# Do you still buy print books even though you have a Kindle?



## joanhallhovey (Nov 7, 2010)

Just taking a toll here, since Oprah says she still buys the physical book.  I'll be receiving my own new Kindle Christmas morning, and wonder how I'll take to reading on it.  I resisted for a long time.  But since my own books are now on Kindle, I feel almost obligated.  But excited too. The idea of never having to be without a book is enticing.  Within a few seconds you can download and be reading that book.  I'm interested in your experience.

Joan Hall Hovey


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

I haven't bought a print book in months.  Just ebooks for me now.


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## KBR (Nov 18, 2010)

I do not buy print books anymore. If a book is not available for the Kindle, I won't give it a second thought. It's just so much more convenient for me to read the book on Kindle. I can read multiple books at once without having a large stack of books on the end table. When I'm reading for personal enjoyment only, I'm generally reading a novel and a few nonfiction books at any one time. Kindle simplifies that. I can throw the Kindle in a bag without accidentally tearing a page or bending a few pages the wrong way, which can happen with paperbacks.

When I'm reading a book for professional reasons, the ability to highlight, make notes, and retrieve all of those notes and highlights in a few seconds saves me a lot of time.

When my Kindle was new, I did occasionally still buy print editions. Eventually, the benefits of reading on the Kindle cured me of that.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

I haven't bought a print book since I got my Kindle, and I doubt I will.  I got sent a paper review copy of a book last week and I read it, but I would have MUCH rather had it on my Kindle.


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## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

I still buy print books for writers I collect. I rarely pass up the chance to get a signed book. And if I can get a book for less than the e-copy, I'll get the book. But...99% of my reading is done on an e-reader.


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

I haven't bought a DTB book in over a year. The thought of it gives me the "willies". lol. I'd much rather read on my K3 

Sandy


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## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

I have bought one photography / coffee table book and books for my son (my daughter will ONLY read on Kindle - the 7-year-old snob that she is). 

But yeah, I buy pretty much exclusively Kindle. I do wince when I have to pay more for the ebook than I would a paperback, but thems the breaks, right? I figure it all evens out with the freebies that the Indie folks throw my way and the $.99 and $2.99 books I pick up.

I buy way more than I read though... LOL. I have a problem. Always have, but at least now it's "digital clutter" and not real clutter. I've been slowly getting rid of my print books. I'll decide to read one, start it and then buy it on Kindle because I prefer that format. *shrug*


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## lib2b (Apr 6, 2010)

I have a Nook instead, but I do still occasionally buy/read DTBs.  If the price for a hardcover is less than the price of the e-book, I'll probably still get the hardcover.  Plus, I read a lot of children's and YA that aren't available as e-books for whatever reason.  The majority of my reading these days is definitely on my Nook though.


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## M.S. Verish (Feb 26, 2010)

I (Matt) still buy physical books when I can find a bookstore. Here in Cleveland almost every single bookstore has closed down. Truly sad.  

Something about the smell and feel of paper...

Slowly chaining over to Kindle only.


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## Blodwyn (Oct 13, 2010)

Once I get my Kindle for Christmas, I probably won't buy another physical book if I can avoid it. One of my reasons is that I'm a graduate student, and I will likely be going on postdoc next year, and then looking for a job. So - two moves in two years. I have been moving enough that I want to reduce and/or eliminate what I have to haul around with me from place to place.


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## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

I've had a Kindle (first K1, now K3) for over 2.5 years and in that time have bought one physical book. That one book is obscure non-fiction I got for research for my own books. I do get library books any time a book isn't available for Kindle or the price is too high, so I still read paper books, but I don't buy them.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

I buy lots for gifts and the occasional book with pretty pictures for myself. I'm in Amazon Vine and so those are all print.


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## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

At this point, I do buy a lot of physical books, but the majority are for my kids--who don't have Kindles. 

I also have a lot of writer friends, and I enjoy getting hard copies signed by them. 

That said, I'm leaning more and more toward e-versions. I read books faster on the Kindle and I love not having to cram my bookshelves fuller (or, worse, have to get rid of a book to make room for new ones).


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

2+ years of Kindles = 2+ years of no DTBs.. although I still buy Quilting Magazines. I did buy 1 DTB in a bargain bin about 2 months after buying my Kindle.. and not only have I not read it, I have no idea where it is anymore.. for over a year it sat on the corner of my desk... but.. it's not there now.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Hey, this is a perfect topic for the Book Corner (or it could be Let's Talk Kindle, but I think it's Book Corner material).  So, I'm going to move it...please continue the discussion. (I'll leave a marker in the Cafe so you can find it!)

And I only buy ebooks now...except for an occasional quilt book, which are heavy on color pics.

Betsy


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Not only do I not buy physical books, I've been going back and buying Kindle versions of physical books I have in my library that I've not gotten around to reading yet.


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## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

MichelleR said:


> I buy lots for gifts and the occasional book with pretty pictures for myself. I'm in Amazon Vine and so those are all print.


Sad, but I don't take Vine books anymore. I will if it's one I already know I'll want to read... then I buy it via Kindle. I DO take physical kid's books though. I'll review those and then give it to hubby. He's a new elementary teacher and is hurting for books for his classroom.


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## MulliganAl (Nov 11, 2010)

R. Doug said:


> Not only do I not buy physical books, I've been going back and buying Kindle versions of physical books I have in my library that I've not gotten around to reading yet.


LOL, I thought I was the only one that was thinking about doing this.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

CandyTX said:


> Sad, but I don't take Vine books anymore. I will if it's one I already know I'll want to read... then I buy it via Kindle. I DO take physical kid's books though. I'll review those and then give it to hubby. He's a new elementary teacher and is hurting for books for his classroom.


I would love for Vine to allow for a Kindle option -- would make me happy and save someone somewhere some money.


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## StaceyHH (Sep 13, 2010)

Yep. Powell's is across the street from my office. I can't resist.


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## lib2b (Apr 6, 2010)

Blodwyn said:


> Once I get my Kindle for Christmas, I probably won't buy another physical book if I can avoid it. One of my reasons is that I'm a graduate student, and I will likely be going on postdoc next year, and then looking for a job. So - two moves in two years. I have been moving enough that I want to reduce and/or eliminate what I have to haul around with me from place to place.


The moving part is the part that stinks about having a lot of physical books. To solve this problem (sort of) I've only been keep the books that I really love and think I'll really want to read again. I donate the rest to my local library. I've also been borrowing a lot of library books rather than buying if it's a new author or something I know for sure I'll only want to read once.


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## djwv (Aug 31, 2010)

Only if I REALLY want to read it and it's not on Kindle. I've also re-purchased some of my past (physical) favorites on Kindle.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

StaceyHH said:


> Yep. Powell's is across the street from my office. I can't resist.


I still love going to book stores...but if I see if there is a book I want, I check to see if it's on Kindle first...

Betsy


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## Guest (Nov 21, 2010)

I'm very tempted to make a thread called: "Do you still buy Kindles even though you have a Kindle?"


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

foreverjuly said:


> I'm very tempted to make a thread called: "Do you still buy Kindles even though you have a Kindle?"


Yep.. Which is why there are 6 on my account. And I'm looking hard at the refurb DX for my mom...


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## Guest (Nov 21, 2010)

BTackitt said:


> Yep.. Which is why there are 6 on my account. And I'm looking hard at the refurb DX for my mom...


Wow, that's a lot! I'd say Amazon owes you a big hug, if not a few free books.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

ALso have *purchased* (some free) over 1k Kindle books in 2.5 years... It's funny when I need to talk w/Kindle CS, and they start looking at my account... they get even MORE polite than they normally are, and they have never been anything but polite to start..


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## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

foreverjuly said:


> I'm very tempted to make a thread called: "Do you still buy Kindles even though you have a Kindle?"


Yup we have 11 kindles and 4 other devices currently on my account. I have purchased most of those as gifts/loaners. I have 3 more that will be purchased this year. LOL. I obviously have a problem.


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## Addie (Jun 10, 2009)

I do still buy physical books. But it's probably 1 DTB for every 10-20 ebooks. The DTBs I buy either don't have a Kindle version and I want to read them now and wouldn't mind having a physical copy or have a lot of pictures.

And I only have one Kindle. Although, I did buy the K2 and the K3. I gave the K2 to a friend, though.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Only if there's no ebook version, or the Kindle version is significantly more expensive than the currently available print version. If the latter is the case, I vote with my wallet to screw the publisher and buy the book used--no $$ to the publisher that way. Unfortunately, that also means no money to the author, so it's still an imperfect solution. 

I'm pretty tolerant of the whole ebook pricing nonsense, but charging two or three dollars more for the ebook than the current paperback is just utter BS.

I'm also still in the process of replacing most of my physical library with ebooks; as we have a substantial collection, it's going to take a long time to finish that! I have such a hard time letting go of them though. LOL We've started taking paper books down to our local USO at the airport for the troops passing through, and that seems to be a pretty good solution so far.



StaceyHH said:


> Yep. Powell's is across the street from my office. I can't resist.


Lucky you! That'd be impossible for me to resist as well!


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

If there is no kindle version and I want to read the book, I either buy it in paper or borrow the paper book from the library.  I'm currently reading a hardcover from the library that is available for kindle but is $15.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

MulliganAl said:


> LOL, I thought I was the only one that was thinking about doing this.


I'm actually eBaying my DTB that are available on Kindle and slowly but surely replacing them with Kindle versions.


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## Keith Blenman (May 31, 2009)

I would ask if textbooks count, but this past semester I discovered it was only slightly more expensive to get my pathology book on the Kindle than it was a used hardcover. So I went with the Kindle. So ummm... do graphic novels count?


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I pretty much only buy DTB if I have to. 

I've been replacing as many as my DTB as possible. Now that the BRATs are getting old enough for Kindles, I've been replacing some of their books as well (mainly the ones we use for school)


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

No DTB for me since I got my Kobo and now my Kindle. I have a very small house and most of my DTB are in the garage or the attic, so for all practical purposes they don't exist. No more shelf space. I had to read a DTB when my Kobo broke and before I bought a Kindle and it was really unpleasant. It was a long book and very heavy and the type was a bit too small. Luckily it was a short story collection so as soon as I bought a Kindle the DTB went back into a stack by the side of the bed.

I'm reading a similarly-long book on my Kindle now and it's sooo much easier than the DTB!


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

I'm still in a transition phase, but I'm liking reading on a Kindle more and more.


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

MulliganAl said:


> LOL, I thought I was the only one that was thinking about doing this.


Nope, I do this too!


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Aside from the image heavy Photoshop guides I need, I haven't bought a paper book since January.


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## DawnB (Sep 10, 2010)

Since I got my K3 in September, I've only bought 1 physical book, (The Book of Maps: Sacred Books, Volume III by David Michael Slater) because is not available on the Kindle & I when I start a series I have to finish it 

Since buying my Kindle I donated most of my physical books & got Kindle copies, the only physical books I have left are the Harry Potter series & about 10 other books that aren't available on the Kindle (or in any ebook format).


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## pianoforte (Sep 13, 2010)

if only i had the choice. Unfortunately i am buying printed books because of the paltry selection available for the  kindle.
Every single book out a list of around 50 that I wanted to read were unavailable in kindle format. Maybe in around 3-4 years time they may be available.


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## dobes (Feb 22, 2010)

Kindle only since last Christmas, when I got it.  I was never sentimental about paper books - I only wanted the stories inside, and when I was done with that, their paper carcasses filled up all the space in my home too quickly, gathered dust, and were heavy to lug around when I moved. Most of them I knew I wouldn't read again, but I felt bad about throwing away things that had once given me such pleasure!  Because of all that, I had slowed down my reading, but this year I've read just under 60 books on my Kindle and they take up absolutely ZERO room in my house! It's a miracle! And my most recent purchase - Mark Twain's autobiography - is apparently a huge book with tiny print - there are lots of complaints about that on the Amazon website. Not a problem for me on either count! Yay, Kindle!


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## Labrynth (Dec 31, 2009)

In a few cases I will buy the DTB.  I have every book Dean Koontz has put out in his name, the majority of them in Hardcover.  Tho this last time around I got the K book immediately and will wait for the DTB to go on clearance at B&N or something.  So if I've got a collection of them, then I'll probably keep buying them.

The other reason for a DTB is to pass it along.  I will probably buy The Lost Dogs so I can pass it around.  I know I will have a hard time getting thru it the first time around and likely won't read it again.


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## RobertMarda (Oct 19, 2010)

I just went to look at how long I've had my Kindle.  It's only been a month since I bought it.  I thought I'd had it longer than that.

Since getting my Kindle I have been reading more, mainly because I can get new books for little or no money.

I've not bought a print book since getting my Kindle and don't plan to for me unless it is one I want and the print version is cheaper than the e-version.  I am liking more and more reading on the Kindle and being able to carry so many books around all at once.

I'll probably end up buying print books for my children that don't use the Kindle.  My daughter likes to read on it every night.  My boys don't but I think that may be because I haven't found an e-book yet to interest them.


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## Daniel Pyle (Aug 13, 2010)

I bought the DTB version of _Under the Dome_ when it came out because I couldn't wait to read it and it wasn't available as an ebook right away. Other than that, I haven't bought a DTB since February 2009. I love ebooks. Give me content over clutter any day.

I also buy all my music and movies digitally.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I still buy printed books. For general reading, I prefer the Kindle, but there are some things I prefer the printed volume. I recently bought a history of Gretsch Model 6120 guitars... 200 pages and literally hundreds of beautiful color and B&W photos. I just don't see having this on the Kindle. It's the type of book I like to get down from the shelf and just browse through. eReaders are just not that great for just page-flipping through.

Also, I like to read mysteries and science fiction from the Golden Age. These things just aren’t available for the Kindle for the most part. Maybe they won’t be in my lifetime (I'm in my late sixties). I'm not going to refuse to read them just because of the form they are in. The reading is what is important.

Mike


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## jonconnington (Mar 20, 2010)

Only if they're small paperbacks...the big fantasy epic doorstops are a pain to lug around in their hardcover version (looking a you, Wheel of Time!)


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## Barbiedull (Jul 13, 2010)

Jusy ordered a hardcover book for my Husband. He asked me to find the Kindle version,
but it isn't available. Besides that, it has a lot of color photographs, and I know it's a
book he will want to keep. So, for us we will buy some print books too.


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## Paegan (Jul 20, 2009)

I still purchase DTB's through Amazon Marketplace. But only used or out of print books. I spent the better part of the beginning of the year purchasing all of Dorothy Dunnett's books because they were not Kindleized yet.  Of course, last month they all became available.  Doesn't it just figure.  But all 14 of them used were about a 5th of the price of the Kindle version.


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## paulkeefe (Nov 6, 2010)

I much prefer to read on my Kindle, although I wish I had the better contrast of the K3. Still, my wife reads physical books and so I do also on occasion. It's true there's something special about a book, even its smell, but life seems easier with a library in your hand.


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## Joe Chiappetta (May 20, 2010)

No, not really. The only exception being when my Bible gets too beat up, then I get a new one. Otherwise, I prefer to have it all in one device/Kindle.


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## Luke King (Nov 4, 2010)

I do still buy physical books. I like the cover art and the feel of them. Hardbacks, however, I find increasingly annoying. I like to read in bed and they're just too damn heavy.


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## Cathymw (May 27, 2010)

I only had PC for Kindle until last week, and at that point, I was buying both print and ebooks.

Now that I have my brand new Kindle... I don't know what I'll do.  I think I'll still get some on occasion.


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## Debra Purdy Kong (Apr 1, 2009)

joanhallhovey said:


> Just taking a toll here, since Oprah says she still buys the physical book. I'll be receiving my own new Kindle Christmas morning, and wonder how I'll take to reading on it. I resisted for a long time. But since my own books are now on Kindle, I feel almost obligated. But excited too. The idea of never having to be without a book is enticing. Within a few seconds you can download and be reading that book. I'm interested in your experience.
> 
> Joan Hall Hovey


Great topic, Joan

I buy both because I love receiving signed print copies from friends launching their books. I've got about 800 print books in my home, but since I'm not planning to downsize yet, it's okay. But I also love the great prices and print size option on my e-reader, so I'm going to continue to buy both for awhile yet!

Debra


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

I have not purchased any dtbs for myself. kids and dh still buy paper backs.
Sylvi


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## Snorkledorf (Oct 18, 2009)

Since I got my Kindle a year ago, I find that I mostly filter out from my consciousness the books I can’t find as ebooks. I did a similar thing when I moved to Japan 20 years ago and made do with the limited selection of English books available as imports in local bookstores, deliberately not thinking much about what I couldn’t easily get my hands on anyway (pre-Amazon). Now I focus mostly on Kindle books.

Books only available in paperback (or worse yet, hardcover) I’ll put into my shopping cart to ferment, but I only ever snap-purchase Kindle books these days. I do find digital versions of some of these through “other routes,” putting the ones that I wound up enjoying onto the “pick up if/when they ever come out digitally” list. But talk about letting the iron grow cold...

I’ve already scanned most of my DTBs, and often read the resulting PDFs on my iPad. Those I really really like get OCR’ed and proofread and put onto my Kindle, as that’s just a much more optimized reading experience, but that’s a lot of work so it has to be a book I really love.

I’ve grudgingly bought a handful of DTB-only books over the past year, but most of those I immediately ran through the ScanSnap for reading on the iPad. I think I’ve kept two as actual paper books, both art books. If an ebook version exists, available at a non-silly price, that almost certainly rules out any possibility of a DTB purchase.

And since there are basically no ebooks available in Japanese in the first place (and the Kindle couldn’t display the text even if there were), all local books go the DTB --> PDF route onto the iPad.


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## silenceiseverything (Oct 8, 2010)

I still do buy DTBs, but I go to the thrift store and get them for like two bucks.  It's really hard to pass up a used book for two bucks, especially if the publishers have them as a 14.99 e-book.   However, due to my Kindle, I have stopped making the trips as frequently, but I still go every once in a while.


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## ClickNextPage (Oct 15, 2009)

For pleasure reading, never. For reference, sometimes. There are types of books that don't do well on Kindle, such as atlases, travel guidebooks that are full of color photos, and language workbooks. But for fiction, I'll never buy another paper book.


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

Can't imagine not wanting to be surrounded by "real" books, but have to admit it's 60/40 Kindle right now, mostly due to lack of room


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

ClickNextPage said:


> For pleasure reading, never. For reference, sometimes. There are types of books that don't do well on Kindle, such as atlases, travel guidebooks that are full of color photos, and language workbooks. But for fiction, I'll never buy another paper book.


That pretty much sums up my feelings. I haven't purchased a DTB for pleasure reading since the K2 came out.


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## mistyd107 (May 22, 2009)

very very ocassionally


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

I do once in a while, especially if I see a paperback on sale for a really great price. Every time I read one though I am always thankful to go back to my Kindle. The Kindle has definitely spoiled me.


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## SpearsII (Jan 16, 2010)

For me and my wife Kindle books and physical books are two completely different things. Just the other day we bought _The Landmark Herodotus_ it was a great addition to our personal library, something you won't find an equal to on the kindle. Our personal library is very important to us and will one day be a family gift to pass down to our kids and grandkids. We think books have a great value are they are worth the expense in the budget. I don't think we will ever stop growing our library. The kindle on the other hand is really useful in allowing me to read more. I can read it places where I can't read 900 pages books. I can read a lot of books that are just pulp fiction and wouldn't add much to our physical library. I still haven't paid over $3 for a kindle book and I don't think I will so the price is not in competition with our physical books. As much as I love the kindle it will never overtake the love of placing a new or used book on my bookshelf and seeing our humble collection grow.


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## Blodwyn (Oct 13, 2010)

My wonderful husband gave me my Christmas Kindle early, and I splurged and bought Amazon's cover for it, and it feels a lot like reading a DTB. 

I can see myself never buying a physical book again. I can't describe how much I love this thing.


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## LarryEnright (Nov 27, 2010)

I still buy print books for the same reason I still buy movies on DVD and music on CD - I like to look through my collections, touch them, remember things about them like where I was when I got them or what was going on in my life when I first experienced them. They have more of a context in my life than digital media.

And... I love the cover art!! LOL


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## kindle_library (Nov 29, 2010)

If my library doesn't have the book to check out, and the kindle version is higher than the DTB, I'll buy the DTB. I'm on a budget so I go for the cheapest route possible(which is usually books at the library). Now I'll have free books from Amazon as well.


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## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

I'm about 1/3 paper and 2/3 Kindle right now. I still collect Stephen King and Michael Slade in paper (Slade's aren't on Kindle either). I read my wife's Stephanie Plum's which she gets in paper. The library loans me a few books every year, but beyond that it's all Kindle, and mostly Indies.


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## HelenC (Dec 2, 2010)

I still buy the print books if I really like what I've read in e form - l just like having a little library. Otherwise I only buy print books first if I come across a really great sale.


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## warobison (Aug 29, 2010)

We buy books-- such as art books-- that rely a lot on color, and we still buy used print books.  But for regular fiction and non-fiction, it's almost entirely Kindle now.  The house is full of books, many old and useless, but we have a really hard time ever getting rid of them.  The kindles have really helped with that problem.


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

reading these i think confirms my belief of what I am trying to do. I read a lot of reads that I dont really want on my book shelf. so I see my kindle as improving my shelf by quality not quantity.
sylvia


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## M. G. Scarsbrook (Nov 22, 2010)

I'll always love print books. Recently, when I sent my family a copy of my historical thriller THE MARLOWE CONSPIRACY, my cousins were fighting over who got to read it first. I don't see that happening over an eBook. Nothing compares to the excitement of holding a real book in your hands.

But eBooks have other advantages -- cheapness and accessibility. 

I'd be prepared to test an unknown writer out by buying an eBook, then if I like them, buy their next books in print.


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