The Formats of Books: Physical, E-book, and Audio

I haven't written a blog post in a few days and it will be another few before I have a review ready to post, so I decided to write a quick post about my thoughts on various formats of novels.

Physical Books

Personally, I love having a physical book in my hands. I don't mind if it's paper or hard back, I just like having the paper in my hands when I read. I've always loved the smell of books, and yes, occasionally I smell the books I'm reading. I don't know what it is, but something about ink on paper is just appealing to me. 

I also love being able to see how far I've gotten in a book. I like being able to feel the pages pile up as I read them. I just feel more accomplished every time I flip a page. It just makes me happy. And you don't have to worry about a battery dying. All you need is light and you're good to go. 

E-Books

I've only recently acquired a kindle (in December, I think). Before that I wasn't really interested in reading electronic books. When I started becoming interested in reviewing for authors in November, I decided it was time to get a kindle. And I do enjoy my kindle, even if it doesn't have paper. 

E-books are so easy to carry around. It's convenient to have ten or more books with you when they only take up the space of maybe one physical book. Particularly for traveling, e-readers are the way to go. And if you don't like the novel your reading, you can always switch to another one.

The thing I miss from physical to e-book is the feel of the paper in my hand and the pages piling up as I read them. The kindle telling me my percentage kind of makes me feel the same way, but it's still not quite the same.

Audiobooks

I've only ever listened to a handful of books. My auditory sense is rather interesting. I'm a very visual learner in general, though I'm an auditory learner as well. When I have something to look at, I tend to remember what I hear. I can recall most conversations I have face to face, lectures from school, and lines from movies. When I don't have that visual stimulus as well, I tend not to remember. This makes listening to audio books hard for me.     

I listened to two or three books in a five book series once. The other novels I read physical copies. A few months later, when I was trying to recall the story from each of the novels, I could remember the ones I read physically in great detail. The ones I listened to, however, were foggy in my mind. 

Again, I think audio can be very convenient. I've listened to a couple of novellas recently while driving to and from work and church and things and those have gone well. I think I can remember more when I have something I'm doing at the same time. Just trying to listen tends to leave gaps in my memory. Driving while listening is nice though. 

Overall I prefer reading physical books to e-books or audiobooks, although all three have their merits. So what do you prefer? Let me know your thoughts and which format is your favorite in the comments.