new icon post!

[divajess]

So, berrylicious877 made me this icon based on a conversation we just had about my general distaste for mass market paperbacks.

I used to have pretty much nothing BUT mass market paperbacks, but somewhere in between moving out of my parents' house, my reading tastes changing somewhat, and starting my book collection almost from the ground up, I stopped buying

Comments

[berrylicious877]

It may be an unpopular opinion, but I prefer my books small and soft.

[divajess]

I like my books like I like my coffee...covered in bees!

[yaycoffee]

LOL!!!

[shanabanana]

I hate mass market paperbacks. The paper is repulsive. I don't like hard backs either though...too hard to read in bed.

[divajess]

That is why the trade paperbacks are PERFECTION!

[mteson]

I dunno. I think trade paperbacks are like bottled water sometimes. You could just get the MMP but you pay more for the trade.

While I understand what y'all are saying about MMP's, I have to admit that there's a certain charm in how small and pocketable they are, how beat up they get after one read, how you can carry some amazing literary classic like a Shakespeare play in such a tiny footprint. I also like how democratic they are - they're not these high falutin hardcovers priced out of most peoples' budgets, nor are they hardcover-lite trade paperbacks that are also comparatively pricey. There's something proletarian about reading mass market paperbacks that I appreciate.

These days I mostly read hardcover because I rarely buy books; I get all my reading from the library.

[divajess]

I really don't think hardcovers are some high falutin luxury item. I buy hardcovers and trade paperbacks that are almost all in like-new condition from Half-Price Books for $1, $2 and $3. I rarely shop outside the clearance section....today was actually a rare thing because I paid full price (OK, plus a 30% off coupon) for a book.

I like to keep my books in pretty good condition...I don't like them to look that beat up, even if I read them a ton. If it's a book I like a LOT I will sometimes pick up a copy to keep nice and keep re-reading my beat up copy, but that is rare too. That's why I hate the MMP--they get beat up looking so easily.

I swear, you just need to be this hippy-ish professor with your beat up books and your open tech everything. ;-)

[mteson]

Firstly, not all of us have Half Price Books in our swanky Texas communities. And even when we do, they don't always have what you're looking for

[divajess]

You know I am just giving you shit about the hippy thing right? Srsly. And you clearly haven't been to my neighborhood if you think I'm living all swanky. Though, I have often said I won't live in a city without a good used bookstore. Amazon used books are good but I like to inspect my copy before I buy

[theantijoss]

Heh. I like your icon. But... bad news. Chances are good to great that your first few novels will be in paperback. It's expensive for publishers to print in hardcover, and they generally want some proven sales record that assures they'll make at least close to their money back.

I, on the other hand, have a thing against hardcovers, which is kind of funny. They're too big, too expensive, unwieldy to carry, and uncomfortable to read in bed. ;)

[divajess]

Yeah...I know...I just hope they're at least the bigger trade paperbacks. LOL They are my FAVORITES.

[theantijoss]

You're such a lit snob. LOL *smorshes you* Actually, I think MM paperbacks feel the best in your hands, and the paper tends to be of better quality, although I find the smaller paperbacks more comfortable to hold.

You know, a few years ago, some of the romance publishers tried a format that was sort of somewhere between small ppb's and MMP's -- they were like this mutant book, as long (or a tad longer than) as an MM, but the width of a regular ppb. They were VERY unpopular.

We readers do not like change as a rule. Hence (partly) the fact that ebooks STILL haven't really taken off.