Bookie Brunch: Hardcovers or Paperbacks?

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Founder: Sasha Soren (Random Magic)

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Today’s host: StoryWings (@storywings)

Next week’s host: vvb32 reads (@vvb32reads)

This week’s discussion open through: 10 August 2011

Your host this week:

Amanda at StoryWings (@storywings)

My guests this week:

Yiota at Splash of our Worlds (@splashOOworlds)

Pepca at Beyond Strange New Words (@StrangeNewWords)

Tina at Tinas Book Reviews (@BooksatTinas)

Ruby at Ruby's Reads (@Rubysreads)

The question under discussion: Do you prefer hardcovers or paperbacks and why?

Related topics to consider: Would you consider buying a book that wasn't in your preferred format (hardcover vs. paperback) - if so, what would be your reason for doing so?

Question suggested by: This Miss Loves to Read 

Amanda says: I am definitely a paperback person, I love the look, I love the feel and I love the price. I love that my bookshelf is pretty much ordered chaos, stacks here and there triple stacking where possible and no books looking the same. Because of my rag tag collection of paperbacks I can always tell exactly where what I'm looking for is. 
 
I really don't like hardcover books, they are awkward, bulky and being a person who reads in bed...have a tendancy of giving out black eyes if dropped on your head. Many times I have fallen asleep reading and if it was a hardcover book it would fall and the corner would leave me looking as if I'd had a fight with a door. So in addition to looks and feels I find paperbacks to be a much safer option as well.

I only ever buy hardbacks if I can't get a copy of the paperback, which is very rare. I did get over excited for the release of Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead and I bought a hardcover copy just so I could have it straight away from Book Depository, completely forgetting that we would have had the paperback copy in stores on the release date anyway because Australia is a paperback nation, it's hard to find hardcover books in retail stores unless they are specialty stores. 

I hated the fact that I had the rest of the series in paperback and that one copy in hardcover so much that I searched everywhere I could for months to get a paperback edition because we had sold out after Last Sacrifice was released and no one restocked. I finally found a copy in a department store hidden up on the top shelf away from the rest of the series! So now I have three copies of the same book...

 
Yiota says: Definetelly hardbacks! There is no special reason for it. Mostly appearence. I like when the books feel huge and heavy. And that's a hardback quality. And when i read a hardback i take out the cover page. They look so classy and old with their black, grey, etc covers and the simple lettering on it. I wish i had a library full of hardbacks in their simple colors.

I'm always buying books in NOT my preffered format. There are 4 main reasons for that: 

1. I live in Greece and i'm not really recieving all those books you guys get at US and UK as ARCs. So imagine that you have to buy that amount of books (not all of them but most). Paperbacks are 99% of the times cheaper and with the money of a hardback version i can buy 2 books which is better since i will have more to read. 
2. Sometimes i just can't resist some covers. So i will just buy the cover i like more no matter the version of the book.
3. There are times i can't wait for a book and the paperback version comes out way earlier than the hardback (or the opposite). So i'm buying the earlier released version.
4. And lastly, when i'm not really sure about the content of the book or how much i will like it, i prefer to buy the cheaper copy no matter the edition. So i won't feel bad i spent all of my money on something i didn't like at the end.

Pepca says: I do not really have a preference for either of the two formats. I buy both paperbacks and hardcovers. Paperbacks are lighter and take up less space than hardcovers. Hardcovers are bulkier and sturdier, and they stand and look better on the shelves. Hardcovers do not get damaged as easily as paperbacks, but paperbacks are more comfortable for transporting and handling.

I will not lie, it mostly depends on the price which format I buy. Usually paperbacks are cheaper, but sometimes there are better deals on hardcovers, so I generally buy the one that is cheaper, since I have to be careful with money. However, I make an exception occasionally. If there is a book I really cannot wait to read, I buy it in the first format available (as a rule it is a hardcover). Also, I like to buy the books that belong to a particular series all in the same format/edition.

Tina says: Wow this is suprisingly a hard question for me becuase I love both. For my shelves I love hardback books because they look so pretty displayed and the binding keeps longer and protects the pages inside. For reading, I prefer paperbacks. I love the feel of breaking a spine on my book and devouring its contents...but I read hardbacks as well. There is a paperback Im dying to get my hands on and thats the UK edition of The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan...however Im to cheap to pay the shipping.

Ruby says: I go back and forth on this dilemma. Hardcovers are, well, hardy. They last longer, and they protect the pages better. On the other hand, they’re also heavier. On the other other hand, hardcovers look best on the shelves. Go on, try to deny that that matters to you. On the fourth hand (hey, this is my paragraph—I can have as many hands as I want), the question of “paperbacks” isn’t that simple, either. Paperback is a term that encompasses mass market (or pocket) paperbacks and trade paperbacks. Mass markets are cheaper not just because they’re smaller, but also because they’re printed on lower quality paper. Their spines crack more easily. Trade paperbacks (although this is not always the case) are made with better paper, and the height to width ratio makes the spines less likely to crack, and they stay open more easily. Despite the fact that I’ve made mass markets sound like they’re the literary equivalent of really crappy Kleenex, I really like them. For one thing, I can fit two MMs in my purse of the moment, no problem. They’re great for travel, and for reading around water (i.e., the beach or the bathtub). Furthermore, most Romance and Urban Fantasy is published in mass market. 

If you put a gun to my head and insisted I pick a favorite, I’d have to pick trade paperback. It gives you the best of both worlds: they’re lighter than hardcovers, but better quality and longer-lasting than mass markets. They also fall in the median of the price range (though buying online means that hardcovers are relatively inexpensive—you don’t see that kind of discount on mass markets or trade paperbacks). Since I read everywhere ,weight is also a consideration for me. Even when I’ve just started a book, I’ve usually got another one on me, and the weight of two hardcovers in my purse would end with me resembling the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Not to say that would stop me.

You’re invited! Visitors: Please share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section, so they can be included in the discussion. This is an active discussion though Wednesday, so feel free to stop by again later on.

Giveaway!

Now that I have told you the story of my craziness with the buying of the many copies of Spirit Bound, I have two hardcover copies of this book to giveaway to two lucky winners. If you would like to be entered to win a copy of this book please leave a note in the comments with your email address - only thoughtful comments will be considered, winner picked at random. If host and guests agree that a specific visitor comment is substantial, outstanding, or in some other way has particular merit, they can override random.org pick at their discretion.

Giveaway Brought by Amanda (StoryWings)

* About Bookie Brunch

Bookie Brunch is a weekly meet-up, held every Sunday, where book bloggers can have a cup of tea and chat about a particular bookie question of interest. The discussion is open from Sunday through Wednesday, and you’re welcome to drop by any time to add your opinion or read what other people have to say. This discussion is open as well to general readers or bloggers in a different field, authors, publishers and publicists.

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