# Who still buys hard cover books? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674 "2004-04-18T15:25:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tygerbryght](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674/41 "2004-04-20T07:43:41Z")
> [@tschild](#): > > Same here. There are a few authors where I simply cannot hold out one year for the paperback. I usually preorder the hardcover edition, read it, then put ip up for sale at Amazon, later buy the paperback version (mainly for shelf space reasons). Aha! It’s the people like you who are my benefactors. I useta buy only paperbacks, 'cause they’re cheap, etc. Of course, there are some books that I’d hafta buy a new copy of every few years. Then I got arthritis in my thumbs. It’s really painful for me to hold a paperback now. HCs I can support on top of one hand (instead of between both), and control the pages with the other. So I started buying HCs. Then I had to go on disability. The only books I get new are ones that friends buy for me. The rest I buy from people like **tschild** through the usual Web venues (also through ABEbooks, sometimes, 'cause there are occasional really good deals, if you’re willing to do a little homework. [https://dogbert.abebooks.com](https://dogbert.abebooks.com)). I’m still in the process of trying to replace all my favorite authors’ books in HC (I have a substantial number of books), and probably will be for many years. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674/42 "2004-04-20T07:58:16Z")
I only buy reference books in hard cover. And of those, the latest have all been of the 50% table. But I figure last year’s dictionary is not exactly passe. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674/43 "2004-04-20T12:51:06Z")
At least part of the reason that “trashy” novels, romances, fantasy, etc. appear in hardcover is because of libraries. According to an article I was reading last week in a library oriented journal, libraries have changed what types of books they buy over the years. Libraries greatly prefer hardcovers. (Partially because they typically hold up better, partially because hard covers just look more “worthy” of space on library shelves). Libraries have shifted to contain more “popular” fiction. Putting that popular fiction into hardcover makes the libraries as a whole significantly more likely to buy copies. Twenty years ago, many of the books which I have been reading as new books which I can only check out for 7 days (as opposed to the usual 28 days) would have been unlikely to be acquired by the library at all. (One of the authors I know was mentioned by name was Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake vampire hunter series. I think the other one was Nora Roberts, but part of me thinks thats just because she is such a big name in romance that she is the only “logical” author). After reading this thread, I’d be highly tempted to look up that article again, except for the minor detail of just how many library-oriented journals I was looking in last week as I did research for two ten to twenty page papers. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674/44 "2004-04-20T17:00:02Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > I hate trade paperbacks because they are usually just as shoddily made as most paperbacks, plus I find the size to be unwieldy. So do I. And I usually find them just as bloody heavy as a hardcover but without the ability to take rough treatment (my books live in my backpack when I’m not on the train). However, the one part of trade paperbacks I do like is the recent trend where the SFF publishers I read are putting three and four books into one trade paperback. Those, I don’t mind buying. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674/45 "2004-04-20T17:43:11Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Oh, and **gobear** , I can’t for the life of me figure out what this odd snippet meant (after your quoting of my prior post): > ??? Word = I concur. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674/46 "2004-04-20T20:18:05Z")
I can get the vast majority of I want to read through my library system, where I can reserve books online. So when it comes to _buying_ books, it’s really a matter of, “am I going to want to read this book more than once, or use it as reference?” Unless it’s a used-book sale, of course, in which case I’m a good deal less particular. But if it’s nonfiction that I’m going to want to reference periodically, I like hardbacks. Continuing a minor hijack: > [@JuanitaTech](#): > > lainf, you’re using the term meat a bit loosely, wouldn’t you say? Nah, he described Spam not as meat, but “meat product”. Kinda like a “meat-related program activity.” But the grocery store can beat that: near the Spam, there are cans of, I kid you not, “potted meat food product”. It can’t even claim to be a ‘food’, strictly speaking. I’ve _never_ seen anyone buy any of it. Sometimes I’ll pick up three cans of the stuff, juggle them, and put them back on the shelf. Drives my wife nuts. (My favorite pastime.) I keep telling her it’s PMFP’s highest and best use. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674/47 "2004-04-20T23:26:01Z")
> [@roxx222](#): > > I was wandering through the bookstore the other day and noticed that the average price of a new hard cover book is $36.95 (Canadian dollars). Who buys these things? > > I can understand buying some if you’re building up a library and want it to look nice. Even I pick up hard cover books from time to time, if they’re my favorite books. But even then, I usually do so at a secondhand book store or a yard sale. > > Do you still buy a lot of new hard cover books? Why do you buy them? Do you find the prices to be a bit ridiculous? Yeah, the things are pricey. And if I don’t really care about the book I’m buying, I’ll just get it in electronic format or the cheapest paperback I can find - I do this mainly for novel. Political science stuff, on the other hand, I really care about - I want to keep my books for a good long time, and I suppose I am building a “library” of sorts. The bookcases are just cardboard boxes on their sides, but still. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674/48 "2004-04-20T23:31:04Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > I’ve never quite understood this aesthetic–like Helene Hanff (_84 Charing Cross Road_), I find books valuable for the words they contain and not as objects themselves. For me, it’s almost like a “trophy” or something like that. I read a lot of fairly dry stuff that’s pretty important to my field, and I also try to keep up with the newest stuff on current events (for example, the recent Clark and Woodward books) - there’s a minor bit of geek pride in putting the book on the shelf, and then talking about it with friends. And the hardcover just looks more impressive. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674/49 "2004-04-21T01:57:09Z")
I am an avid reader, however, I’ve found the older I get, the choosier I get. I almost always purchase hardcover books just because I AM choosy. I know that when I purchase a book, I’ll be reading it more than once. Hard cover books hold up much better than paperbacks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-still-buys-hard-cover-books/240674.md?page=2)