# Books: Paperback? Hardcover? Leather-bound? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581 "2010-03-07T02:51:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/21 "2010-03-07T06:46:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And why is it that whenever anyone puts out a fancy edition of _The Hobbit_, it’s always green? You’d think you’d be able to find a red one. I don’t know about red, but I have an anniversary edition in gold. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/22 "2010-03-07T07:44:53Z")
I like to read old paperbacks, where the pages fall out as you turn them. This is partly because of the consequent feeling of urgency to finish, and partly due to the pleasant feeling of consuming the book that it brings. ---
**Author:** ![DarkLord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@DarkLord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkLord)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/23 "2010-11-28T20:24:09Z")
I use to buy only Hardcover books! They look beautiful and are more easy to read on a table and can “live” more years than papperback books! long time ago i was thinking on buying leather bond books from Easton Press! I still sometimes wonder if it would be right to buy one of their books? the problem is that if i buy a leather bound book, i feel i am not doing well for the planet, you see leather is not good for the environment: > **[The Leather Industry | PETA](https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/leather-industry/)** > > Leather can be made from cows, pigs, goats, and sheep; exotic animals such as alligators, ostriches, and kangaroos; and even dogs and cats. and i feel is not right for the animals also! Please any comments to my feelings? it would be great to talk about it! [link removed] Regards ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/24 "2010-11-28T20:31:12Z")
> [@DarkLord](#): > > and i feel is not right for the animals also! So… you just throw the skin away? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/25 "2010-11-28T21:46:10Z")
I like all types. I have a nice leatherbound set of Jules Verne for display, and lots of hardcovers. But paperbacks have the advantage of being easy to stick in ones pocket when going out, being lighter when traveling, and taking up less space, which is fairly important when you have 2600 books (and an additional 3,000 sf mags.) Paperbacks look just as good on the shelf, especially when you arrange them by publisher and publication date, as someone I know did. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/26 "2010-11-28T22:42:38Z")
I typically prefer paperbacks. Smaller, easier to handle, and easier to store. I just wish modern paperbacks weren’t made so shoddily; I have plenty of old paperbacks I inherited from my mother that are in better condition than modern ones only a few years old. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/27 "2010-11-28T22:48:10Z")
I like mass-market paperbacks. 1. Cheaper - more books for your buck 2. More portable - I do a lot of my reading on public transit, while walking, riding in cars, etc. 3. Takes up less shelf space - this is crucial. I don’t have enough shelf space for the books I have, if I’m gonna buy another one I’d prefer it be smaller so I don’t have to worry about making room for it. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/28 "2010-11-28T23:17:22Z")
You’re still new here, **DarkLord** , so you’re probably getting used to how we do things here. If you’d like to discuss whether the use of leather, for books or whatever, is moral or not, please start a thread in Great Debates. Also, please don’t use links to blogs or other discussions elsewhere: we are not here to feed traffic to those sources. Thanks, **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/29 "2010-11-28T23:20:41Z")
> [@DarkLord](#): > > I use to buy only Hardcover books! They look beautiful and are more easy to read on a table and can “live” more years than papperback books! long time ago i was thinking on buying leather bond books from Easton Press! I still sometimes wonder if it would be right to buy one of their books? > > the problem is that if i buy a leather bound book, i feel i am not doing well for the planet, you see leather is not good for the environment: > > [http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/leather-industry.aspx](http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/leather-industry.aspx) > > and i feel is not right for the animals also! > > Please any comments to my feelings? it would be great to talk about it! > > [link removed] > > Regards How many trees are you killing for the book paper? Aren’t trees living things? When’s the last time a cow has said anything smarter than a tree? Trees breathe in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen so they’re far more critical to our existence than cows. You’re mooing up the wrong tree, my friend. If you really wanted to be friends with the environment you’d have a leather-covered e-reader. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/30 "2010-11-28T23:22:43Z")
Books I buy I intend to keep. Thus it’s leatherbound if possible an dnot too expensive; heardback otherwise (and more frequently), inspecting the binding beforehand. If I don’t intend to keep the book indefinitely, I usually check it out from the library. The exception would be hte occasional airport bookshop purchase, but those are rare as I try to sleep one board planes. E-readers are not my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581/31 "2010-11-28T23:35:33Z")
Depends on what format it is in when I want it, and how desperately I want it. If it is an author I really like and the newest book came out in hardback, I but it. But usually I just get the paperback version [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-paperback-hardcover-leather-bound/531581.md?page=1)