There's room for e-books and print, book lovers say

Book lover Dale Lombardi is old school when it comes to reading. She has built a personal library at home with piles and piles of paperbacks and hardcovers.

But technology -- in the form of a portable electronic reader -- has worked its way into the Lombardi household.

"My husband loves his Kindle," she said while shopping last week at Wellesley Booksmith in the town square. "I would not be caught -- no way. I want to smell the book. I want to crack the cover. I want to feel the pages."

Traditionalists like Lombardi are bucking a trend as sales of e-books soar.

Take these statistics: Amazon.com reports it has sold 143 e-books for every 100 hardcover books over the past three months. And in just the past month, the popular Kindle books have outsold hardcovers 2-to-1.

"It is interesting," said Deb Sundin, who manages Wellesley's locally owned, independent bookstore, which was bustling with browsers and shoppers on Friday, "because we're having an incredibly good year."

While you might expect a spike in e-book sales to be bad for local bookstores, readers and retailers say there's room for digital and traditional volumes to coexist.

For example, Harry Ball, 65, of Sudbury, who was shopping at Barnes & Noble in Framingham on Friday with his wife, is now in the middle of two books.

One is an old hardcover, "The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology."

The other is a photography guidebook on natural lighting that he downloaded onto his iPod Touch and is reading using a free Kindle application. He doesn't mind the small screen and likes that portability of the device.

"This has been great. It's been fun," Ball said of the Touch. "I can bring it around so if I get stuck on a shopping trip with my wife and I'm a little bit bored I can pull this out of my pocket."

Barnes & Noble has its e-reader, the lightweight, book-sized "Nook," on display right inside the store. It competes with Amazon's Kindle, Apple's iPad and Sony's eReader.

The Nook stores up to 1,500 books, newspapers and magazines with more than 1 million titles on a digital bookshelf available for instant, wireless download. You can read e-books on them at Barnes & Noble stores for free.

"They're a very popular item," said Margaret Moore, the Framingham bookstore's community relations manager.

"Ecologically, it's 'I'm saving trees,' but it's very comfortable to me," said Muriel MacLeod, 58, of Franklin, a voracious reader who got a Nook shortly after it hit the market last fall.

"I convinced my husband to give it to me for Christmas, but I share it with him," she said.

Mom of two Molly Grant and her husband share a Kindle, but he uses it more when he travels for business. She still prefers real books, though.

"It's something about wanting to hold the book," said the Weston woman.

While the popularity of e-books is on the rise, the Wellesley Booksmith and Framingham Barnes & Noble say sales of their paper books have been solid.

The general manager at Tatnuck Bookseller in the Westborough Shopping Center, which claims to be the largest independent bookstore in New England, declined to comment for this story.

MacLeod manages the Framingham Barnes & Noble's children's department and despite the fact she works at a bookstore and loves holding books, she finds reading electronic books enjoyable and easy -- especially while traveling.

"I think it's the wave of the future, that's my guess," said Ball, who got his iPod Touch as a Father's Day gift.

Not everyone is a fan, though.

Annie Ziak, 26, of South Weymouth, who was visiting the area last week, said the popularity of e-readers is "really sad."

"I really think that it's a shame," she said. "Books are amazing."

Lombardi, who likes reading poetry, memoirs, and bestselling novels, said she always has "about 10 different books going."

She totes them around with her and when she flies "they always put the heavy sticker on my suitcase" at the airport.

"I would be the perfect candidate for a Kindle," she said, "but I refuse."

MetroWest Daily News writer Danielle Ameden can be reached at 508-626-4416 or dameden@cnc.com.