Do you still buy physical books?

[Sweetpea]

Hmm, the last paperbook I bought was from Unbound.com. Also got an epub with that supported book

[Flaneurette]

I just ordered a paperback that I can't find an ebook version of- well, except a loan on Internet Archive and its too hard to read on my iPad. Aside from books I have bought for my kids because they don't like ebooks lately this is the first one since last November. The one I bought last year was a reference book and also doesn't exist in an e version.

[HLS]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

Based on the long break between the first book and the rest, I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be a standalone novel, and then he came up with some more ideas. And, it's pretty obvious that after the 3rd book, he just said "MOAR SERIES".

I may have liked the series if I read his other books first since several of his books tie into the dark tower series. The ending of dark tower was pure madness. I almost slammed my ereader against the wall lol

[HLS]

I managed to get the last copy of the special edition Fourth Wing at Barnes and Noble. Gosh its beautiful. These special editions are pretty. i also got HP LOvecraft collectors edition with the silver edges. 1097 pages lol

[HLS]

Lord. I bought 15 hardbacks this month only to realize I have no bookshelves lol back to ebooks i go lol. I have no regrets tho

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

One of my somewhat distant relations is still very upset that the local library still has fantasy books and allows children (her's are 13 and 16) to borrow them. Her latest polemic was about how her children having read Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles caused them to turn away from the church. The library encouraged them by allowing them to borrow ebooks so she did not realize what they were reading in time.

It didn't help when the older child quoted “That God is in truth the sort of bloodthirsty paranoid who would rend to bits forty-two children for the crime of sassing one of his priests.” and asked her to justify her "God is love" mantra.

I have to read this. Sounds like a good series.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by haertig

I just had a nostalgic thought about physical books. When our kids were young, we told them that if they wanted a book, we would buy it for them. We would make family trips to Barnes & Noble and those were always very fun times for our family. The kids were always very appreciative and all smiles over their new books. And us parents were all smiles buying those books.

Things just aren't quite as fun with digital books. We still buy books for the kids. But of the digital variety the vast majority of the time. It costs a pretty penny to ship physical books (or anything else, for that matter) to one of the kids who lives in Hawaii.

So while I can honestly say that I very rarely buy physical books these days, there is a downside of not doing that that just struck me as I was reading this thread and had my nostalgic moment. I kind of miss those physical books and the family bookstore trips of years past...

I used to really like browsing bookstores. I did it on my own. It was rather fun.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by DNSB

very upset that the local library still has fantasy books and allows children (her's are 13 and 16) to borrow them.

Enchanted Forest Chronicles caused them to turn away from the church.

asked her to justify her "God is love" mantra.

It appears to me that her children were never "in the church" to begin with. They may have been forced to go to church, but they never understood/believed what they were being taught. And now they are rebelling and trying to find a reason. The fact that they found their reason - in a fantasy book - is what makes me think they were never part of the church in the first place.

This is somewhat normal for children. Parenting is not easy. The problem is not the library having a book that gave them a "reason" to question. The problem is that they were searching for a reason in the first place (again, normal for children, so not necessarily a bad thing, just something that every parent has to deal with).

While I sympathize with this relative's trials in parenting, I do not support the proposed "fix" of not allowing libraries to loan fantasy books to children. I do support keeping things obviously not appropriate for children "behind the counter" (like pornography), but looking to ban fantasy books because of parents religious beliefs is a perfect example of "the slippery slope".

[Sirtel]

My parents didn't try to instil any kind of beliefs (religious or otherwise) in their children. They let us seek and develop our own, for which I'm immensely grateful to them.

[FrenchBookworm]

I still buy physical books.

- If I step foot in an independent bookstore, I buy a book (or something else) to support small booksellers.

- When I go to the UK or Ireland (once or twice a year), I love browsing in bookstores and I will but at least one or two books.

- If I like the book as a physical object (for example, I love Persephone Books, Vintage Classics, Oxford World Classics but NOT the latest incarnation of the Penguin Classics).

- If I loved a book I read on my Kindle, I will sometimes buy a physical copy as well.

- I buy bilingual books: one page in the original language, the other page in my native French (I'm not sure you can do that on an e-reader, except maybe a Kindle Scribe or similar devices).

[neil_swann80]

The only physical books I buy for myself (i buy lots of books to gift) tend to be very old and beautifully bound. They just don't make books like they used to.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by FrenchBookworm

- I buy bilingual books: one page in the original language, the other page in my native French (I'm not sure you can do that on an e-reader, except maybe a Kindle Scribe or similar devices).

It's not common, but not unheard of - I have a few ebook anthologies of Urdu poetry like this.

[ekbell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have to read this. Sounds like a good series.

It is a good series but if you expect an anti-religious slant you will be disappointed.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

It's not common, but not unheard of - I have a few ebook anthologies of Urdu poetry like this.

How do they pull that off? Are the books fixed format?

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by rkomar

How do they pull that off? Are the books fixed format?

I don't know much about ebooks work, but I assume so. I just checked and only one actually has 2 versions side by a side - a collection of works by Faiz Ahmad Faiz - Nastaliq on one side, devanagari on the other