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Paperback or Hardcover?

Paperback or hardcover?

  • Paperback

    Votes: 84 45.4%

  • Hardcover

    Votes: 101 54.6%
  • Total voters
    185
CharlesAznable

CharlesAznable

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,593
I've decided to start trying to get into reading and building a book collection. Should I go paper back or hardcover? Pros and cons for both for me are.

Paperback:
Pros
-Cheaper

Cons
-Annoying to read/hold when beginning or ending a book
-Can tear easier

Hardcover:
Pros
- much easier to read
-Better build quality

Cons
-can be almost double the price of paperback
-has those stupid book cover flaps.
 
Inugami

Inugami

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,995
Paperback every time... I don't buy books to display them, and they are uncomfortable to relax and enjoy reading as a hardback.

Never seen "easier to read" as a pro for hard backs.
 
Version 3.0

Version 3.0

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,155
Paperback is far superior. There's a reason books come out in hardcover exclusively for a time; because no one in their right mind would buy a hardcover over a paperback, given the choice. It's like the theatrical release, but without the big screen experience.
 
SArcher

SArcher

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
2,669
CharlesAznable said:
Hardcover:
Cons
-has those stupid book cover flaps.
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You can always remove the dust jackets during reading.

As for my own preference, it depends. Mass market paperbacks get worn out (especially the spine) after only a single reading. Bigger trade paperbacks are fine though. If I really love a book or a series then I try to get hardcovers, otherwise trade paperbacks are fine.
 

Deleted member 47843

User Requested Account Closure
Banned
Sep 16, 2018
2,501
Adder7806 said:
Kindle
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This. I was resistant at first, but after a few moves and getting older and hating clutter and not caring about collecting and displaying things I've been all ebooks for over a decade aside from some coffee table books and a few trade paperback graphic novels (Walking Dead mostly).

For collecting and displaying hardcover looks way better. Bookcases full of paperbacks look terrible IMO.
 
Masoyama

Masoyama

Attempted to circumvent a ban with an alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,648
Paperbacks for older books that I just wanna read. Hardback for collection and stuff I want on release.
 

ParanormalFupa

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,141
There's a lot to like about a nice hardcover, but I find paperback and kindle easier and more enjoyable to read. Allows me to read 1 handed in the bathtub.
 
luca

luca

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,506
I often find the hardcovers to have prettier covers. But man, I've found it's much easier for me to read a book if it's paperback. When I'm reading a page to the right I prefer bending the book backward. It feels much nicer in my hands. They're also cheaper.
 
TAJ

TAJ

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
12,446
I was all in on first-print hardcovers. Now I'm really reluctant to buy anything but digital.
 
SArcher

SArcher

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
2,669
People on this forum love to tell others to "hit the gym" but are too weak to hold hardcovers. Smh.
 
Lucas M. Thomas

Lucas M. Thomas

Editor-in-Chief of Nintendo Force Magazine
Verified
Oct 30, 2017
2,290
Kentucky
For a collection? Hardcover, and remove the paper book wraps from the outside and stow them away somewhere. Line 'em up all nice in a row.
 
Inugami

Inugami

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,995
SArcher said:
People on this forum love to tell others to "hit the gym" but are too weak to hold hardcovers. Smh.
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It's not about being weak or strong, it's about comfort. If I'm devoting hours of my life to read a book, I'm going to do that as comfortably as possible. Hard covers are never more comfortable.
 
LL_Decitrig

LL_Decitrig

User-Requested Ban
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
10,334
Sunderland
For leisure, always audio. In extremis I've even been known to use a text reader on PDF.

For technical stuff, manuals and whatnot, PDF on paperwhite screen.

Paper is heavy, bulky and prone to go missing.
 
Teenage Fansub

Teenage Fansub

Member
May 24, 2019
22,182
I usually read on public transport, so paper for portablility.

edit: Never audio. I can't concentrate on it if my eyes or body's doing other things.
 
RDreamer

RDreamer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,102
Digital. Nothing beats being able to pull a book out of your pocket at any time of day. Also good to be able to look things up or search a book for a word quickly.

Hardcover is the worst though.
 

Deleted member 14735

Oct 27, 2017
930
Paperback, to the point where unless I *really* want to read something asap I'll wait for the paperback release if it's still in its early hardcover phase. I find hardcover very uncomfortable and I don't buy books to collect/display them. I guess if I wanted to do that I'd go hardcover.

Teenage Fansub said:
edit: Never audio. I can't concentrate on it if my eyes or body's doing other things.
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I hear and understand the words usually but I can't visualize if I'm multitasking, and because of that I often find that when a chapter ends I have a hard time remembering all that I listened to. I've tried audiobooks a number of times and just can't gel with them.

Airegin said:
Does anyone else enjoy the smell of mass market paperbacks?
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Secretly the best part lol
 
NervousXtian

NervousXtian

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,503
Paperback > MM Paperback > Hardcover

Hardcover just aren't as comfortable to hold while lying down in bed (or in a hammock camping)

The larger paperback are the best... they stay open better than MM.. and it's my preferred size.
 
The Albatross

The Albatross

Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,975
Ebook > Paperback > Hardcover, for me.

I buy almost everything on ebook except for like guides or reference manuals.

If you're not into reading your books, then hardcover is fine. Like, if your book collection is to show off or stock a library or to show your friends what books you own but don't read, then yeah hardcover is great. But a hardcover book is way more annoying to read, heavier, less mobile/discrete, more expensive, takes up more space in your house/bag/world, more wasteful, etc.

I do really love those larger paperbacks. Like, the types that A Song of Ice and Fire got re-released with. They have weightier front covers and the pages usually stay open when you're between 30-70% of the book, the print is large, the form factor is nice, and it doesn't hurt your hand to hold them for a while which is a flaw of thick paperbacks IMO.

I get that early adopters usually get hardcover because it's the first release usually and so that's a legit case (or if a special large print edition is in hard cover or something)... but all things being equal if I'm deciding between hardcover and paperback, it's paper 99% of the time.
 
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