Electronic or physical: What’s on your bookshelf - October

I was at Literati, a 2-year old indie bookstore in Ann Arbor yesterday (more on that next month). There was a discussion around e-books vs. physical books and why anyone would open a bricks and mortar bookstore in the 21st century.

I must admit, I’m a bit old fashioned (I still get a physical copy of the WSJ delivered every day). My reading runs probably 30% electronic and 70% physical. Which media I choose depends on when/where I hear about the book and my need for instant gratification.

I lean toward the physical for several reasons:

1. I like to share – there is something rewarding about passing on a good book to someone you know will enjoy it (harder to do with an e-book).
2. I like having books (and newspapers) around. The whole family will read various/random articles in the paper during the day, and we all share the books that we keep lying around the house (a discussion this morning was about automatic vs. manual transmissions with my 10 year old because of an article she saw in yesterday's paper).
3. For me there is a tactile pleasure in holding a physical book that I don’t get from my Kindle.

What is your preference / ratio for electronic vs. physical?

October:

Books identified:

• Spam Nation, Brian Kreb
• Cache Lake County, John Rowlands
  

Books acquired:

• The girl in the spider’s web, David Lagercrantz (physical)
• Go set a watchman, Harper Lee (physical)

Books read:

• Stormy Weather, Carl Hiaasen (physical)
• Scaling Up, Verne Harnish (In process) (physical)
• Moby Dick, Herman Melville (In process) (electronic)

A short list this month. Schedules got hectic and I picked up Moby Dick, which I had put down over a year ago. I set the book aside when Melville went into his long dissertation on the differences between the right whale and the sperm whale. I have vowed to pick it up again and finish it. Hopefully by the end of November. Wish me luck.

Scaling Up was recommended by Mike Klein who said that he used the Rockefeller Habits to successfully grow his high-tech company, Online Tech. So far it is an excellent read focusing on developing a strategy for growth. I am looking forward to implementing some of the lessons.