How I'm reading now

I love reading, but I also love books, their feel, look, heft, smell, pretty much everything about them.  Consequently, when I decided to do my six-week sabbatical trip with just a small carry-on suitcase and a backpack, I was worried.  I knew I'd read a fair number of books during the trip, but I also simply could not carry many books with me.  I opted finally to take a tablet and read only ebooks.  I did not take a single paper book with me.

I enjoyed the experience, which taught me that I could indeed go a long time without reading a physical book.

I still, though, prefer reading paper books.  In fact, I prefer hardbacks over paperbacks.  My next two trips were short enough that I could afford to carry two hardbacks and still fit everything I needed into the small carry-on suitcase and the backpack, so I did.

Today, I packed for two weeks at the beach, a time during which I typically read a fair number of books.  Space is free--multiple vehicles are heading there together--but carrying a lot of books up and down stairs is a hassle, and I now know I could get along just fine with ebooks.

So what am I doing?

Packing a big bag full of heavy, paper, glorious, lovely books. 

I'm sure I will have trips in which I take only a tablet--the upcoming journey to the U.K. for World Fantasy Con 2013 springs to mind--but for now, I'm traveling with paper books whenever I reasonably can.

Thoughts after living without paper books for six weeks

As I've mentioned in other posts, my six-week sabbatical trip to Europe was the first time in my memory that I have gone on a trip without any paper books.  Instead, I read ebooks on a seven-inch tablet.  At the end of that time, my feelings were decidedly mixed.

On the plus side, I comfortably read quite a few books from my enormous, house-sized, to-read stack.  I had no problems with screen clarity, the weight of the tablet, battery life, or any other aspect of living ebook-only.  When I read a novel and wanted to immediately read a related one, I just bought the new one online and started reading it. 

On the minus side, I missed paper books.  I've been reading exclusively on paper since my return, and I definitely prefer paper to any electronic medium.  I love the look, feel, heft--pretty much everything about books. 

Except their weight while traveling.  I do not love that.

My conclusion is one that wastes money:  On any trip where weight is a factor, I'm going to continue to travel with only ebooks.  I'm also going to continue to buy paper books at my normal ferocious rate, so all my ebooks will be duplicates of paper books I already own.  If I buy an ebook, I'll also buy its paper counterpart.

Sue me.  I love books.