To hope this is the end of the book sleeve?

[TulipsInbloom1]

I hate book sleeves that come on hard backed books. I have to bin them. Received a hardback copy of a new book I wanted for Christmas with no sleeve - and no, it wasnt removed before gifting.

I dont get the point of them. The cover underneath could just have ghe title on it as this one does.

I hope this is the beginning of the end.

Queenofthecroneage: I agree. My DP is in a contant state of gentleman's arousal at bare legged furniture. Naked hardbacks are exacerbating the condition.

Love book covers to a fetish extent.

I collect first editions because of the hardback covers.

It makes me weep to see any destroyed therefore it is a good thing if they aren’t made any more.

I'd go one further, why waste money on a hardback if a paperback edition is available?

This is why I love Mumsnet - first I clicked on the 'trantrumming kid got my friend's family thrown off a flight' and now this. Light and shade, yin and yang

Fwiw I can't get on with hardbacks although don't often get new books anyway. I much prefer a well thumbed paperback from the library. For a novel anyway. I do love leafing through brand new books in Waterstones (or local independent bookshop!), especially the children's section - I could spend so much in there, and it always feels a bit more justified as books are Good Things to get for children.

And I don't think Kindles are really the eco friendly option. Once a book has been made (and making paper is a much more low impact industry than the electronics industry surely), then it's there forever - it can be read and re-read in perpetuity. No recharging needed, no upgrades, it doesn't become obsolete in 5 years when technology moves on. A book is for life!

Long live real books. I remain on the fence about dust jackets.

So really I didn't add much to the thread did I?

ifailed because the hardback usually comes out a year before the paperback - they aren’t available at the same time.

omg RiverTam it's a while since i've met a fellow book nerd, so to speak :D do you work in publishing?

Actually, digital formats are not carbon neutral, if anything it takes more carbon to serve up data than it does to print books (even hardbacks with dust jackets). Servers use a LOT of energy, and unless the server is powered by a renewable source (they do exist, but are not widely adopted), any digital format will be bad for the environment.

I like dust jackets myself. But then my dad used to design book jackets so I'm very biased.

Are you suggesting it uses more carbon to deliver 1MB of data than to print and deliver a book? If that were even vaguely true you'd have destroyed an entire rainforest with an evening on Netflix

I love a good hardback with cover. Makes me feel extra extravagant.

Kindles are useful for holiday reads but that’s all.

Sadly, Totes it does take a huge amount of energy. It's not just at the point the data gets served to you, but also while it's "waiting" to be served (e.g. it needs to be available 24/7).

I thought they were called dust jackets.

I can’t bare kindles , I need real books. 95% are from second hand shops though. Bonus points if they have an old book smell.

The sleeves annoy me on hardbacks,

So do what you’re doing - throw it away! The jacket protects the book. Publishers work on a sale or return basis with bookshops - unsold books can be returned to the publisher for a credit. It’s one of the mainstays of the bookshop industry - they can order books in to promo or take a chance on new authors knowing that they don’t have to get stuck with unsold books. BUT the books need to be in a re-saleable condition. If it’s not perfect it can be sent to other shops who want the books. Publishers over print the jackets so they have spares for torn or shop soiled covers. So YABU.

Also - eBooks are DEFFO not carbon neutral. They use power in production, the platform they are in and the device they are read on. Books on the other hand use paper from responsible sources - one tree planted for every tree used is the way the big publishers do it.

And I don't think Kindles are really the eco friendly option. Once a book has been made (and making paper is a much more low impact industry than the electronics industry surely), then it's there forever - it can be read and re-read in perpetuity. No recharging needed, no upgrades, it doesn't become obsolete in 5 years when technology moves on. A book is for life!

Not always so. I have a couple of paperbacks that I've read so often,that they have literally fallen apart! Hence I've bought new copies. I rarely buy new physical books,now,just kindle ones.My ''old'' kindle is about 6 or 7 years old.No need to upgrade it except for the fact I was bought a ''new'' paperwhite for christmas

I love physical books and I love dust jackets but I use a Kindle almost exclusively due to problem with one of my eyes which makes it difficult to read actual books. My Kindle is about 5 years old and I won’t upgrade until it breaks, I read every day for about an hour or so and I only recharge every couple of weeks, for people with eye problems they are life savers.

Blimey tillytrotter - bit much to compare a booksleeve destroying 5 year old to Hitler!

Mine also hates booksleeves, but merely removes them and casts them aside (sometimes he will go and stash them in the furthest bit of the room to make sure they don't sneak back on). I think maybe it's the flappiness.

A cautionary tale re dust covers. Dh found a first edition of a book, had it valued, worth £500 quid (early 90s, so quite a lot) and forecast to increase. Put on high shelf safely out of kids way. Except it wasn't. They climbed up, ripped up cover when we were at work.(several other books too, they didn't target it specifically.) value of book significantly decreased.
Dh also collects the New Naturalist books, their covers are like works of art.

About six of us in the family have similar reading tastes. Each of us gets one book for another one for Christmas, then they'll all be passed round in the next month or so. Can't do that with an e-reader - at least, not easily.

Old hardbacks usually had a plain cover with just the title printed on the spine, so the cover was necessary for quick identification. I think it is only modern and better printing techniques that have rendered the cover superfluous.
If you collect first editions, the dust cover is an important item, more so if it is good condition. It vastly increases the value of the book as they were so often lost.
I come from a nerdy family of avid book collectors!

I don't like them - DD1 has hit the age where she's reading hardcover compilations of various books (things like the collected Worst Witch stories and the like) and I'm forever finding the dust jackets buried in her bed completely divorced from the book they're meant to be covering!

My kids have destroyed all my book jackets.

My Kindle is about 5 years old and I won’t upgrade until it breaks, I read every day for about an hour or so and I only recharge every couple of weeks, for people with eye problems they are life savers.

My middle aged eyes appreciate the ability to embiggen the font. My hypermobile hands appreciate not having to struggle to hold a physical book open. Win win.