Initially today I wanted to talk about e-reader organization. Recentl I discovered how to make different folders on my e-reader. After two years or so. I know. I’m so informed. I guess I just never did use my e-reader enough to figure that out. So that was what I had planned to talk about. However recently something happened that again reminded me why I, personally, don’t use my e-reader as much. Which is why the goal I made at the start of the year about buying less physical copies and more ebooks never was going to work.
You see, I have fear. Not so much of the actual device, but of the ebooks I get not going on my e-reader. This is not a random fear I have. Last year I bought an ebook that was impossible to get onto my e-reader while the other two went on there without any effort. I contacted the online store about it and after a telephone conference on things I had to do, it still wouldn’t get on. They would contact where they got the ebook from, and I’d hear back from them. But it could take a while. I never heard anything back. I have the book in physical form now. So basically I had to pay for a book I couldn’t read. This has put some fear on buying ebooks for me. I did buy some, but only when they were cheap. And up until May I did not have any more problems getting an ebook on my e-reader.
However in May I was browsing Netgalley and choose out a few books from there to read for review, something I hardly ever do. But I couldn’t get two of them to go on. The reader for pc would crash each time I downloaded it and I couldn’t even open the files through Adobe Digital Editions (which by the way seems to not work anymore at all since I downloaded the new one). I spend hours trying to figure out if I had done something wrong and how to fix it. But nothing worked. I could however open them in Overdrive on the computer for some reason. But that doesn’t get them on my e-reader. It makes me scared to buy ebooks again.
On top of that, ebooks are pricey. I saw a book that was already rather expensive in hardcover at 25 Euro, but the ebook was an euro more expensive. Especially the books I’d like to read, which tend to be some more of the popular ones when it comes to new releases and such, in general cost about 11-12 Euro. I can buy an English paperback for that. So the price and the above reason do keep me from taking a risk.
And next to that there is of course the risk of buying a book as an ebook, loving it, and then wanting a physical copy of it. Because that has happened to me.
So do you use your e-reader a lot? And have you ever had trouble putting an ebook on your e-reader after buying it? Or am I the only lucky one who has had this problem? Which is quite possible as I am technologically weak. Anyway, I just needed to get my frustrations out.
A Dance With Books 
I think I like the idea of ebooks, much more than i do actual ebooks..
I don’t have an e-reader, but i do have an iPad mini that i use to read my ebooks. mostly use it for those short novella’s that are either free or like a euro or so.. often buying an english paperback is cheaper than gettign the ebook. then why would i get the ebook?! i prefer reading from paper anyways..
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Same here. While I do think that the ereader and ebooks are a great option, it doesn’t appeal to me as much. I’m more likely to pick up a book if I can see it standing on my shelves.
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Hihi, ik heb meteen opgezocht hoe ik mapjes (bij de Kobo noemen ze dat blijkbaar verzamelingen) kon aanmaken vermits ik er van hou om georganiseerd te werk te gaan. De tijd die ik anders tijd was met het zoeken naar een specifiek boek kan ik nu meteen aan lezen spenderen. Al gebruik ik mijn ereader eigenlijk niet zo vaak. Hij gaat mee wanneer we op vakantie zijn (maar dat gebeurd niet zo vaak) en ik durf hem ook wel eens meenemen wanneer ik per bus/trein ergens naar toe moet. Dan moet ik immers wat minder gewicht dragen. Als ik ooit door mijn aantal fysieke boeken heen ben (ok ok, als ik er iets meer gelezen heb) zal ik waarschijnlijk wat vaker mijn ereader bovenhalen.
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Haha, mooi!
En ja dat denk ik ook altijd. Of wanneer ik echt ruimtegebrek begin te krijgen dan zou ik toch wel willen dat ik boeken die niet super hoog op mijn lijstje staan als ebook te kopen. Maar goed, zoals beschreven vind ik dat stiekem nog wel eng, haha. Toen ik nog voor vrijwilligerswerk veel met de trein en bus ging gebruikte ik mijn ereader ook wat meer. Nu ik voornamelijk thuis ben is een boek net zo makkelijk.
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I do use my ereader a lot though I initially thought I wouldn’t. I tend to buy a lot of deals on Amazon meaning I can give books I might not otherwise a chance. Also, I tend to travel for work a lot and ebooks are easier to transport.
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E reader is great for travel!
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I use my Kindles almost exclusively. I buy all of my ebooks from Amazon so if there were a problem they would either fix it, or return my money. I also get a lot of e-audiobooks on sale (and sometimes free with SYNC) and I can listen to them on my Kindle. I download ebooks and audiobooks from the library, too. I very rarely buy an ebook full price; usually it is the last book in a series that they didn’t have eARCs for, so I figure averaging it out between all the eARCs I got for free makes it a deal. And I think you will find that most ebook editions are cheaper, and of course you don’t have to pay shipping. All other books I either wait until they go in sale (tons of popular ebooks go on sale on Amazon after Christmas, and for a week or two after a sequel is released the previous books usually go in sale), or I borrow it from the library. This works out great because I only buy the books I know I love in hardcover. It is a great space saver and I also don’t have to worry about what to do with the books I didn’t like. It ends up saving me a lot money. As far as the Netgalley eARCs, I don’t bother with the Adobe downloads. If it doesn’t have an instant Kindle download I don’t request it. I also just like using it. I can read in bed without a light and with one hand if I want to lie on my side. Plus, the cat loves that I have a free hand for petting, and I love that I have a free hand for snacking, heh heh. My Kindles also wipe off if I smudge them while eating! It also keeps my physical books from getting damaged jostling around in my backpack. Physical copies of books are more decoration now, for me, than reading material. 🙂
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Actually a lot of English ebooks are close to the price of a English paperback here (for instance the Bone Season has been out for a while but the ebook is the same price as the paperback). Only Dutch ebooks are cheaper than the Dutch paperback because of the law. Dutch books have a set price. But those Dutch ebooks are generally as expensive as an English paperback. I don’t use Amazon (no creditcard or paypal which is a concious choice my husband and I made).
Ereaders are great space savers, I agree. When I went to look for ereaders they didn’t sell Kindles here. It was all import which I wasn’t willing to do so I have a sony ereader. Other ebooks from Netgalley have always gone on smoothly. Usually I just have to attach the ereader to the computer and download the ebook and it goes straight on. So I don’t usually use Adobe either. I just have it if it doesn’t work the easy way. But that wasn’t the case with those I had issues with unfortunately. And since I do have a preference to the physical book I don’t look at ebooks. Maybe in a few months when I’ve ‘forgotten’ my negative experiences again and there is a sale somewhere. I do kind of want to get the JD Robb books as ebooks as there are just too many to get in physical format. 🙂
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I don’t have an e-reader, but I do have the Kindle app on my phone for free e-books haha. I don’t really like reading on screens, I prefer pages. I also think the prices of e-books are ridiculous. Back when e-books became a thing one of the reasons people praised it were the prices, and sure, some are really cheap, but then there are e-books that are the same prices as paperbacks or even hardbacks like you said and I’m like ?? Why?? I really want to know what makes them so expensive. And those experiences with being unable to put them on your reader sound horrible! No wonder you barely use it.
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Ah I get that. I felt like that too before I got my e reader, but the e reader screens are very different from tablets and phones. Ugh, those prices. Usually the price on the first book goes down somewhat after a long time, but the others stay the same. And often popular ones seem to stay really expensive. And if the price is really close to the paperback I am less inclined to buy the ebook. Maybe that is a good question to ask various publishers some time. 🙂
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I occasionally read eBooks, but I haven’t for a while. I’m trying to get through this huge pile of unread, physical books that I have at the moment (it’s going to take a while).
I’ve also had the problem where I’ve read the eBook and then wanted the physical book, which is just really annoying. I also prefer the feel of real books, though eBooks are great for holidays, as you can take 100s with you. I’ve not paid for any of the eBooks I’ve read so far, but I have seen the ridiculous prices some of them have. I’ve also thought that sometimes it’s cheaper to just buy the physical book (especially second hand). And even if the eBook is a little bit cheaper, it still might not be worth it, as the physical book is only a little more and then you get a REAL book.
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Oh yeah, I’m the same. it is also why I don’t use the library, haha. Haha it is a terrible problem to want to physical book after reading the ebook. Yeah the prices are terrible. The ones I did buy were from sales so far so I haven’t paid huge prices. But with Hex for instance I own and have read Hex, the Dutch version but as the ending has changed I wanted to buy the ebook to see how it was translated and how different that ending was. But the ebook price is ridiculous. So that sucks.
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I understand the trouble with ebooks! I personally don’t enjoy ebooks all that much, because they can often give me a headache, I read slower, and I simply like holding a physical book more. However, I see all the benefits. I don’t know where you get your ebooks, but most of the ones I buy/download are free or very cheap. (bookoutlet.com is a fantastic platform to find cheap ebooks, by the way)
-Amy
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Yeah, I tend to read slower as well. But I agree that it has a lot of benefits as well. I do know about bookoutlet and those type of platforms but I live in the Netherlands and so I need a creditcard or paypal. Both of which I don’t have nor am I willing to get them for this. 🙂
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Haha absolutely. 🙂 I don’t either, so usually I just go with free haha.
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