# September?! (A rant about books) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 16, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754 "2004-06-16T23:08:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/1 "2004-06-16T23:08:36Z")
Those of you who have been reading the series will be aware that the third book in Robin Hobb’s “The Tawny Man” series came out this year. Specifically it came out in march. A hardback edition was available for the usual period of time, which I didn’t buy as I loathe the modern style of hardback novels (at least science fiction / fantasy ones). The wait is annoying, but that’s normal. Then the version that is the bane of my existence as a book reader came out. I don’t know what moron came up with this idea, but if I ever find out who they are I swear to hunt them down and beat them with a clue stick\*. I’m talking about the super big-ass version of a paperback, which so charmingly manages to combine the very worst features of a paperback and a hardback, while retaining none of the redeeming qualities. This, upon initial discovery, wasn’t _terribly_ annoying. I figured “Oh goody. Another version that there is no way in hell I would buy.” So I waited. Then I waited some more. Yet more waiting… You get the idea. Eventually I realised I was being silly and there were nice people in the book store I could ask whether or not we’d be getting a sensibly sized copy of the book before judgement day. The answer proved to be yes, but still a damn sight too far away. As you have no doubt guessed from the topic, the normal paperback copy comes out September. Seriously, what the fuck? Ok, some people like hardbacks. I get that. I disagree, but that’s fine - it doesn’t affect me too badly. It’s just a several month wait. I’m sure most people prefer paperbacks, but never mind. However you are making the bulk of the first half a year of shelf life of these books in a format that NO SANE PERSON WOULD WANT TO BUY! Is this so hard to understand? It’s as bulky as a hardback, without the advantage of robust construction. Are you _trying_ to alienate your entire customer base? At this stage I’m almost ready to say fuck it and refuse to buy any book that comes out in this format. I’m not going to, at least in part because I want the complete set of this series, but also because it would do no good. Anyone stupid enough to produce such a monstrosity clearly isn’t listening to their customers enough to care, and yet they still manage to attract authors who produce decent books. Yes, I’m sure from most perspectives this is an utterly lame rant about an utterly pointless subject. I don’t care. It annoys me. - Not beat to death mind you. That would get me in trouble with the mods. Maybe just beat to pain. “The first thing you get clued will be your feet below the ankles.” ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/2 "2004-06-16T23:28:11Z")
I figure at least part of it is for the fans who cannot wait till the paperback comes out. These fans will go nuts and try to hold out but in the end break down and spend money they don’t really want to/can afford to on these hard covers/bigger books because they MUST know what happens next right away and the list at the library is a few hundred people long which means by the time they get it it would be out in paperback anyway. Nooo I’ve NEVER done that at all. Thank goodness for friends with similar book tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/3 "2004-06-16T23:56:10Z")
I like the trade paperbacks. I can lay them flat without worrying about breaking the spine, but they’re more flexible than the hardback. ---
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/4 "2004-06-17T00:03:14Z")
… … Ok. I stand corrected. I guess there _are_ people who like them after all. 🙂 I still stand by my opinion that the majority do not, and forcing us to wait half a year for the smaller paperbacks is outrageous. **flutterby** : Yeah, that’s also more or less how I’ve concluded they make a profit on those things. I once bought one, but only because I didn’t realise that the book would later be coming out in a smaller version. I’m not quite sure how my brain came up with that one - I guess I just thought “Oh. What an odd size for a book…” and left it at that. I’m far too stubborn to give in to temptation on such a thing, particularly when I’m so irritated about it. (Also, like you, I usually borrow friends’ hardback copies before buying the book…) ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/5 "2004-06-17T00:17:57Z")
Yeah,I’mgonna go nuts when the next Harry Potter comes out… I suspect I will make my pennies scream if I have to, to be sure to buy a copy. I don’t know anyone now who reads them, and I always find it listed just in time at the library to end up somewhere around 250 or so on the list. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/6 "2004-06-17T01:04:04Z")
Me, I **LOVE** trade paperbacks. All of the original formatting, pictures, what-have-you as the hardcover, none of the weight, but it feels like a solid book in your hands. They usually use higher-quality paper, too, so the whole thing doesn’t yellow and fall apart in a few years. Elegant, and flexible, too. One of my favorite authors currently is China Mieville, and all of his books were released _only_ in trade paper (as far as I know). Beautiful cover artwork, too. mischievous ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/7 "2004-06-17T01:50:25Z")
Well, **kitarak** , I know you don’t like hardcover books, but if you don’t have to _buy_ it… I own the hardcover edition of _Fool’s Fate_ and would be willing to lend it to you, if you like. My email is in my profile. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/8 "2004-06-17T02:17:10Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > Me, I **LOVE** trade paperbacks. All of the original formatting, pictures, what-have-you as the hardcover, none of the weight, but it feels like a solid book in your hands. They usually use higher-quality paper, too, so the whole thing doesn’t yellow and fall apart in a few years. Elegant, and flexible, too. > > One of my favorite authors currently is China Mieville, and all of his books were released _only_ in trade paper (as far as I know). Beautiful cover artwork, too. > > mischievous Count me in as another trade paperback lover. I buy hardcover for the authors that I absolutely can not wait for (Amy Tan, Maeve Binchy, Eleanor Lipman), but I usually stick to trade paperbacks in other authors. I HATE regular paperbacks with a passion - in fact, I thought about posting a rant on them earlier today. I bought a regular paperback (Marian Keyes’ ‘Sushi For Beginners’, if anyone is interested), and the first thing I usually do is fold the book back and break the spine to make it easier to read. This one cracked, and the first twenty pages came half out of the book. Peachy. Eight dollars on a book and it starts to fall apart on the first try. Even if I’m tough on books, the trade paperbacks can take it. And I _am_ rough on my books - I carry four or five with me on weekend trips when I travel, stuffed into a bag with a laptop, I fall asleep on them, they get folded and put on the counter so I can read while I cook (did I mention I love reading? I read a lot). The trade paperbacks can take a beating. I may pay a little more for the trade paperbacks, but they last me longer. And since I read and re-read my books over and over again, I need books that can keep up with me. Now, I’d settle for ANYTHING if it was a first edition of _Jane Eyre_, but that’s a different story. Ava ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/9 "2004-06-17T03:14:43Z")
Yeah, I’ve dealt with too many regular paperbacks where the pages all fell out after a while. I really prefer the durability plus look and size of the trade paperback, and as a bonus they can use a decent print size. The regular paperbacks start to even **look** cheap in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/10 "2004-06-17T03:19:35Z")
Am I the only person who can read a paperback over and over again and ONLY have it get a tad bit dog-eared and the spine cracked in one spot? I am huh. Okay nevermind. I dislike big books because I like to be able to stick it in my jacket pocket, not too big purse or tuck it in on top of my text books when I’m at school. Anything bigger than a paperback I have to start either carrying a bag (or a bigger one) or making space in my backpack among the texts. Trade paperbacks are minus the weight of the covers but have less mobility than the paperbacks. For me, mobility is key. If I’m cooking and I can’t do something one handed and read, then I probably don’t want a book in the kitchen with me because it’s gonna get messy and the only ones that get messy are the cookbooks. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/11 "2004-06-17T10:33:53Z")
Firstly, It’s worth the wait - the series lives up to its promise. Now, I have categories of books. If it is a favourite series - such as Robin Hobb’s work, then I buy it as soon as I can (unfortunately this means I have to fork out for the hardback) If im not quite as desperate I get the trade paperback (I like em) Ony for new author’s etc do I get the normal size paperbacks. I like paperbacks fine, but they do tend to wear out on me. If i have a book i like it’s going to get read a lot more than once. Paperbacks eventually start losing pages or in more extreme cases seperate into 2. Never had a trade paperback or a hardback wear out on me though. ---
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/12 "2004-06-17T11:28:10Z")
**kyla** , thanks hugely for the offer, but given that we’re on opposite sides of the pond (I’m in the UK Cambridge) I think it would probably be more hassle than it’s worth for both of us. I’m not sure what the rates are like these days, but I think it’s probably not that cheap to send one of those massive great big hardbacks by airmail. 🙂 Count me as another person who hardly damages paperbacks, and I’m far from gentle with them - they get randomly shoved in bags, boxes, luggage, etc. all the time, and they’re all pretty well intact. Some books which were bound by incompetents - e.g. the entire wheel of time series - do fall apart, but that’s because I’ve done foolish and dangerous things to them like not keeping them sealed in a shock proof hermetically sealed container. Most books are better quality than that. By the way, **mischievous** , I have a China Mieville book (Perdido Street Station) in normal paperback form, and have seen plenty of others. As to the rest of you, consider my ignorance duly fought. I guess there are a lot of people who like trade paperbacks after all. It’s still annoying as hell having to wait half a year to get my hand on a copy I can stand. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/13 "2004-06-17T12:23:00Z")
I’m another fan of trades. Paperbacks take up less space, but the publishers really cut corners on paper and ink quality. How many of you have been reading a paperback only to find the ink coming off on your hand? And maybe it’s just me, but a lot of those inks smell _really_ bad. You pick up the book, sniff, wrinkle your nose and put it back on the shelf. Or browsing a bookstore, seeing the top edges of paperbacks discolored an ugly yellow from only a few months of fluorescent light? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/14 "2004-06-17T12:50:42Z")
Just to add my own little piss and moan to this, WTF is with hardcovers these days? I don’t buy many books, but the last two hardcovers I bought had this very sturdy looking black fabric cover, under the despised (by me) dust cover. Placing the dust cover aside, I read the book as Og intended, without the flapping dust cover annoying me, only to find that the black ink on the cover is rubbing off all over my hands. I get done reading for the moment, wash my hands, dry them somewhat imperfectly, and put the book back in the dust cover, only to find that the (apparently) water soluble black ink has now conveniently prepared me to give a fingerprint sample to the police. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/15 "2004-06-17T12:56:59Z")
> [@Flutterby](#): > > Am I the only person who can read a paperback over and over again and ONLY have it get a tad bit dog-eared and the spine cracked in one spot? > > I am huh. Oh, I can keep my mass market paperbacks looking neat, it just take more time and effort. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/16 "2004-06-17T18:23:12Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Placing the dust cover aside, I read the book as Og intended, without the flapping dust cover annoying me, only to find that the black ink on the cover is rubbing off all over my hands. Wolves of the Calla? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/17 "2004-06-17T18:29:56Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Wolves of the Calla? Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner! I would have thought it was a one time thing, except the Stephen Hawking book I got (universe in a nutshell) did the same thing. That’s it, no more Stephen books for me. ---
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/18 "2004-06-17T19:07:32Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner! > > I would have thought it was a one time thing, except the Stephen Hawking book I got (universe in a nutshell) did the same thing. That’s it, no more Stephen books for me. Oh well. No great loss there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/19 "2004-06-17T19:15:50Z")
> [@Flutterby](#): > > If I’m cooking and I can’t do something one handed and read, then I probably don’t want a book in the kitchen with me because it’s gonna get messy and the only ones that get messy are the cookbooks. Yeah, I’m bad:). But I take a book everyone with me - even the kitchen. I usually prop it up against a box or a canister and read that way. So far, no messes on any of the books. Ava ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754/20 "2004-06-17T23:53:48Z")
> [@Morelin](#): > > Oh, I can keep my mass market paperbacks looking neat, it just take more time and effort. More time and effort? Maybe I’m weird then because it doesn’t take me _that_ much effort. Most of my worst looking paperbacks are that way because I picked them up second hand or have read them so many times (we’re talking around a dozen times here, maybe more) and been carried in purses that they can’t _help_ but get dog eared. Like my paperback copy of Anne of Green Gables. I’ve had that for around 10 years and it looks only well read… which it is. Actually, it’s probably training. It drove me nuts when a spine broke in a certain spot so I trained myself to pretty much not break them, unless by accident. > [@avabeth](#): > > Yeah, I’m bad. But I take a book everyone with me - even the kitchen. I usually prop it up against a box or a canister and read that way. So far, no messes on any of the books. Even if I’m in the kitchen a book isn’t that far away. I have a pile of books next to me right now and at least one in every bag. I just don’t prop them up when I’m doing something that needs two hands. Because I _will_ get them dirty somehow and I hate that as much as if I accidentally drop one in the tub. My books usually end up on top of the fridge for me to grab once I’m able to handle whatever I’m doing one handed 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-a-rant-about-books/250754.md?page=2)