Except, ok, I do get it. I have an e-reader (Nook Tablet, if you're curious, which I greatly enjoy). I've only actually used it to read e-galleys for the store, but that experience has been fine. All in all, I prefer holding a physical book and flipping through the pages and having them around the house.
BUT MY CHILDREN. I have two 15 month old babies, and despite my best efforts, they constantly get into my bookshelves and EAT THE BOOKS. EAT THEM. This is unacceptable. So I'm considering downloading the books I own that are in the public domain (i.e., free) onto my Nook and getting rid of the physical copies (or at least boxing them up for now, until the babies don't EAT ZE PAGES). That would greatly reduce the amount of books on the shelves, and therefore the amount of policing I have to do of those shelves ALL THE LIVELONG DAY.
I can't decide to do this or not. I need you to tell me what you think. Here are Points For Consideration:
1. I like having an actual library. I think I'm more likely to re-read a book if it's in my face, and I like the way my house feels with physical books everywhere.
2. I think it's important for kids to grow up around books. But I can always bring the books back out once the boys are more...English speaking?
3. If I box up my classics, all that will be on the shelves are modern books. This is weird for me. This is not representative of my tastes.
4. WHAT IF I LOSE MY NOOK?
5. WHAT IF I DROP MY NOOK IN A PUDDLE OF ACID?
6. WHAT IF THE NOOK IS STOLEN IN THE NIGHT BY A RABID RACCOON?
It's really points 4-6 that concern me most. I'm trying not to fetishize books made of trees, but they're just what I prefer right now. Maybe if I go more digital I'll get used to it? What if I don't get used to it and start reading less?
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION: Take all the bookshelves upstairs into the office and make it into an actual library. But that involves a lot of heavy lifting, and besides I HAVE THIS BLOODY NOOK I SHOULD USE IT. Right? RIGHT?
Halp.
I would make a library & still download things on your Nook. I have the same problem, except I don't have kids - I have a cat. He chews on my books when he is mad at me because he knows I love them more than I love him.
ReplyDeleteMy cat, Severus, sometimes chews on my books. It's better than the alternative, which is peeing on them. He did that to one of my mum's.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should just put the physical copies of books you really adore on high shelves? Your babies can't climb yet...can they? Cupboards? Can they turn doorknobs? I just realised my cat can do both these things. SAVE THE BOOKS! *runs in circles*
Also, there's nothing to stop your kids from chewing on your eReader, other than close supervision. I suggest you take whatever precautions you can, cross your toes and enjoy your books in whichever format you are most comfortable.
A fiendish dilemma, I like the alternative solution with the library upstairs - a few books can always be kept around for the feel (agree with that)- and then once the boys are more readey less chewy, bring more downstairs gradually.
ReplyDeleteYour babies are EATING YOUR BOOKS?!??! That's my worst nightmare about having children (ok health and welfare of my children would possibly trump that). I have a kindle, but I always find myself reaching for a "real" book instead.
ReplyDeleteI vote High Shelves with lots of books, it's you, it's decortive, it says home. Bottom shelves are baskets of little boy friendly toys and baby books. This too shall pass
ReplyDeleteOh boy, the babies are eating the books... My kids, destructive little tykes they are, leave my books alone. When asked, they tell me that my books are "boring" and they much prefer GOODNIGHT GORILLA to the latest Michael Chabon. Empathy, I have it for you.
ReplyDeleteYou love your physical books and you should be able to touch them and smell them and flip through their pages whenever you want. Time to move the books upstairs where they will be appreciated and drooled over (not onto). The Nook is fine for the galleys and public domain books. You can always just re-download the public domain stuff if you Nook dies.
I hate to say it, but the stage after Eating all the Pages is Pushing all the Buttons. So just keep everything!
ReplyDeleteDon't get rid of the books! But maybe just box them up for a while? And then get them back out when your babies discover tastier foods like ice cream and cake?
ReplyDeleteOne DON'T GET RID OF THE BOOKS. I agree with Laura that maybe you just hide them until your boys realize there are things that taste better than books?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this is the same with the Nook, but with the Kindle for example, if something happens to my Kindle device, I don't lose my books. They're connected to my account so I can read them on a new Kindle. Or on my phone. or computer.
Don't get rid of the books. My daughter had a thing for yummy books, but she grew out of it. She is 3. My son is starting to like the books, but he'll grow out of it too. I just make other things more interesting. He has started preferring the board books (fine by me). I also have a kindle account, so everything is saved onto some mysterious cloud,
ReplyDeleteI was just looking at some of your other responses and thought mine looked funny. She actually grew out of it by the time she was 18 months. What I meant to say was it has been a year and half since I've had to worry about this.
DeleteI don't know if the Nook does this, but with a Kindle you have an online record of all your purchases (free or paid) so even if it is lost, you can download them all again. If the Nook has something similar, then I wouldn't worry so much about 4-6. But if it doesn't then maybe it would be a good idea to box everything up, or place them on high shelves away from nomming babies.
ReplyDeleteWould the nooked books reappear later if they were put away in a box or would they be forgotten, dusty, moth-y pages, little plaintive book eyes looking up at you when you finally open that box up years later? Think "Brave Little Toaster". I'm just throwing that out there.
ReplyDeleteI vote for the upstairs library. When the babies get old enough, they'll go upstairs and realize books are everywhere. And that will be a treat in itself.
Keep the books, move them out of the kids way. I cannot imagine a house without books. And leave a few around, talk about how you treat them.
ReplyDeleteKeep. The. Books.
ReplyDelete(Move 'em.)
Could your husband install a fence in the back yard so you can raise the boys free range? Maybe after grazing all day, they won't be hungry for books?
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, regarding 4-6, I don't have an ereader, but ebooks are just text files that can be re-downloaded if the racoons stage a surprise raid - which they would be reluctant to do with the twins patrolling the perimeter...
Upstairs library, for sure! I did that with mine before the new twins even arrived. Of course, I had no choice. I had to make way for 3 tons of new baby necessities down stairs.
ReplyDeleteI had a Kindle when they first came on scene, but returned it because it wasn't worth the $ when I still honestly preferred real books. But now I am wanting a Nook because thinking this may be the only way to squeeze in reading while raising these babes...I could hold a Nook and a baby unlike a paper book. Have you found your Nook useful in this capacity?
Keep the books, but just maybe put your books on higher shelves and use the bottom shelves for their books or baskets of toys? Maybe box up a few that you don't anticipate reading soon? I have three kids and I was lucky that they never ate books. My youngest was an artist, and she drew in a few of them, but I freaked out so much that she never did it again. I wasn't too happy having to pay $15 for a crappy library copy of Cannery Row that she drew in with permanent marker. The joys of raising small children. In short, the phase will pass, and your books will be okay. I do have a Kindle, but if there is a book I really love, I'll buy the physical copy to keep.
ReplyDeleteIf only Nokia made an e-reader, then you'd never have to worry about dropping it, puddles of acid or hordes of raccoons.
ReplyDeleteI've kept all of the books I love: the ones I'll either read again or I love the physical object--beautiful binding, illustrations, etc. (I also keep all books in series I love, like NYBR classics and New Directions Press.) The rest I've sold.
ReplyDeleteNow I buy e-books for most books (except my favorite authors), and then buy a real book (often a first edition or nice copy) if I know I'll return to it.
I think it's a good balance: keeps the library size in control, and it's really wonderful having a discriminating library with no filler and all nice bindings and covers.
But a library of some form is a must. Go library!
Ok so my temporary solution is to do what I was considering- but only with my TBR shelf (shelf as in entire bookshelf, not one shelf of a bookshelf). I took all my unread paperback classics out of that shelf and moved them upstairs, and downloaded them to my nook. That freed up enough space that I could move the rest of the books up where the boys can't reach them. PARTIAL SOLUTIONS FTW.
ReplyDeleteI have a Kindle, which I felt obligated to buy since my books were actually being published as ebooks and I wanted to see what they looked like.
ReplyDeleteI like it, but I don't love it. I see it as replacing all those cheap so-so paperbacks I would buy to fill time in airports, etc. but I'd have a hard time getting rid of my best-loved books in favor of invisible digital editions. I like having a room full of books, and yes, I know deep down it's an ego thing. Look how well-read I am!!!
As for the kids eating or drawing on the books (which is the next thing they'll do when they get past the eating stage) - my solution was to get doors for the bookcases. Keeps kids, cats and a fair amount of dust off the books.
Just sacrifice your children to the heathen gods. Everything will work out wonderfully in the end, and it would solve your problems!
ReplyDeletePlease, for the love of all that is holy (books), don't get rid of your books. There are alternatives... like, putting your books where the wee ones can't get to them...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've found a partial solution. Once the kids are a little older they'll lose interest in chewing/ripping pages. Having books around will encourage them to be readers so I am glad that you're keeping your books.
ReplyDeleteRe: Death of e-reader by raccoon. I left mine on a plane and when I got a new one, I was able to send all my books to the new one once I activated it (and deactivated the old one.)That special cloud on the internet keeps everything safe for us. I still prefer a mix of real books and digital books, though.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought that you shouldn't move things away to prevent your kids from touching and/or destroying them (except of course things they could hurt themselves on or with) because when you visit other homes, things are not put away and then the kids will touch and destroy because they don't know better. That being said, we have had issues with especially dvds but also with books. As I mentioned to you on Twitter, we had the singing donkey that scared them senseless and that kept them away from everything we didn't want them to touch. I think I would put the books I definitely didn't want destroyed on the top shelves or upstairs and then put books on the bottom that I could replace if they got destroyed - and then watch them like a hawk and try to distract them ...
ReplyDeleteAnother vote for keeping the books. I have a Kindle and I love it, but I'm not giving up paper.
ReplyDelete