What book format do you prefer and why?

I’ve gotten into the habit of listening to books on Audible while driving or running, and reading on the Kindle before bed, on weekends (when there is time), and on trips/vacations. My general rule of thumb is fiction on the Kindle and non-fiction/business on Audible, but it’s a loose rule. Here are the books I’ve read so far this year.

I did a quick Twitter poll this week to see what kind of book format people I’m connected to prefer:


Surprisingly, to me at least, paperback books were voted the highest! I’m surprised those people actually know what Twitter is. #joke

So now I’m more curious than ever: what book format do you prefer and why?

7 Comments

  1. Ricardo Diaz on June 30, 2016 at 10:54 am

    This is a generational thing and it makes me insane. It’s the one place where even sane minded Gen-X’ers lose their damned minds :) Give up on the physical books already, the waste, the cost, the space.

    Unless it’s an actual antique, does the world need the 23,452,128th copy of 50 Shades of Grey?

    There MAY be a feature missing here though, not sure what it is. Ease of sharing? Shelf showing off? Book smell? Who knows…



  2. Steve Swanson on June 30, 2016 at 3:59 pm

    Sorry, I stare at a tablet, iPhone, computer 14-16 hours a day. Ink and paper and yes, I resell/give way/recycle my books. Reading is
    to stimulate the mind, audio books are a podcast.



  3. Jeff Hilimire on July 1, 2016 at 4:20 am

    I like it, Steve-O. The giving away books after is great. My main reason for not wanting paperback books is because I like to be able to read my book wherever I am. If I’m in the waiting room at the doc for 45 minutes, I want to pull that book out and read some. But I get the screen thing and resting the eyes…maybe that’s why I’ve been known to throw on a pair of reading glasses now and again these days.



  4. Jeff Hilimire on July 1, 2016 at 4:21 am

    Save the trees!

    It doesn’t matter because in 20 years, there will be essentially no paperback books, as there are no cassette tapes and essentially no CDs any longer.



  5. Adam Walker on July 1, 2016 at 5:14 am

    I listen to Audible in the car or when doing housework or excising (I’m pretending that happens). Otherwise I’m on kindle. I’ll go for a real book from the library, but if I’m buying one, its on kindle for sure.



  6. Ola Olusoga on July 1, 2016 at 12:42 pm

    Paperback books all the way. They grew on me over time.

    As a “digital” nerd, I use to lean towards eBook, especially since “information wants to be free” & you could always find ways to skip paying for it. But as time time progressed I began gaining an affinity for the feel of a real book.

    With digital books I was constantly distracted by notifications or the call of other book begging for some attention. With paperbacks, I’m able to focus on one to two books at a time. I’m able to write my thoughts and highlight pages directly, plus it helps beautify my book shelf.

    I recently got into Audible/Audiobooks and MAN, it’s awesome. Being able to listen to books @ 2x speed drops the reading time for an 8hr book to 4hrs… Knocked about Titans, Thinking fast & slow, and all Nassim Taleb book out with audiobooking. Simply awesome.

    So my reading preference goes: Paperback > Audible > eBooks

    By the way, love you reading list for this year so far. I just put together my current & past reading list as well @ http://www.olaolusoga.com/books . Would love your thoughts :)



  7. Jeff Hilimire on July 2, 2016 at 4:32 am

    Thanks for the comment, OO. I will say, I use a Kindle (not the Kindle app, but an actual Kindle) to do most of my reading for the very reason you mention above, the distractions of the phone/tablet are too much! So I treat my Kindle like its a book.

    And yes, Audible is awesome. I don’t do 2X, though I know a lot of people that do. And thanks for mentioning those books, I’m going to check them out!



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