, all on my iPad with the Kindle app. Right now I’m reading one of Michael Connelly’s Bosch books and loving how I can see the author’s training as a newspaperman in his writing. So I need to “see” another writer’s sentences, but there’s something about hearing them at the same moment that really gets them inside my head. Probably a learning disorder of some sort, never diagnosed, finally resolved with digital devices. Oh well. Interesting blog post; I read most of whatever you publish here. Please keep it up!
That’s fascinating John – there has been some research on ebooks with dyslexia and how it makes a huge difference. Thanks so much for sharing!