From page-turner to screen-swiper

Last weekend I finished my most anticipated book of 2025, Emily Henry’s Great Big Beautiful Life. As usual she outdid herself, and I’m glad I didn’t listen to the mixed reviews I peeked at on Goodreads (I can’t help myself).

For once I did something different: I picked up a tablet to read the book. Gasp — I turned to e-books. Call it impatience, but I had ordered two special editions because I’m both a collector and a little bit insane. I figured one would arrive that same week. Well, I was loud and wrong. I almost bought a third copy just to start reading immediately, but even I couldn’t justify that. So what did I do? I downloaded the e-book to my iPad.

I’m guilty as sin. For the longest time I was anti e-book and audiobook. Nothing beats the feeling of turning pages, annotating and physically engaging with a book. But I won’t lie — the convenience of swiping to the next page? Kind of amazing.

One thing I still can’t get into, though, is audiobooks. To me, they fall into the same category as podcasts — and I don’t really care for those either. They tend to lull me to sleep. I once tried listening to an audiobook in hopes of “cutting down” on reading time, but I knocked out every single time. Maybe the narrator’s voice was just too soothing, but I can’t get myself to hop on that bandwagon.

Before this I was in a serious reading slump. I couldn’t figure out why, especially since I thought I was fully back in my bookworm era. But I’ve realized something: I can’t stand hardcover books. That’s part of what led me to embrace digital reading. Most new releases debut in hardcover, and while they may look nice on a shelf, I’m the queen of breaking their spines. They lose their shape, and I just can’t deal. So yes, I’m team paperback — but unfortunately, Great Big Beautiful Life won’t be out in paperback for another year. And yes, I’m already thinking about a reread. It was that good.

I had low expectations for reading on my iPad. I assumed I’d get distracted or start playing Candy Crush instead, but I was locked in. I even liked being able to annotate without physically marking up the book. No shade to anyone who loves to write in their books — I respect it — but I prefer to keep mine in pristine condition.

All of this has me wondering which format is actually better — e-books or physical copies? I still can’t decide. Both have their pros and cons. Even though I’ve spent two paragraphs dragging hardcovers, each format serves a different purpose. If I don’t want to carry multiple books, a Kindle or tablet makes sense. There’s literal convenience in digital reading.

But a physical book? It’s an experience. It reminds us that print still matters. Buying books or borrowing them from your local library goes a long way. I didn’t know this until recently, but Barnes & Noble was struggling until BookTok revived reading. Because of that, I’ll say this: I’m mostly team physical book. Will I buy a Kindle anytime soon? I’m not sure. But never say never. Most importantly, support your local bookstores and libraries.