hardcover or paperback? which do you prefer if you have a preference? asking because I'm thinking of starting a small physical collection.
Paperback is cheaper, but hardback generally stays in better condition. Choose your pick.
leatherbound > hardcover w/ dust jacket > paperback > jacketless hardcover / mass print paperback
generally
paperback
i don't see the point of hardcovers unless you need a coaster or something
I don't have a preference, I generally just buy whatever I can get for a good price of a particular edition. With that being said, if I can get a hardcover edition for only a few dollars more then I'm usually willing to spend it.
Hardcover if the signatures are sewn. Books from Everyman's Library, Library of America, Knopf, etc. Paperback otherwise. I don't buy hardcovers that are just paperbacks glued to cardboard.
>>7526872
We already know this, you dolt.
Depends on the book's lenght, i prefer hardcover if the book is longer than like 400 pages circa
for /lit/ I generally just get paperbacks unless a hardcover is less or equal price. I can only think of two hardcovers I have - Hamann's Socratic Memorabilia (only way to get it), and Nabokov's Lolita & Pale Fire (only way to get them in the same volume).
If I consider the book as an art object, I will do my best to get the hardcover. I tend to only think of illustrated books this way: visual art monographs, photobooks (of which I have a large collection), and especially illustrated lit, like the Kelmscott Chaucer, Beardsleys' Le Morte D'Arthur, Kent's Moby Dick, etc. Reading these in paperback would suck.
Pic related, one of the coolest books in my collection
>>7527283
also: I just hate it when the corners of paperbacks get fucked up. Hardcovers age so much better. But as somebody noted, cheap hardcovers can be a pain in the ass too if the binding starts going.
Paperback looks better (unless it's a really nice hardcover), but i don't really like the mass-market hardcover stuff.
If it's something like a textbook, hardcover. I hate paperback textbooks.
paperback, I love to able to bend my books. Some of the smaller books I can keep in my jacket when I don't want to/have to bring a backpack with me. (wtf is up with captcha, have to click 9 fckn squares of gift boxes)
Leather is the best but when I can't get it I just get a nice hardcover version.
>pic related, my Jules Verne collection
unless its a small hardcover, paperback because of mobility. I'm not a huge fan of big tomes, if i'm going to read a 1200+ page long book though i'll go hardcover because giant paperbacks fall apart so quickly.
why don't people like the little mass market paperbacks? they are easy to read and generally good quality
>>7526864
Paperback. In particular, trade paperback (the larger ones).
More durable than the mass-market ones, better paper, better on the eyes, better print quality, more room in margins for note-taking, better appearance.
Smaller than hardcovers (so more will fit in your small collection), easier to hold and read, more consistent in physical form than hardcovers (so any given addition to your collection will fit in better), less expensive than hardcovers.
how do you find out what is the best edition of a certain book?
i hate hardcovers for some reason. it reminds of me of bad things. i can't appreciate any book with a hardcover, i know it's my fault. specially like this
>>7527661
>>7526864
I always shoot for the hardcover. However, if the hardcover is ridiculously over priced (simple supply and demand, there is just not enough hardcovers printed and in circulation for sale), then I go for the paperback.
That being said, if I must buy paperback, I will either get it new (for longevity) or used under the "Like New" condition.
Leather, however, is incredible top tier book reading.
Furthermore, if it's a book that I intend to use erasable highlights in, I will consider the paperback. Also, what this anon said here >>7527737 about larger paperbacks falling apart quickly is indeed true.
In my spare time I do sociological research on religious communities in California (cult research), so I always find myself buying hardcovers for core research projects. Most of my book shelves are sectioned off according to academic papers (both published and unpublished) I have submitted to the University of Chicago. Most of these, so it seems, are hardcovers.
>>7527822
>it reminds me of bad things
What the fuck?
>>7526864
hardcover.
>>7527283
Found this in a box of my grandmother's things. Given to her on her 18th birthday by an uncle. Can't read it though--it literally disintegrates if you touch it. First Little Brown edition. Publ. 1900. Gilt edges. No idea how to save it's life.
>>7527983
inb4 its/it's. bad habit.
>>7527983
Ask an archiver to restore it.
>>7526864
Paper to read. Hard/cloth to collect. You'd be surprised how easy it is to find quality hardbacks for $2 at Salvation Army/Goodwill or some other thrift store if you're will to trawl the shelves. In the last year alone I scored a first edition Mason & Dixon, a first edition Savage Detectives, and a valuable SF anthol. edited by Harlan Ellison.
>>7526864
Prefer hardback. It makes bookshelves look far more sexy.
>>7526864
i prefer paperback because they're cheaper and i feel less guilty when i manhandle them. Also they are easier to carry around and read in public.
>physical media
heh
>>7528369
>metaphysical media
huh
>2016
>still reading physical books
>>7527661
Where do you find great looking hardcovers like those?
I want them so bad, all recommendations welcomed :)
>>7527250
yeah, this. i have a small collection of library of americas and modern librarys that are just a joy to hold and read. otherwise i'll get the best paperback i can find. that said pulpy paperbacks have a certain charm.
>>7529997
I´d like to know this aswell!
>>7527839
My father used to beat me up and sometimes he hit me in the back with a hardcover copy of War and peace
>>7529901
>2016
>Still reading
Boy, you guys will discuss just about everything about literature except for the actual literature itself
>>7527661
Woah that is one sexy collection anon friend, who publishes those editions?
