Amph Paperback vs. Hardback

Yeah, the worst think about paperbacks is that by the time you've read it once, the pages have started to turn yellow, and the spine is bent

 

That's true. Most of my Papaerbacks look pretty shabby. And if I've dared read the story more than once, then it's falling apart.

 

Not nearly as nice as hardcovers, which convey a sort of enduring majesty that?s hard to find with a dingy little mass market paperback. And with hardcovers creased spines are virtually eliminated, something that?s almost unavoidable when you?re reading a mass market paperback of considerable length.

 

Paperback for most of my books, but for something like Harry Potter, then all hardback.

 

If I'm only moderately interested, mass market paperback. If I'm very interested, hardcover. If I'm somewhere in between, trade paperback.

 

Spoken like a neutral politician, Raven. Bit here, bit there.

ezekiel22x, your magesity is my travesty. But it really all depends on the printer. Take Erikson's books for eg. Most are 1000 pages or more, and all paperbacks have solid spines and even good font size.

 

I prefer Hardcover for one simple reason: I misplace everything and when I find it again, it's in really bad shape. This way I don't have to worry about it.

~PK~

 

Oh, the irony.

The Hooded One

 

Completely depends on what I'm buying- when textbook shopping, I always try to find the company that prints paperback copies of all my computer science books because I'd rather pay $30 than $80 any day. Even though it might've been beneficial to invest in the hardback for my computer architecture book... it's a behemoth, and the spine didn't fare so well. However, not my specific field in CS, therefore not investing in the better copy.

Usually, if it's a really massive volume, I'll buy hardcover. They just stand up better (witness poor Hennessy & Patterson). I will also buy hardback if I know I'm going to love it and I don't feel like waiting for the paperback copy. Also, if it's one of the Barnes & Noble classics for $5, I'll buy hardback.

However, if I read a review and I hear that it sucks, definitely waiting for the paperback, if I get it at all.

As a rule, I buy the cheapest copy of a book possible. It's not like the story gets any better by getting a more expensive cover.

 

I guess I'm weird. As a poor student everything was paperback. Five dollars per book (at the time) was a much better option to a $25 hard cover I didn't even know if I was going to like.

I did go and special order the LotR in hardcover long ago, and have gone back and updated a few of the books I like to read over and over again. These days, if I like the author, then I buy it in harback the day it comes out.

 

I like hardcovers myself. Yeah they cost a lot more, but they hold up FAR better than any of my paperbacks (and yeah, one read and my paperbacks start to turn yellow and such, it's quite unattractive). I also think hardcovers look better on the shelf as well.

 

What do you guys do, wrestle with your softcover books? Paperbacks don't just defoliate apart, you know. How is a hard- more durable than paperback? My hardcovers after a few years have started to yellow just a tad, certainly for something as old as Darksaber.

 

The only novels I buy religiously in hardback are Star Wars novels. The rest I get in paperback. They're easier to carry around and I don't have to worry about ruining that pesky dust jacket (which I remove when reading Star Wars novels).

 

Paperback, all the way. They're cheaper and easier to handle. Of course, certain books should never be bought in paperback.

Like right now, I'm waiting for Shadow of the Giant to come out in paperback, and then when I have the money, I will buy it.

 

Ooh good choice, i really like Shadow of the Giant.

 

unless it's a book i really want to get i'll wait till the paperback version comes out

 

I'm waiting for A Feast for Crows paperback. Trade paperback's just too mammoth on a shelf.

 

I'm with Ex here -- I take good care of my paperbacks. Hold them properly, and you'll avoid spine-crease. Plus, even if you wear it out, you can buy three more replacement copies and still have spent the same as one hardcover. The only reason I ever buy hardcover is impatience.

 

Age is telling here. I have books that I've owned for more that thirty years. The paperbacks are yellowed and fragile but the hardbacks are generally merely dusty. I have 4 six foot high book shelves full of hard backs. On the other hand I have I shelf that goes around two walls in my den and one wall in a bedroom that I've filled with paperbacks. I've been collocting through my adult life and have some from my teens. It takes a while but it's a treasure worth keeping. And you can always go back and reread that one you haven't thought about in several years that you know will appreceate now better since you're older. And guess what? You're always older.

 

I'm honestly puzzled how you can defoliate a softcover. They're just sitting on your shelf, or you're playing kick-the-rancor?

 

Perhaps they live in a very damp house or chain-smoke while reading? I'm willing to bet that they do awful things like leave the poor books bent down the middle instead of using a bookmark or bend the cover right round when reading them. *shudders*

 

My grandfather does all of these things. (Except chainsmoke). I've learnt never to lend a book to him.

I particularly despise the 'hold the book in one hand while curling the cover all the way around'.

 

I actually do love English paperback. The relief imprint on the covers are great. (Don't ask for it on German books...)
The only reason for me to buy hardcover ist 1) i want to read it NOW as soon as it gets out or 2) it's second hand.

Many of my paperbacks do look relly read, but that is something I appreciate. Good books get read often and it shows. To keep them from falling apart I use self-glueing foils (What's the proper english word?).

And then most paperbacks just smell better.
(Just open any place, plunge your nose in and try. I know I'm a freak)

 

I'm a fan of paperback, as I can take them anywhere in my bag, lightening my load and not taking up so much space. I don't really care how it looks, but for something I'm going to be reading over and over, I would choose hardback. I do wish that coffee table books with alot of illustrations (some of the DH SW coffee books that I've gotten) were hardback, and kept the pages actually in the book, rather than falling out like some of the paperbacks I've seen.

Maybe this thread should be in the Census forum?

 

I usually buy paperback, simply because they're so much handier to carry around. I have nearly 500 books, and am running out of shelf space as it is. With hardbacks it'd be even worse.

I'm not worried about wearing books out, unless they're out of print. Books are meant to be read, and if they show it, that's fine. Of course, one of my favorite places to read a book is the bath, and some have survived even a dunking!