Can Electronic Books Make Us Better Readers?

Steve Leveen of Levenger is a serious bibliophile who makes his living selling gorgeous products to booklovers.  After 8 months of reading on his iPad, he identified “7 Ways Electronic Books Could Make Us Better Readers.”

I’m a die-hard fan of the print book, but I’m gradually acknowledging more and more worthy uses of e-books. I’ve often thought that if I traveled a lot (someday!), I’d want an e-reader for sure, just to reduce the weight of my carry-on.

Two of Leveen’s points particularly appeal to me:

Reason #2: Having Better (for You) Books to Choose From – When you’re on the run or on the road, it’s not always easy to find just the right book to read, no matter how carefully you plan and pack. Leveen advises filling your e-reader with a “Library of Candidates” to have on hand as needed. Makes sense to me.

Reason #6: Having Your Library at Hand – Instant access to old favorites is appealing.

I’m a little dubious about Reason #3: Writing in Books. I’m a fervent advocate of writing in books, yet, as Leveen points out, many people (whom he calls Preservationists) are reluctant to write in print books. He thinks they’ll feel more comfortable highlighting and annotating a digital copy–and of course that would be a good thing. Yet he acknowledges that the uncertainty of the lifespan of our digital notes is the “dark lining” in this silver cloud of progress.

There’s certainly good cause for concern about that. Just consider the ironic Orwellian debacle of Amazon deleting 1984 and Animal Farm from the Kindles of customers who had paid for them. A student’s notes and annotations went down the same “memory hole” as his copy of 1984.

Leveen advises “duplication and dispersal,” such as printing out a review he wrote on his iPad and putting it inside his hardcover copy of the book. Not bad as back-up–but I’d still rather mark up a print book with my Papermate Sharpwriter#2 pencil.

Whether you’re already an e-reader devotee, a determined holdout, or somewhere in the middle, Leveen’s article offers good food for thought.

I’ve just added his book The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life to my wish list…but I’ll buy a print version (out of print but available on Amazon) instead of waiting for the e-book version.