Sunday, March 20, 2011

Hardcover vs. Paperback

I have an interesting question for you all today... do you prefer hardcover books or paperback books (specifically trade paperback which seems to be most common lately especially for YA books)?

I have a dilemma - I own a personalized/signed copy of Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr and I am looking to pick up the rest of the series - my copy is hardcover because that is how I purchased the first one. Would you try and continue to purchase the rest of the series in hardcover if possible or would you switch the trade paperback to save a few bucks?

*sigh* My heart says buy hardcover to keep the series all in the same style of book, but my wallet/bank account is saying buy the trade paperback. LOL

I think I may suck it up this time and buy the hardcovers so they all sit together nicely on my bookcase and I can still buy them trough book depository etc in hardcover. Maybe I will just buy one a month until I have them all.

What do you prefer though - keeping them all the same or buying whatever is available or buying whatever you can afford if you can't wait to read the next one?

Which type do you prefer to read? I find hardcover a little more awkward to hold sometimes and I always take the dust jacket off while I am reading so that I don't ruin it. Paperbacks fit better in my purse when travelling or heading to work. I prefer trade paperback because of the size and the weight, but I love the look of hardcover books on a shelf. :)

17 comments:

  1. Hardcover! Honestly, I rarely buy books, but when I do... hardcover all the way. They just stay lovely so much longer!

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  2. I do like they way hardcover looks and yes they do last longer. Hmm maybe I should add a poll to this entry.

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  3. I am always having this debate with myself also! If the book is a new release (for example Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins) and I just have to have it right away I will buy in it hardcover just because that it the only format that it comes in at that time. But afterwards when the book has been out for awhile and there are multiple formats that the book is offered in, I will shop around looking at all of the prices before I make a purchase (I figure that if Amazon has the paperback copy for $10 and the hardcover for $12 I can spend the extra $2 and have the knowledge that the book will last longer). But if I come across a book sale and a book is being offered in paperback for a really cheap price I will buy it, even if I have all of the other books in hardcover (ie. the other day I found one of the books in Claudia Gray's "Evernight" series for $3 for the paperback and I bought it).

    But yes, it really is one tough debate... ;)

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  4. Hmm, paperback for the selfish reason that they're lighter and lessen my burden a little. Also the cost plays a part.

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  5. Hardcover. I want them to line up and look nice on my shelves. I will also go back and re-purchase books that are re-released in HC, like Kim Harrison's Hollows Series.

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  6. I prefer hardcover for the same reason as you are, but then again about 70& my books are paperback due to the price. I could buy more books if I choose paperback.

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  7. Wow thanks for the great respsones! What a mixed bunch of answers, but all have great reasons. :)

    I don't feel so bad now thinking to buy the rest of the series in haredcover if I can find them. :)

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  8. I joined paper back swap, and hard covers often pop up on there. If you put HCs on your wish list you can get them for a fraction of the price. :)

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  9. I prefer eBooks. Kindle, specifically. I find it much easier to read, and I find that I read more often because the Kindle is so easy to carry around. I'm not a fan of reading on the iPad as backlit screens are not easy on the eyes for long periods of time.

    I do buy hardcovers and first edition paperbacks in order to get signatures from authors that I love. And, yes, this does mean that in some case, for books I love, I end up buying them twice. :-)

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  10. I tend to buy whatever's available... I mean, I like things to match to an extent, but I don't mind mixing hardcover and softcover. Trade paperback is another thing, though... but I guess I wouldn't mind having 1 hardcover and the rest TPB. I'm not that picky, I suppose... as long as they line up somehow. I wouldn't want it 1 hard, 1 soft, 1 hard, 1 trade, 1 hard. It would have to be linear somehow.

    Mostly I'm all about saving money. My background is Dutch, after all. ;)

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  11. I prefer paperback in general as hardbacks take up too much space in my handbag. But I do like a hardback if it's a special book - or particularly pretty. Trade paperbacks, though, I tend not to bother with as they're neither one thing nor the other.

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  12. I like buying paperbacks because they're cheaper but a lot of times I can't wait for a novel to be released in paperback since it take a year or so for them to come out. In that case, I'll just buy the hardcover!

    I love Chapters/Indigo and everything but if it's for a more popular novel, I'll usually try Wal-Mart or Costco to see if there's a cheaper price. For teen novels, I've noticed that Wal-Mart is more likely to get in Harlequin Teen and S&S (Simon & Schuster books. Costco isn't exactly too reliable for finding too much regarding YA but they'll usually get in the more popular authors by S&S.

    I try to keep all of the same formatting as well because it looks so much nicer on my shelf if they're the same but sometimes I can't do it. Like for example, I have Twilight in paperback but the others are in hardcover.

    And then sometimes if a series begins to get popular, the publisher will suddenly change from paperback to hardcover which just gets so irksome!

    *sigh* What's a booklover to do?

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  13. Liz - I noticed that Walmart carries certain ones. I pick up quite a bit there bc they usually have 30% on most titles too.

    And I like keeping the same types of books together for series. Sometimes it's hard to do though.

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  14. I feel that hardcovers are a waste, and they are overpriced, and heavy! I like paperbacks and ebooks.

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  15. I like paperbacks, they fit nicely in my purse to take to work and they are easier to double up on shelves!
    I do have quite a few hardcovers, but only certain ones (like my Terry Goodkind series)

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  16. I like paperback for the cost when reading a book that isn't on my Kindle. But since I've had the Kindle, I've honestly not bought anything outside of tech books for reading that isn't electronic. I like real books when reading tech books because it's easy to jot notes in the margins. Are you still considering buying a Kindle or Nook? There are actually loaning websites out there (lendle.com) for borrowing electronic books which makes it much more affordable to have.

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  17. Hi Andrea!

    I actaully got an ereader in February! It's a Sony Pocket Reader and I love it. :) I still like reading real books, but my ereader is pretty sweet too.

    Thanks for commenting on my post.

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