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    13 Reasons E-Books Are Better Than Paper Books

    It's time we e-book lovers no longer lurk in the shadows!

    1. E-books let you pack light when you're traveling.

    2. You can read embarrassing books in public!

    3. Caring about impressing people with your book collection is vain and stupid.

    4. What's the big deal with liking to touch paper?

    5. Instant gratification.

    6. Years of hoarding books can end up taking up a lot of space.

    I'm not saying throw out all your books today and live a paper-free life. Books are great, and yes, bookshelves do look nice in a home. But years and years of reading is going to start taking up a lot of square footage in your place — space that you could be using for shoes or clothes or a framed photo of your childhood dog or board games or a set of extra wineglasses for when your friends come over. Unless you live in a palatial estate with tons of room for extra bookshelves, in which case: nice nice.

    7. E-readers are sooo much better for a commute on public transit.

    8. Heavy hardcover books are really unappealing if you carry them around and commute with them.

    9. Carrying a heavy book in your bag is killer on your shoulder.

    It's fine if you're just taking it on your commute to work, but what if you're planning on going out after, or just grocery shopping or doing errands? You're stuck lugging around the equivalent of your pet rock collection on your arm all evening.

    10. Carrying a big book around means you have to use a bigger bag or purse.

    11. Backlit e-readers won't annoy your partner when you read in bed.

    12. Amazon has tons of free weird e-books that are old enough to be out of copyright.

    Want a cookbook from 1900 on how to dehydrate meat? $0.00!!! There are tons and tons of other weird freebies available on Amazon. They're free, so you can check them out, read a few pages, and quit if it's too weird or bad.

    Pro tip: Go into a book category, then search "Price: Low to High" to get all the free ones.

    13. Speaking of FREE, you rent library e-books without leaving your house.