Benefits of Physical Books
Now with the introduction to the topic of “which is better, physical or digital books?” out of the way, lets review the pros and cons of physical books.
Physical Book Pros:
Perusing shelves or reading surrounded by books is a singular pleasure.
They don’t need batteries or power.
Fairly portable in small numbers. Book bags are sporty!
Bookmarks are fun!
Pleasing to the eye. What true reader doesn’t love seeing shelves and shelves of books to peruse? Our new house had a library room as a key, non-reducible element in its design. It is one of the two top-most adored and commented on rooms in the house. When guests disappear, I know where to find them.
Emotional attachment. I get it, paper books is what I grew up with and have a ton of wonderful memories around the perusal, acquisition, reading and sharing of books. The attachment is so strong for some that it is nearly an article of faith. Some folks in my Reformed Christian circles just presume with no discussion or pondering before answering the physical vs. digital question, “Physical books, of course (bless your ignorant e-heart). Gutenberg predates Luther and the reformation for cryin’ out loud! To deny the superiority of physical books is anti-Christian!” I’m sure there were those opposed to moving from scrolls to bound-page books as well. Does the pencil vs. pen debate still rage as it did in my youth?
These books by Tolkien & White are only really valuable to me as they are certainly not on any collector’s list.
Sentimental value of having a book passed down from previous generations. Having a Bible your grandparents owned, marked up and wrote in is a genuine gem. Also, having your first copy of immensely loved books such as my Hobbit - Lord of the Rings 4 book set is a nice piece of nostalgia to see on my shelves and warm my heart.
1st Editions matter if you are a serious collector.
Dust jackets on hardbacks can be quite attractive.
Built in fidgeter. I like to flick through the pages ahead or behind where I’m currently reading. Unfortunately, the sound tends to drive my wife crazy.
Y’all can probably add to this list with similar items that are particular to you such as my “built in fidgeter” example. Paper books, having a high-touch factor, that for readers becomes akin to music in locking in memories, emotions, thoughts. I think everyone has had that experience of hearing a song and instantly remembering another time when that song was playing and the events around it, be they happy, sad or just nostalgic. Readers have similar experiences with books.
Perusing my library and seeing a particular book can instantly put me back to when I first read it. Some, like the Lord of the Rings and Dune put me back in my pre-teen years and having my mind seemingly literally expand with the ideas, virtues, beauty and terror as well as getting my first taste of masterful world-building by consummate story tellers. Another example would be either James White’s The Potter’s Freedom or R.C. Sproul’s The Last Days According to Jesus, both of which in nearly back-to-back sequence, were used by God 15-ish years ago to change me from a Christian with little clue about being a Christian to a Christian seeing all of life as a Christian with all of it under the Kingship of Jesus Christ in His Kingdom, here and now. Truly life trajectory changing books that make me joyful of God’s work in my life every time I see and recommend them.
Books are important to me, but it is the words in the books that make them valuable, not the paper, pretty cover art, binding, etc. Sure some books rise to the level of art or historic value or even artistic value. The Book of Kells comes to mind. At that point, those become physical “items”, no longer really books as we use and consume them. Being physical books of paper, ink and maybe some board, they have constraints. Let’s look at the cons of physical books now.
Physical Book Cons:
They need light. You can read them during daylight hours with no extraneous power source, but after that you need energy source of some kind and a good one if you value your eyesight.
You need two hands free. Even for small paperbacks and with large hands, I’ve never figured out a way to hold a book and turn pages with just one hand.
Bulk & weight. Some hardbacks are heavy all on their own and at least I have to be in just the right position to be able to hold and read the book for several hours. Books add up and require a lot of space in a hurry.
Lending = Get a new one. My experience is that they will lose it or not have the same respect for physical books that I do. Leaving a book laying flat, open to where you are reading is an abuse of a book! Hence, I lend with the anticipation I’ll never get it back. Replacing books is expensive.
Markups are forever be they highlights, underlines, margin notes, folded corners, etc. Who enjoys reading a book all marked up by the previous reader? I don’t want to be prejudiced on what is important by someone else and I hate the distraction of scribbles.
Easy to damage or destroy and “backups” are expensive and returns us to “bulk & weight” issue already noted. Who’s got room for two libraries, eh?
Dust jackets are a pain to deal with when reading as the book slips around in your hand. Lots of people don’t like the look of them on shelves and take them off. Tip: Save them if you do remove them as a books value to a collector drops precipitously if the dust jacket is missing.
Goodreads is a solid service for inventorying your physical and digital books.
Inventory tracking. It took me several weeks to inventory my physical book library so I can quickly search while I’m away from home and prevent buying an unnecessary duplicate. That was happening a lot and getting expensive. On the other hand, it took me zero time to inventory my ebooks as they self-inventory for searchability. You can review my inventory, what I’m reading, what I’ve read, etc. on Goodreads (Tim Renshaw’s “stuff”), which I recommend for your own inventorying needs, physical and digital.
There may be other cons, but they generally fall into the category of all physical items; they take up space and they can be destroyed. Being made of particularly fragile materials, they are susceptible to everything from humidity to fire. Time is also not friendly and entropy ain’t no joke. Some of my paperbacks and hardbacks are old enough that they are in no state to survive even one reading without falling apart.
Yet, as I’ve hopefully made clear, they are valuable on a variety of levels. Never let us lose sight however, that the items themselves can wither and fade, but the ideas contained therein carry forward for good or ill. Only one book however, remains eternal and this one you should have in paper and digital and mental and spiritual, the Word of God. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away,” promises Jesus, the Word made flesh, in Matthew 24:35. Grab that off the shelf, or click it on your screen, but read it, study it, highlight it, note it, memorize it, for it is the Word of God in the Words of God.
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)