For me, when I get books I often get the cheaper paperback option, give it a read.
Then if I really liked this book, I’ll donate it to a charity shop or in my social circle and purchase the hardcover version.
The only gripe I have with hardcover though is some books come with that sleeve cover around it, you know the one, bit fidgety to use when reading.
Paperback I like if there’s a book I am mildly interested in and I’ll just go “whatever” I’ll keep it as part a collection.
Paperbacks = cheap as chips but aren’t as protected as hardcover, easy to fill up your collection or shelf with, might sell it if i want the luxurious version of that book. this is for me.
Hardcover = More luxurious as it provides proper protection to the pages and outer area of the book, Often comes with items as part of a collectors set. Usually I get the same book if I really enjoy it to add as a gem of my shelf.
What are your tastes? Same as me or do you lean more heavily to one or the other?
Actually I prefer E-ink (using Kobo with Koreader).
But when I have to take a physical book I prefer to choose the paperback one, it is light, cheap and flexible.
Hardcover are nicer in a bookshelf than in my hands.
I like paperback for reading, such as novels or whatever book I’ll be holding for an extended period of time.
In contrast I prefer hardcover for books that are more visual in content or that are made to be consulted briefly such as encyclopaedias, dictionaries, etc. Or if I want it to stay open and flat on a surface, hardcover.
I’m ambivalent about small/medium sized gift books or trinket books. Those can be whatever type of cover.
Old ass musty smelling paperback. 50’s and old racist 60’s sci-fi books smell best. I have a problem.
I think you and I would be good friends. Other than buying books by the Grandmasters, I pick based on the ridiculous cover art. Woman in a space-bikini with an atomic raygun threatened by a lizard/wookie hybrid with a jetpack? Yes please!
I love you already. Favorite authors? Ray Bradbury and Arthur C Clark.
Clarke, Niven, and Heinlein for me. The original _Rendezvous with Rama _inspires awe in me every time. Stranger in a Strange Land is beautiful. The Known Space (Ring world) books are among my favorites. I’m also very fond of Ian Bank’s The Culture , though they are from this millennium and maybe out of scope for this conversation!
I have and love Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars, Zelazny’s Amber, and Castle Perilous by John De Chancie. I’ve just started collecting E. E. “Doc” Smith. I’m slowly adding to my Ursula Leguin and Lester Del Ray shelves.
And I really can’t resist buying old yellow books with ridiculous titles like “_Mutiny in Space” , “assault on the gods” , or “The shattered stars”. _ Bonus Points for awesome spaceships on the cover. I’ll buy those any day without any idea of the author or story.
Kindle. I rarely re-read, so why waste the paper/space.
Paperback if I’m reading in my recliner. It’s just lighter and more flexible in my hand. Hardcover if I’m sitting at a desk because it’s nice to set the hardcover down flat.
The only time I prefer physical books to ebooks is when there’s a heavy focus on maps, diagrams, or other illustrations. In those cases I generally want the physical book to be as large as possible, which usually means hardcover.
Ebooks all the way. An eink e-reader is delightful and ever since I got a Pixel Fold I like to read on that even though it’s not eink (Now if I could get a foldy eink e-reader I would be sooo happy!) because I can hold it like a physical book.
Plus, you just can’t compete with being able to bring an entire library with you and the physical space savings for storage in general
Paperback. I’ve sometimes waited for paperback versions of books after their initial hardcover release. Cheaper, lighter, same reading, I used to be less patient so would suck it up and get the hardcover, nowadays I don’t read as much so waiting is easier. I read a lot when traveling and hardcovers are just such a pain. The only “nice” collection I have is LOTR+hobbit.
I’m trying out an eReader soon but I’m not sure I’ll be able to get away from the desire of physically turning pages.
Hardcover on the bookshelf that will never get read. Ebook on the Kindle.
Kindle.
ADHD usually means that I’ll stop mid-word and want to read something else. If I have all my books in one place, I can still sit in my comfy chair and switch, instead of wasting further hours perusing my library and getting lost in memories of acquiring each book.
Not a big difference really.
I have most of the classics in paperback. Hardcovers do come out first, so if you’re in a hurry to read something new, that’s there first.
Ebooks and hardcovers.
Paperback. For big books maybe hardcover so it stays in one piece, but tbh all the 1000+ page books I have are still paperbacks. Even if they were the same price, I think paperbacks are easier to hold and read since they’re more flexible. But the sturdiness of hardbacks can be nice sometimes
Personally I’d like me some blend between paperback and hardcover.
Paperbacks can be laid flat (but damage quickly), hardcovers not as easily (but don’t damage quickly).
Something like a concealed Cased-in-Wire-O might be best, but where you don’t really see the spirals between the pages.
I find paperbacks more comfortable. Though I have just bought a Kobo so I’ll probably be using that more soon.
