277. Isn’t Physical Book Collection a Waste of Resources?

So many books, so little time, space, and money. Many fans love collect physical copies of their favorite stories, often so much that they run out of bookshelf space. (Stephen and Zack are in this situation!) Now that we have audiobook and digital copies, isn’t book collection a waste of resources?

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Concessions:

• This is about culture in general, not Christian families or homeschoolers.
• Not focused on this episode about the recent trends of books that are turning away prospective male readers.

1. Physical books make a wise investment.

• Judas Iscariot, kinda: “These books could have been sold and the money given to the poor.”
• Reading a book is more work than watching a movie or enjoying some other form of entertainment, so people have high expectations. And too many books have disappointed, browbeat, or lectured them. Many people are right to be skeptical that a book will be worth their money.
• “We’re basically after Joe’s beer money, and Joe likes his beer, so you better make sure that what you give him is at least as pleasurable to him as having his six-pack of beer would be.” — Jerry Pournelle
• You can always make more money, though. And more importantly, you can make a book budget. There’s also the library.
• Another concern is that reading books, especially speculative fiction, will not help us get the jobs that make enough money.
• But every job requires communication and people skills, and this is a skill best learned through a novel.
• “According to the neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf, so-called deep reading—sustained immersion in a text—stimulates a number of valuable mental habits, including critical thinking and self-reflection, in ways that skimming or reading in short bursts does not.”

Zackary Russell’s central bookshelf, as of August 2025

2. Physical books really should take up space.

• Why own physical books when you can erase