Did you know that e-books and audiobooks are also real? Yeah, they exist, and this is what I have to say about it.

Bookish Verbosity is a non-regular feature at AEROPAPERS where I talk about topics that are related to books, blogging, and the book community.

I was leisurely browsing Instagram when a post caught my attention, and it really popped a nerve. It says it prefers “real books”. Real books = print books. Nope, no, the equation is so wrong. It is so wrong on many levels!

This is my biggest bookworm pet peeve: calling print books “real” books. This term irked me because it sounded like e-books and audiobooks did not exist. I mean, look at what Dictionary.com has to say about the term ‘real:’

Real (re.al 1 adjective)

1. true; not merely ostensible, nominal, or apparent: the real reason for an act.
2. existing or occurring as fact; actual rather than imaginary, ideal, or fictitious: a story taken from real life.

So do you get where my frustration and disappointment are coming from?

So maybe I’m making a big deal out of it. And perhaps people use the term quite loosely. But it doesn’t take away the fact that perceptions of ebooks and audiobooks seem to be so low compared to print books. I feel it’s so unfair when every format has pros and cons when we use them. Print books are not perfect. Beautiful, yes, but not perfect.

I’m a proud digital reader. I read ebooks most of the time. Like every time. And I only receive ARCs in digital format. And I’m so thankful because it allows me to read ARCs. Without this format, I wouldn’t even get the chance. Like zero! So somehow it upsets me that some belittle ebooks and audiobooks. Even print ARCs seem to have so much more clamor than eARCs. Now, I don’t want a debate, nor am I forcing everyone to love ebooks and audiobooks, but I don’t want to devalue these two formats compared to print books. These two also deserve the term “real,” because, well, they’re real and created for the convenience of every reader.

I understand and respect people’s preferences. I don’t even like audio books, but they’re still as real to me as ebooks and print books are. It also has a list of advantages and disadvantages. I’m not going to discuss them here anymore; many have already done that. If you like print books, fine, just don’t diss someone who has other preferences.

Speaking of, do you know what upsets me more? When they think that a digital reader is not a real reader. Just so you know, the story is the same. We read the same story. It’s the same book! And I bet the book was digital first before it became a printed book; have you ever thought of that? Nikki of The Paper Sea wrote a very good post about not being a real reader because she reads digitally. And I absolutely agreed to everything. If you need enlightenment, read it.

Print books, e-books, and audio books are all the same; they are all books; only the formats make them different. This is the message I want to convey: they are all real and made for our benefit. And you can’t take away the fact that they all exist, ergo it’s real.

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How about you? Do you also believe that all formats should be treated equally? If you’re a digital reader, does it also upset you that they belittle your preferred format? Care to share your thoughts with me?