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?
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Kindle. I rarely re-read, so why waste the paper/space.
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.
I mostly prefer ebooks and audiobooks. If I am buying physical books I usually prefer paperback if it’s something I intend to only read once or twice like a novel, and hardcover if it’s something I expect to open a lot like a TTRPG manual or coffee table book.
Digital only. Who even has room for physical books.
people who live in rural
space is one thing we’re not short on
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.
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
Audiobook > ebook > paperback > hardcover.
I listen to audiobooks way more often than reading. I can keep listening to the same book while driving or exercising or doing whatever around the house.
Paperback over hardcover if I’m going to have a physical book because it’s less expensive and more space and weight efficient.
I always choose hardcover. I try to keep the number of my owned physical books low. So when I do buy it, I want my eyes to be satisfied and they prefer the looks of hardcover. Since I usually buy secondhand books, overall it’s very cheap (although I don’t have high standards on the book’s condition).
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: It depends. To own? Definitely a hardback. They last longer. To borrow (i.e. from the library)? Paperback for sure. (Often) easier to read imo.
I assume you mean that you prefer owning hardcovers?
Yes, I mistyped. Lol. Thanks for the correction. It is now fixed. :)
Honestly, there is a subtle but distinct difference between hardback and hardcover.
A hardback book has the cover fully designed with graphics, as it is meant to be seen.
A hardcover has a minimalist cover, without any designs since the dust jacket is what is visually flashy and attractive and is meant to be seen.
Otherwise, the two are structurally identical, only with the hardcover having an extra protective layer in the dust jacket.
That’s interesting, if true.
However, I’ve never seen that distinction mentioned anywhere. After you mentioned it, I looked it up on my own and none of the search results I found mentioned that distinction.
What I did find was that at most they are merely examples of British English (hardback) vs American English (Hardcover), though that was only in one source, so take even that with a grain of salt.
Unless you have a reputable source to back up your claim, as far as I’m concerned, this is either dialectal differences at best or someone (not necessarily you) making up a distinction merely to feel superior to others at worst.
I love a good hardcover, but tend to flip between hardcover, paperback, and kobo e-ink. I try to buy used books where possible just for the environmental impact. They are often less expensive, too.
Ebooks and hardcovers.
Either, so long as it’s a physical book. I don’t like reading on a screen for books, but don’t mind for Wikipedia and news.
PDFs
I know it was implied to be physical book, I usually read academic stuff, and having ability to select stuff and searching, dark theming, and ability to carry my older almost closet full of books, in something like 100-200 MBs of PDFs is just great. There are times when I actually had physical books, I would scan and ocr if i could not find a digital copy from the 7 seas.
When I actually would get stuff, Hardcover (preferably jacketted) because they were thick (like 400-1400 pages thick) and not having hardcover meant the covers would have a half life of something like 50 uses, maybe less, or atleast it would get stained.
