In Defense of E-books
I know, I know — electronics are the bane of our current civilization. Our attention spans are limited and growing ever shorter. There is a problem with reading in this country according to the experts. Many entering college students have not read an entire book once in school.[1] The number of people who even read one book a year is small.[2],[3] Last week, I read two novels and started a third. I am grazing in a book about Carlos Castenada, who, according to the author, was a fraud. I am not sure I need to read any more to understand the thesis. The point: I read all the time, some fiction, some non! I also read long-form journalism wherever I find a topic I am interested in. But I do almost all of it on my laptop or an e-reader. And I love it!
I have entered my seventies. Ten years ago, I started downsizing. Initially, I put all my books in storage. I was living with a friend while I decided what to do about housing. Enamored of “tiny house” living, having been turned on to yurts at a Seattle museum in 2006, I decided to live in a studio apartment. I kept my storage unit and left lots of books there but managed to cram a few hundred books into that apartment with a unique bookcase arrangement. A couple of years later, I decided to start my own one-person law firm out of my apartment. All my legal books had to come home. To say it was crowded with books was an understatement. I started using an e-reader at that time. I vowed to not buy another physical book.
I broke that vow repeatedly. I love cookbooks! Especially ones from fancy chefs — I am looking at you, Ottolenghi, or ethnic cooking — hello Claudia Roden. I know, I know — you can find any recipe you want on the internet. Unfortunately, I loved paging through glossy pictures of beautiful food!
I also love reference books — again, I know you can find everything you want to know on the internet. Indeed, that is the beauty of it! However, a big reference book in your hand — Greek mythology, religions of the world, 1000 books to read before you die — has a heft that conveys intellectual seriousness. And it is also a little performative — look how smart I am.
I started doing yoga and meditation in 2016. Naturally, I needed lots of books about that. Lastly, I love books about law, politics, and cultural history. The Black Lives Matter movement influenced a number of purchases over the next few years. A visit to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona and reading all the Tony Hillerman novels caused me to buy several books on Native American legal rights.
I now live in a one-bedroom apartment and an entire wall in my living room is covered with shelves and books. I have several long shelves in my dining room with my law books. Another tall shelf, kitty corner to the wall of books, with more books.
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I guess the purpose of this recitation is to establish my bona fides as a booklover and a reader. Despite ten years of e-reading, I still have lots and lots of physical books. But I just cannot buy anymore. I have no room. I am tired of paying storage fees for the books I have barely looked at in 10 years.
Applause for the e-reader!!!! I do not know how many books I have on my e-reader, but it is a lot. Novels, non-fiction, even some cookbooks. They couldn’t fit in my home. The reading is easy. As I grow older, an e-reader is lighter than a book and has its own stand. I travel easily with it. No more hauling a book or two or three in my backpack or luggage. I can read at night with the light out. I used to fall asleep with the nightstand lit up so I could read. I would invariably wake up in the middle of the night because the light was still on. That never happens with the e-reader. If I run across a word I do not know, I can use the search function to go immediately to a dictionary. In my last clear out of books, I got rid of a good dictionary I have been lugging around for more than 50 years because I had access to the internet. However, if someone wants to buy me the Oxford English Dictionary, I promise to find space for it and lug it around for the rest of my life. I feel the same way about Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold. Both are sold through Amazon!
I admit that there are times when I go on a scrolling spree based on what I am reading. Cannot do that with a physical, printed book. And sometimes that spree exhausts my brain and I am done reading my book. I have noticed my own attention span is getting shorter. I understand the criticisms. But, despite the imminent collapse of civilization due to electronics, I will keep reading on my Kindle or my computer. If they start to burn all the physical books ala Fahrenheit 451, I can carry around hundreds of books. I will just need a power source to recharge![4]
[1] The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books; https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-postliterate-age/687618/
[2] The End of Reading is Here; https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-postliterate-age/687618/
[3] I don’t just read The Atlantic. It just happens to have two excellent articles on the issue, both by the same author. I was listening to a podcast today during which the author, Rose Horowitch, talked with Preet Bharara about the issue.
[4] I did not use AI to write this essay! You might be able to tell.
