The top ten reasons to love paper books

My middle daughter has gone off to college, and she took her ereader with her. As I had downloaded quite a few books on it, I had no choice but to buy my own ereader so I didn’t lose one of my libraries. Don’t get me wrong. There are things I love about my ereader. For example, it’s lightweight for traveling, and I can read in the dark. And I can buy books without my husband really realizing how many I have. All good things. But I feel like I need to remind everyone the virtues of paper books.

1)      They don’t turn off if you ignore them for too long.

2)      Should you be hit by an electromagnetic pulse or be stuck in a zombie apocalypse where recharging devices is impossible, ereaders will be useless.

3)      Your children don’t download games on your paper books and then run off with said books.

4)      Paper books still look cooler on the shelf.

5)      You don’t have to keep constant vigilance watching your paper book for fear thieves will steal it. (Usually. Thieves might steal Janette Rallison book, so watch those.)

6)      Flight attendants don’t make you turn paper books off right when you’re at the good part.

7)      You can read paper books in the bathtub without worrying that if you drop one, you’ll lose a substantial investment.

8)      When you touch a page on a paper book, it doesn’t accidentally turn to the next page or tell you what the definition of the word you touched is.

9)      The smell and feel of new paper. Mmmm. Just as good as that new car smell.

10)   Authors can’t sign ebooks.

Which reminds me—I’ll be having an official book launch at Changing Hands for Son of War, Daughter of Chaos within a couple months. You really want a signed paper book. (See last ten reasons.) I’ll let you know when I have a date.