Which is your favorite to read in or collect? I used to have such an aversion to paperbacks of any kind and predominantly preferred hardcover titles. As I grew older, I ended up realizing the value of a good paperback. I still will not get mass market though. Not a fan of how small they are and how easy the spine can get ruined (I’m weird about spines in books and preserving them in peak condition even after reading them).
by ElopedCantelope
9 Comments
I actually love mass market paperbacks because they’re easy to carry around everywhere. Hardcover are too big and the dust jackets are just in my way. I’m trying to read these things
Hardcover. Weirdly I find it more important to get hardcover for history than literature. I used to hate dust jackets and just stored them in a drawer, now I’m the opposite and cringe at every library book I see with them glued on. Yikes!
I read enough books that are only available in paperback so I can’t be too much of a snob about it.
Hardcover! They are easier to read and last longer. Alas these days I’m stuck reading my Kindle… hard to juggle a physical book and a baby!
Hardbacks. I can’t always find a hardback version of the books I want, though.
I’ll only get hardcovers from the library. They take up too much room on my small bookshelf space I’ve allotted for the few books I decide to keep. For something I want to buy and keep, trade paperback is my go-to. The only mass market paperbacks I have are thrifted from long ago in my poor student life or handed down and they come from an era before the modern trade paperback size became a thing.
Weirdly I’m most excited when I score a trade paperback of a book I’m interested in. I guess it’s because they are a bit unusual. I haven’t done this recently but I used to out of my way to get trade back editions of books I really liked.
These days I’m completely sold on kindle for all but reference works due to portability and ease of reading. This makes me feel a little sad but not enough to change.
I collect both hardcover and trade paperbacks. Don’t care for the mass market paperbacks at all.
Paperbacks. Usually which ever one has the best looking cover. Hardbacks are too heavy for me to hold and really awkward to manipulate. Not to mention they are generally more expensive
I like reading paperbacks, but i like the way hardcovers look. I’ve tried mass market paperback, and the text is too small for me. I love how small and portable they are, though