Spotlight Sunday: Ebooks vs Print Books and Do Matching Covers Really Matter?

Spotlight Sunday on Swoony Boys Podcast and Fiction Fare

By now you know that when the four of us are together, in person or via the magic of the internet, the conversations almost always come back to books. We love them. We love the people who write them, the people who publish them, and the people who read them. In fact, we have so many feelings about books that we wanted to find a way to share our conversations with you!

Welcome to a new week of Spotlight Sunday, hosted by Fiction Fare (Erin & Jaime) and Swoony Boys Podcast (Kassiah & Meg), where we dish about ALL things bookish. Each week we’ll post a topic, we’ll start the conversation by telling you some of our thoughts, and then it will be your turn to sound off in the comment section.

Have a topic you’d like to discuss on Spotlight Sunday? Fill out the form here.

Do you prefer ebooks or print books? Further, are you a paperback or hardcover girl? How much do matched sets matter to you?

Erin: I love the convenience of ebooks but will always love print books. If I love something enough I am always going to buy the print book…there is just something about having the actual, physical book on my shelves that I love.

As for paperback vs. hardcover, I don’t really have a preference. I love that hardcovers travel well – I don’t have to worry about a potentially ripped/bent cover (GASP) because I accidentally shoved the book in my bag too hard. Trust me…it has happened and I may have teared up a bit at the destruction I created.

I really do want all my books to match…is that a crime? It kills me when a set is changed mid-stream because I just know I’m going to have to buy the book I own already, again to make sure they match. Yes…I have a bit of an OCD problem.

Kassiah: Ditto, Erin. (OMG I just realized that is how I start my comments in all of our discussions) I love that I can carry around thousands of books with me all the time. I love the searchability of them. But I do have to admit to being a “real” book hoarder. I love touching books and smelling them and looking at them.

I tend to prefer hardcover, but more than that–I want them to match. Hardcover, paperback, same covers–I want it all to match. It drives me crazy when covers are changed in the middle of a series and then the first book in the series is only available in paperback with that cover. So then I have to have mismatched books or wait for the last book in the series to be released in paperback. UGH

Maybe I should stop buying books until they’re out in paperback. Even if I love them to bits.

Meg: Ahhhhh. Such a tough question. It totally depends on the book and what I am doing when I read it. I love using a real book marking it with stickies and loving it forever. If I’m on the go, I’m all about my e-books.

There are some books I have e-book, hardcover, paperback, and ARCs for. There are others having just an e-book is enough. I always know when I really love a book because I have to have at least one hardcover if not multiple copies in all kinds of media formats. I’m pretty sure you could walk into my house and know exactly what my favorite books and series are just by taking a quick look at my shelves.

Jaime: My preference will always be real books. While I love the convenience of ebooks, I love holding the real thing in my hand and being able to mark the sections I love even more.

I’m definitely a hardcover girl… while I don’t mind paperback, I just love having the original hardcover and if it’s a book I really love I find myself buying all the different copies anyway so there’s that.

I do like my covers to match. I’m not a huge fan of mid-series cover changes just for that reason. *sigh* Life as a book nerd.

Now that you’ve read some of our thoughts, let us know what you’re thinking in the comments below! We’ll be back next week with a brand new topic and lots more to talk about.

Past Spotlight Sunday Topics


Comments

  1. Well, I prefer ‘real’ copies to ebooks, but I pretty much always buy ebooks (faster and cheaper, specially where I live).

    Paperbacks or hardcovers? I have no preference at all, I actually treat these books really carefully, so they never tear or anything for me.

    It’s the same to matching covers, I really don’t care if they match or not. I’m not that OCD, so it’s not an issue for me if they don’t match the rest of the series. I certainly would not spend my money in buying the book again just to match the cover, ya know? Like I said, I buy mostly ebooks, so the cover of a book it’s not an issue for me. At all.

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