Kindle or physical book?

I love my books - but for convenience it's the Kindle every time. I have Kindle versions of many of my paper books...

For me, a 'real' book is special. Our home is built around our books. I still have most of my son's childhood books. Some of which I've already passed on to his son.

I'm finding it more and more difficult to concentrate on a Kindle book. Yet when I sit with a physical boom in my hands, I seem to be able to focus.

Kindles are wonderful for travelling and reading in bed (light) but the great drawback for me is that it's so difficult to look back to check on something I've forgotten. It's difficult to look forward too but that's probably a good thing as I have a tendency to look at the end before I've finished! I don't want to be startled by a sad ending!

I have a kindle but don't get on with it, preferring books, although I agree it has a lot going for it over books. I find that I don't read as carefully on a screen as I do on a page. DH started subscribing to The Telegraph on line and I persevered with it for a bit and then stopped reading it altogether. If I have the paper version I will read it from cover to cover. I'm not a Luddite - I'm almost permanently attached to my iPad- just prefer a book.

I have a basic Kindle and love the fact that the battery lasts for weeks. No need for recharging on holiday. The only thing that eats the battery is when you put the Wi-Fi on to download a new book etc.

I also have the Kindle app on my tablet and my phone and you can sync them all so you are always on the same page whatever device you pick up. I expect I could even sign in on any device should I not have mine with me.

You can bookmark, add notes, look up references and definitions etc. on a Kindle. It should have come with a guide already on it or just Google for instructions on how to use all the features.

My favourite bit is that you can get all the classics free - I am currently catching up on my Dickens as well as downloading free magazines from our local library. And my bookshelves now only hold cherished favourites!

You can bookmark your page on a Kindle. Sorry if I'm misunderstanding.

I'm converted to my Kindle as we have run out of space to store books ! DH refuses to read on his Kindle.

Ariadne - I feel the same as you. I went through the 'I prefer a real book' stage but since I upgraded to the Kindle Paperwhite I've stopped buying real books. I do have a couple of problems with it, though:

1) I download a sample, read it, like it, pay for the book then decide I don't like it after all. Can work out an expensive waste of money but all my own fault.

2) When I buy a book the e-mail from Amazon also pops up on DH's screen and alerts him to the fact that I have bought yet another book! Cue for 'Not another book?'.

And there is a third problem - the book box I run for charity at our local village hall is being deprived of new books.

aggie - I think there is a 'book mark' on your kindle. Perhaps someone else knows about it?

I lost my page on the book I was reading on my kindle , I must have pressed the forward button or something , took me forever to get back to where I wanted . I needed something like a bookmark

I bought a historical novel I'd enjoyed as a teenager (Katherine, by Anya Seton) but the size of the print in the paperback edition was trying for my ageing eyes. However, it suddenly became available for Kindle and - although the editing is deplorable - I have now been able to re-read it in a decent font size.

Thanks for the information, twice. Good to know. All I have to worry about now is the battery!

I am completely converted to the Kindle, and have watched as my former colleagues (all of us English teachers) also converted, after all the "I like the feel of a real book" stuff. I do love the look of my bookshelves, but there are two shelves of dictionaries which have stood there for about three years, because they are all now on my iPad/iPod/iPhone.

Ihave the Kindle app on all the other devices, which means, if pushed, I can read on my phone. As a very fast reader, I used to have to carry my body weight in books on holiday, then buy more, then have to leave them behind. The Kindle has changed all this.

I prefer physical books.
Do use Kindle though and have some super freebie books on there.
Thing is with Kindle it is hard to 'check back' on pages read.
I read a lot of mystery and crime and often have to look back to remind myself who is who.
It's easier to do that with a physical book.

@hildajenniJ - Kindle can handle quite a few different file formats - you are not restricted to Amazon. I have several collections on one of my Kindles (!) from the Gutenburg Foundation, for example.

Lily gran I think the kindle capacity is 1400 books at least I think my basic one is the Fire one might be more. I love my kindle for travelling but have not stopped reading real books and our local charity shop is so reasonable I can't resist buying ones I fancy.

Mainly Kindle. Still like to receive books as gifts though, and often re-read old paperbacks.Take my Kindle out and about with me to read on public transport, at the GP surgery etc and on holiday.Buy lots of cheap deals for the Kindle.

My Kindle is brilliant for travelling but you cannot dip in and out of a book on a kindle the way you can with the real thing or flip back to a previous chapter to re-read it or to find a particular reference.

However I am going on holiday to Norway in a fortnights time, along the coast and up to the Arctic Circle. The weight of the thermal and cold weather clothing I am having to take with me means that there is going to be very little spare weight left for books, bar guide books. I am busy stocking up my Kindle in preparation.

I read books mainly but always load up the Kindle for holidays and breaks away. It is particularly useful for reading in bed where the lights in strange rooms are sometimes quite dim which means I can increase the font and read on!!! Husband appreciative as he used to carry the rucksack with my supply of books for holidays!!

Same here granny activist. If we're going out of the UK, I take my kindle on holiday, and buy a couple of paperbacks at the airport. It helps with weight restrictions. For my bedtime reading, it's a paper book every time. I have an iPad on my joint christmas/birthday list.
When we moved 25 years ago, the removal men asked if my husband was a vicar, or a teacher - they couldn't imagine anything else given the number of books we have. We've both been trying to reduce the size of our collection and have reluctantly taken many books to the charity shops. I like the idea of one room in the house that doesn't have floor to ceiling shelves lined with books, but it's not proving an easy change to make

Both for me. On holiday I take both the kindle and iPad and they're worth their weight in gold. However I just bought The Little World of Don Camillo for my son in law in book form, simply because it's an old fashioned book and should be read as such. I have previously bought him a leather bound copy of Sherlock Holmes stories for the same reason.

Sorry should have said it's free to subscribe take a look at Bookbub.com

I've joined Bookbub and every day I get an email from them with today's offers. Always some free books also 99p or 1.99. Just click and you have a new book to read. Worth checking out?

I have tried a kindle and the iPad to read in bed,but find the iPad quite uncomfortable to hold for any length of time. There are holders with handles, any body seen these and used them?

I read books also kindle . I have an Ipod given to me by my family for my 70th birthday.I love it !Great for reading in the night and do not disturb my DH as I don' t need the light on. Use it too when out alone for a walk.

I had a Kobo e-reader from W.H.Smith. I loved it and had about fifty books downloaded on it. I had just started reading Life of Pi when it refused to charge, now it's as dead as a dodo.

I didn't get a Kindle, as you are stuck with buying books from Amazon, with Kobo you can download them from any android site.

I would like another, but am a little afraid that the same thing will happen again. So until I'm brave enough to by another e-reader, I'm sticking to actual books.