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Soft cover vs hardback (or ebook)
If a book sounds exciting enough I'll always go for the hardback option if available. I feel more comfortable reading and display it with pride on my shelf. The main downside is the price is usually higher.
I'd much rather read a physical book than an ebook on my iPad.
What is everyone's thoughts? Do you prefer a soft cover, hardback or ebook.
Comments
Hardbacks are too expensive, also I read a lot when I'm out and about (bus, train etc) so they are too heavy.
I don't like ebooks.
Hard to describe. Just feels really cosy
Recipe books and the like, yes - ones I am going to use over and over again, but not a novel. I have only ever read one complete ebook though I've downloaded several - they just don't call to me like a physical copy.
I find ebooks irritating. I like a format that is static and consistent, although being able to change font size is wonderful. The only thing I really prefer reading on a reader are novels with a lot of references or translations that are in the back (great to be able to whizz straight to them and back to where the reference was at the beginning of the page).
Reading The Goldfinch was like doing a wrist workout and I had to put it down more often than I wanted to just because of its weight.
Cookery books - hardback for choice. If they are paperback I'll cover them in plastic. Still got my 1980s M&S family cookbook in good condition as a result.
Paperback novels don't stand the test of time - the covers tear or detach themselves, the pages break loose, and you can't mend them (I used to work in a library and I tried).
I look after my books well, but age isn't kind to glue. Hardbacks are stitched and so last longer, but they cost too much to be anything but birthday presents.
Reading in a comfortable chair on a rainy day - heaven!
I have my 1967 hardback copy of The Love of Cooking by Sonia Allison published by Collins. It had a brown paper cover for years which I have recently discarded in favour of Fablon left over from obscuring a window (like frosted glass) in the kitchen. Making a cuppa in the middle of the night when I wear nothing was a bit too much exposure at my age!
I also have a softback copy of Australian Women's Weekly Dinner Party Cookbook which I believe dates back to the 70s. It gives you a whole balanced meal in each section and I have cooked an entire Chinese feast from their instructions.
I've picked up quite a few mint, first-edition hardbacks of books I love in this way, and as I'm careful with my paperbacks I can often sell them on eBay or similar for a few quid, so that the overall cost isn't much different to buying the paperback and much less than having bought the hardback in the first place.
There's something quite indulgent about reading a hardback book - I can't quite put my finger on it but it does feel like I'm reading "properly". HBs are a pain to lug about though, so they're strictly for home use!
I never buy new novels in hardback - only reference books. I tried a Kindle because it was convenient to travel with but I never really liked it and it's now stuffed away in a drawer. For this reason, I would never consider publishing an e-book only. I've got one of those!
I read when I eat my breakfast, sit on the edge of the shower, in bed with the light off, on the bus when I can't take the motorbike, even have done on dog walks round the fields (not good for dodging poop).
I find all this is made super easy by the fact they're so light and how the page can turn at the slide of a thumb.
Also it means many books can be carried at the same time and usually at a discounted price. On holidays they are especially handy. As well as the fact the battery lasts about a month with heavy use.
I must confess though, if I read a book and fall in love with it, I have to buy a hard copy to add to the book shelf in my spare room; just so I can open them back up at any page and remember why I fell in love with them.
P.s - In boring art history lectures the kindle is easy to disguise as a random pad on your desk
Writings of the Melon.