Reading is fun! Reading is exciting! Reading is out of this world! Thanks to books you can travel to many different places, different continents, different countries, different cities or even different planets. You can also imagine that you live in a fantasy world without leaving your room. You can meet interesting people, talented wizards, friendly giants or evil witches. To enter such a world of book lovers, you have two options: traditional books and e‑books. Let’s see what their advantages and disadvantages are!
Traditional paper books give you a very nice experience. You can smell the book, touch the book, turn the pages, and write notes in them.
It’s especially nice with old books.
In some books or albums you can see beautiful illustrations and pictures which are big and colourful. They help you imagine the places that are in the text. They can show you good and bad characters that change along the story.
Reading can also be good for your mind. It helps you focus, calm down, and relax. It’s very similar to doing puzzles, but with books you have interesting, often complicated, stories. Books also teach you new words and help you write your own creative ones.
Don’t forget that books have beautiful covers and they look very nice in a room on the shelves. Some people arrange them by colour. You can also put them in an alphabetical order or by author. Books at home look really amazing. But it can also be a disadvantage because books take a lot of space. They also get very dusty.
Another disadvantage of traditional books is the light. You need to read during the day or with a lamp if you want to read at night.
Books are heavy. If your book has about 100 pages that’s fine, but what if you like reading long novels that are very thick? It’s a problem for your back if you like carrying them around in your backpack!
E‑readers are much easier to carry. It’s only one light device that doesn’t need much space. It’s a perfect option when you want to travel.
One of the best things about e‑readers is that you can have a lot of books in one place, always with you! It doesn’t matter if you are on a train, on a plane, on holidays or in hospital, an e‑reader is a perfect option. Some people like to read more than one title at a time. With an e‑reader it’s not a problem because this device remembers the page where you finished reading.
Reading at night is not a problem with e‑books. So if you are an owl and like to stay up at nights to read, this device is definitely for you. Electronic paper looks like a printed book, but at the same time it gives light. You don’t need a lamp!
Remember, just because you can read at night, it doesn’t mean that it’s good for your eyes. It looks like paper, but it’s a screen. We know that if we look at a screen for too long our eyes can get tired and you can get a headache.
Another disadvantage is the battery. Remember to charge your e‑reader so you can read your books when you travel. You don’t usually need to charge your e‑reader very often, but still you have to remember to take a charger with you when you go on holiday.
It takes a lot to produce an e‑reader. E‑readers need to be recycled, charged, and they also need some toxic metals to destroy them. Experts say that you need to read from 22 to 100 e‑books to make your e‑reader more eco‑friendly.
With books, it's a little bit different. You can buy a new book or a used one. There are libraries where you can borrow books. After reading you can sell it or give it to the next person. Paper books are also easier to recycle.
As you can see, there are many advantages and disadvantages of e‑books and paper books. Remember, the most important thing is to read! So, read at home, read during travels, read on holidays, read during the day or at nights. Books are awesome! It doesn’t matter if you use an e‑reader or a printed book if you love reading.
