I used to get almost all my books from the library, but the fines are just ridiculous now, so I get a few second hand. If I do buy new, I try to patronise my niece’s book store.
I prefer paperback (just find them more comfortable to hold) & my aging eyes are starting to like larger print.
I can’t afford my book habit, so I use the local library nearly exclusively. If I read a book that I absolutely love, I will buy it. I probably buy less than 5 books a year. When I do buy, I prefer trade paperback or hard cover. The last book I bought was The Road.
My library is within walking distance of the house and it’s not that great. It is connected to the citywide library system so I basically use the library like Netflix. I go to bookstores, write down titles I’m interested in. Then, I go online to the library website and request the books to be put on hold. When they come in, I pick them up at my local library (and can return them there too). Sometimes, I have to wait a really long time (I think my record was nearly 6 months for Animal Vegetable Mineral) but there is usually always something new for me every week.
I love my local library system!
I prefer hardback books because I like the way they feel when I’m reading them. I like having lots on the shelf so I can pick up another as soon as I finish the current one(s). The library takes too much planning for me. 
I only buy new books for gifts, and then only if they are not available used.
These days I’ve gone nuts on hardbacks, first for my Diskworld collection, which is now as complete as its going to get, and then for my F&SF collection. Mostly I use Alibris, since they have free shipping if you buy >$49 at a time. Seashell also has free shipping, but their stock is smaller and their search engine is lousy.
For F&SF* I stick to the $1.99** ones, in “Very Good” or better condition (no broken spines or loose pages). For the Pratchett collection I had a $10 limit (plus shipping, so $14 max.) which I only violated once or twice because I was under the influence (of the Discworld).
I take the little girls to the library every 2 or 3 weeks, to get them hooked.
- I have a set of Hobbit + LotR in Chinese as well, which I bought new when I was in Beijing. That was about $10 for 4 hard covers. Am I cool, or what? Whoo-hoo!
** I have 8 kids, so I’m lucky to be able to afford any books at all!
I prefer paperbacks because of the speed I go through them.
I have a certain collection of “keepers” that I would never trade. I have two girlfriends who I swap with. Unfortunately, we all like the same kind of books (legal mysteries, suspense) so sometimes we swap the same books (we’re not that organized to have a list yet).
I am now going to search for a Canadian equivalent website to the paperbackswap one that was referenced earlier. Or perhaps I can swap through a u.s. doper if I can’t find one?
Our local library is very snitty (long story), and I read way too fast to be able to be picky about hardback/paperback. Whatever I can get at the local used bookstore or ebay auction is what I get. But I am an inveterate re-reader, as is my daughter, so we have stacks of books everywhere. Rereading a favorite book is such a comfort. However, as I used to be a librarian, there is NO spine-cracking in my house. Dog-earing the page is marginally acceptable.:dubious:
I prefer e-books when possible. That way i don’t have to hold it open/worry about damaging it/make room for it.
If I can borrow something from the library, I will and then buy my own copy later if it’s something I’ll want to reread. I only buy hardbacks used or when I’m reasonably sure I’ll enjoy a book.
Paperbacks all the way for me. Mainly for space saving and cost reasons.
It depends. I will normally borrow from the library, but if it’s an author I already like, like Stephen King or Diana Gabaldon, I will buy the hardback when it comes out. If it’s already out, I’ll buy the paperback. If I find I enjoy the book that I borrowed from the library and know I will reread it, I will go buy it. I did that when I discovered Colleen McCullough’s* *Masters of Rome *series.
She’s rather hit and miss, isn’t she? I have The Thorn Birds* and all the Rome books, but although I’ve read Morgan’s Run, The Touch, and On/Off, I haven’t wanted to buy them.
Paperbacks and trade paperbacks for me, and I get nearly all of them at used book stores.
A visit to a used book store is an adventure for me, both in trying to find those elusive books I see recommended here and on other sites, and just for the fun of picking a book, looking at the blurbs on the back cover, skimming a few pages and saying to myself, “Huh, this looks interesting. For a buck or two, it’s worth the gamble.”
The problem is that in the time it takes me to read one book I have bought three or four more, and the book shelves groan in protest more every day.
Nearly all the books I have on my shelves are unread. When I finish a book I ask myself if I am likely to ever re-read it. If not, then back it goes to the used bookstore for credit on the next purchase. If I think I will want to read it again it goes in a box which, when full, is eventually transported to my other home in Utah, where I hope to retire in the next year or so.
I buy hardcovers exclusively unless the book simply doesn’t have a hardcover edition but to me it as a function of being a collector. I want hardcovers because that’s what I collect for my library.
I do prefer hardcovers for reading but if I was simply picking up books for entertainment then it wouldn’t make a significant difference to me. I don’t browse in stores and purchase most of my books used through the Amazon marketplace so price isn’t usually much of a factor (it’s usually only a dollar or two difference).
Probably mostly paperbacks from used books stores. New books I order online more often than buying in the store, and they’re usually trade paperbacks.
There’s quite a difference in quality among paperback books from different publishers. I have paperbacks half a century old that are still in good shape, and relatively new books that are falling apart.
When I was a kid, I could not afford hardcovers. So I got into the habit of reading paperbacks. Even today, I still prefer paperbacks. If they get damaged, I want to be able to replace them easily and cheaply.
I bought the first six Harry Potter books in paperback. I read them in a couple of weeks, then found myself unwilling to wait for the paperback edition of the seventh book. So I bought it in hardcover. Now it bothers me. When I have a series, I prefer that they be a matching set. Looks prettier on the shelf.
I love libraries. But I also like to own my own copies. When I buy, I prefer to buy a new copy.
I use the library, or, whenever possible, buy used.
Either HC or paperback.
Low price + good condition can be had, in online shopping.
I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, which is often only available in paperback. I’m not all that picky about format, though, so I do have quite a few hardbacks around too. I also get a lot of stuff used, and the vast majority of used fiction are paperbacks. Trade paperbacks and hardbound books are the rule for non-fiction, though. Few non-fiction books seem to even be published in paperback.
I read very quickly, so if I insisted on hardback I’d be shelling out a lot of money every month, probably so much that I couldn’t afford other entertainment. Or food. I also carry a book with me just about everywhere I go. I’m a guy, so I don’t have a purse to tote a big-assed book around in. I’ve noticed that when I am in the middle of reading a hardbound I’ll often grab a different paperback for travel and come back to it when I’m home again instead of carrying it with me.
As far as longevity, older paperbacks seem to hold up better than stuff published in the last 20 years or so. I’ve got stuff from the 60s and 70s that have less page yellowing, more supple covers, and glue that still holds everything together than things that were published in the 90s.
Some hardbound books are done well, but I swear that some have glued rather than sewn pages. That would make them only marginally more durable than a paperback since the glue probably bonds better with a cloth spine than a paper one, but is still subject to hardening and cracking over time. From what I’ve seen, a growing amount of fiction hardback books published in the last decade or so is bound in this cheap manner.