Do you have an eReader? Do you prefer eReaders or traditional books? I have an eReader and I adore it because it makes it very convenient for me to download new books and carry them with me wherever I go. I am the type of person who can't leave home without a book in my bag, so it is great to be able to take hundreds of titles with me in such a light package.

On the other hand, I still love traditional books and actually prefer the experience of flipping the pages physically. I go to the library and bookstores whenever I can to browse. Nothing beats being able to see a bunch of books lined up on a shelf, yours to discover.

So I still read both eBooks and print books! Print books when they are available and eBooks when convenience is key.

All of my life (a really long time, guys) I have only ever read a real hold-it-in-your-hand kind of book; so when my daughter bought me an iPad, and showed me how to read books on here, I was not sure that I would like it at all. But, it turns out, I LOVE IT ! !
 In fact, I loved it so much that I bid on every Kindle under $25 on eBay, until I finally got an e-reader as well.
I like the little kindle for reading because it is so lightweight and easy to hold, and fits right into my purse. Since I have thee books downloaded, it doesn't need to connect when I take it along somewhere either. I have Amazon Prime, so I can also use the lending library, and borrow some awesome books for free that way.
For books that have pictures, like gardening tutorials, I like having it on my kindle app on the iPad, since it is larger, and in color.  So, I use both for my books, depending on what kind of a book that it is.

I do still like the old-fashioned paper books as well. I read a lot of health and nutrition related books, and I like being able to actually thumb through the book to find what I want. Since these are more of a research manual than just a book to read, and be done with it; having them in my library is important to me.

My situation was almost identical to happyflowerlady, I had always read traditional books all my life until I got a tablet for Christmas.  I was able to read a lot more than before, because I was able to read on the bus in the morning when it was dark and when my sister turned the lights off in our room when she wanted to sleep early (I never was a big fan of the whole flashlight under the covers thing). 

And I don't have to bike to the library anymore if I want a book!  Except I probably need the exercise...

So yes, I prefer e-books.

eBooks here too. From two perspectives:

1. I prefer them because they're easier for me to read and carry. I do not have the ability to carry much weight so this is extremely important.

2. I prefer them to printed books because authors can publish easier and have more control over how and when and where, etc.

I like a little of both worlds depending on what I am reading. I have an e-reader, but I bounce back and forth between it and traditional books.  When I am reading something for research, I tend to prefer actual books because it is easy to mark up the margins and highlight when I need to.  I know that I can do both with an e-reader, but it is just a little more easy to do it with a real book.

For pleasure reading, I like my e-reader because I can take it with me anywhere and I do not have to have a stockpile of books I will probably never touch again.  I hate throwing away or donating books that I spent a lot of money on and will just never touch them again.  I have found that e-books are less expensive too and you can log into the library and check them out from the comfort of your own home.

Since I do not have one of those little tablet things like a Nook, I'm pretty much a paper and ink sort of gal. I love the smell of bookshops, especially old books, and the feel I get from being in a cozy library all snugged down with a good book and some tea and cookies next to me.

Staring at a screen of any sort makes my eyes go all jiggly feeling after a while. 

Hoodoo, the little Amazon Kindles are pretty cheap if you watch for them on eBay . I had to watch for a while, but I got mine for about $20, which is a good price for all the benefits you have with it.
It is not a regular tablet that you can browse online with, although I have looked at some of those for around $40, and then you can do everything with them.
You can actually download a kindle app for any computer, and read books that way. I don't like to read on a regular computer, or even the laptop, because it is just a lot more comfortable to hold something in your hands like we do with a regular book.

I signed up at www.bookbub.com and they tell you when books you might like are available either on a serious markdown sale, and sometimes, for free. How it works, is that you fill out a profile about what kinds of books you like to read, and where you like to buy books from, and then they send you emails about books on sale. You can make is as broad or as limited as you prefer, so you can get just the books you are interested in.  It is free to sign up at Bookbub, and if you do a lot of reading, it is a great website.

I got my kindle for $70. It's good because it doesn't have a light feature, there's paper texture and it looks like ink. It literally looks like a book page, it's weird and awesome!

So in essence there's no light coming at you to hurt your eyes, you still need light to see the "screen".

I'm with everyone else- a bit of both for me, please! I love print books and will always have room in my budget to pick up some used ones at the bookstore, but ebooks are very convenient as well. I like that I can get them for free from my library, and read them on my ipad or phone. It's made bus reading so much easier and lighter now that I don't have to carry a book! Plus I can have several on my phone to choose from in case I don't like one of them!  I tried out Amazon's reader service for awhile- where you can get unlimited books for I think $9 a month, but I wasn't impressed with the selection. Seriously, check out your local library if you haven't yet- I'm willing to bet they have ebooks!

I have an eReader on my tablet. Both have merits, so I an't really say if I life one over the other.

I prefer traditional books sometimes because they make me feel more excited about reading something. I also love the way they smell. I feel like they transport me to those libraries that I love.

On the other hand, I use eReaders when I am travelling and need space. I really can't bring many pocketbooks with me because they will not fit in my bag. I just download my favorite books in e-format, then I am good to go.

I prefer physical books, but have a kindle and download books to my kindle app on my laptop. E-books are convenient and cheaper, but I often download them and don't get around to reading them. I tend to download reference books and cook books which I don't need to read, but I can look through.

I will always prefer a traditional book, I enjoy turning the pages and finishing a chapter. It's not the same as scrolling or clicking a chapter in a table of contents. I used to have book plates for my books as a child and collect bookmarks and these are things I still have fond memories of.

I also love second hand books and like to read the dedications of the previous owners, whether it was a gift or an old library book. That's something you cannot find on an e-book.

I have now gotten a Kindle Fire to read with. I really like the little Kindle Touch that I had, and it is great if you are just reading something like would be a paperback book.
However, when I was reading the history of early man, and there were pictures it was very hard to see anything. It would show the difference between a neanderthal skull, and a cro-magnon skull, and the pictures were so tiny that I could barely tell it was supposed to be a skull, let alone see what the difference was.

So I started watching on eBay again, and bought a Kindle Fire. It is just a little larger and heavier, but still much easier to use for reading than my iPad is; and I can now see pictures, and in color to boot !
Amazon has a program called the Kindle lending library, and it is part of their Prime account. You have to have an actual Kindle to use it (not just the app), and you can borrow one book per month.
Since most of these are Prime books, they are the more expensive ones.

I also get e-books from the library and read those; so there are a lot of good places to get free e-books to read.

Kindles are good tools to read with.  I got a Kindle paperwhite last year for Christmas by accident at it cost me about $70.  What happened was that I had purchased my son and daughter a Kindle for Christmas and it was a last minute decision and so I went click happy on the computer.  With Prime I got them a few days before Christmas.  I was going for Fires but I ended up getting Paperwhites.  My husband suggested that I keep one of the Paperwhites since I read a lot...and so I did.  The kids got their Fires and I got my Paperwhite.  The book pages do really look like actual pages and it is not hard on your eyes to read.  Another great thing is that my local library has ereader loaning and so I can just go online to the website and download the books I want to check out.  Once the loan expires, the book just disapears from my Kindle.

That is how mine works with our library, too. Usually, they send you out a warning that the book is going to expire in 24 hours, so you know you need to hurry and finish it if you have not done so. If I finish it early, then I just turn it in early; but sometimes I just  get busy and don't remember to get the book read on time.

I also use Bookbub, and they have some books that are free, and some that are really cheap, and once you sign up and tell them what kind of books you are interested in, they send you an email every day to let you know what is on sale, and then you can get it online from Amazon, or whatever booksellers you choose to get your books from.
For actual books, I like to browse the thrift stores, and also look on ebay. I have found some really good deals at thrift stores and then re-sold the book for a profit on eBay. with my iPhone, I can chheck the going price of a book on eBay and know of the thrift store price is a good deal or not.

I also like going to thrift stores to get some of my books.  I pay about $2.00 for novels and they always have current books in stock because people tend to read the book and then donate it right away after they purchase it.  I have found some novels at my local stores that are like brand new and they are recent publications, so it is a very good deal when that happens.

Ebay and Amazon are also really good places to find books when you are looking.  I find books on these sites that I hear of and want to read, but can't find them in my local bookstores.  The world market makes it much easier to find just about anything you are looking for.

I prefer print books.  There is something more real in my mind about paper, and words on paper.  Somehow when it's digital it feels less real, less solid in my mind I guess. I don't know why that is.  I do have an ereader and use it because of the convenience.  I also have the kindle app on my ipod touch and use that frequently as I can get away with reading whatever I want without people even being aware of what I am doing.  It's very handy that way, but overall I would rather have a paper book.

The more that I use the Kindle Fire to read with, the better that I like it. When I am doing something online and reading a webpage or looking at a forum, then the iPad is wonderful because it is larger, and I have the real keyboard for it to use when I am typing something.

But, if I am going to just relax and read a book, the Kindle is just the perfect size and weight for me to use.
 I can store a lot of books on there should I want to, and take it along when I am gone from the house.  The kindle is smaller than most paperback books, so it is easier to carry it in my purse, and I don't have to use my largest purse to fit it like a regular book, or the iPad.

The only reason that I like to use a paper book is for when I want to save reference material. It is just easier for me to flip back through an actual book than it is for me to hunt for something with a digital book.

When I read a reference book, I am the type of person who likes to go through and highlight things and write in the margins, so actual books are a must for me in those situations. I have the simple kindle paperwhite and it is perfect for just general books that I want to read. I like the fact that it is small and compact. The "pages" actual look like real book pages too.

At some point, I would like to get a Kindle Fire so that I can do some computer stuff on it as I do not have any sort of tablet yet. It would be nice to have one, but I have backburnered the idea of having one right now as there are other things I need to get first.

I found my Kindle Fire on eBay, and got it for $50. I had the paperwhite before, and it is great for reading books with no pictures; but when it is something and you have illustrations; then I found that it is hard to see them on the e-reader, and there is no color.
I only paid about $20 for the e-reader, so I gave it to my neighborlady to use. She can't lift a regular book anymore; but she loves to read paperback novels, so it works perfect for her.

When you get your tablet, if you are going to do internet things where you will be typing much; then I recommend a larger tablet, like and iPad, or something similar in size.
I have the external keyboard for my ipad, so it is great for forums like this where you are both reading and writing, whereas the little virtual keyboard is a serious pain when you are doing a lot of typing.
 
This should be a good time to be shopping for a tablet. There will be all of the Christmas specials, and then after Christmas, everyone that got a new tablet for Christmas will be selling their old ones.   

I have had my Kindle paperwhite for a little over a year now and find it very hard to use if I am not reading a regular chapter book. The pictures are hard to see and there is no keyboard on the device persay. You have to use arrows to scroll around the keyboard and I just don't like it. One of these days I am going to invest in Kindle Fire so I can do more with it.