To think hardback books are pointless

[Hooploop]

Why do hardbacks still exist? They're too big to store and travel with, and use an unnecessary amount of resources in order to be made. Does anyone even buy them?

Love hardbacks. Bentley rather than a Reliant Robin.. they just feel special!
Plus if you buy as soon as they come out from supermarkets, they aren't expensive.

Hardbacks are lethal when they drop on your face when reading in bed! I try not to buy them unless I find one cheap in a charity shop

I read a lot, but don't read books more than once. I need a book to fit in my bag every day. I don't buy hardbacks and hate the delay between hardback and paperback..

@spirit20 I may get crucified for this but I glue on the paper cover so it's not slipping all over the place

Hardbacks are so beautiful. I bought a volume of Shakespeare's sonnets recently. I have read them all before but the book attracted me: black glossy covers with a garland of white lilies and green leages on the front. It was so good to re-read the sonnets from this book. The pages inside the book we're dazzlingly white with very clear true black print. It was a joy to hold it.

There is no such thing as a pointless book. Hardback, paperback, cover fallen off completely, Kindle, audiobook - there's room for them all. Who cares how people choose to read, the important thing is that they are reading!

I like the aesthetic and/or durability of hardbacks for things like classic literature, non fiction/reference books, library books and children's books as they are books you want to last l but I much prefer paperback for everything else.

I just wish that publishers would publish both HB and PB either at the same time or within a much shorter time frame, especially if the book is part of a series where people may be purchasing the books either individually as published or waiting to buy them as a complete set.

There's nothing I hate more than coming to a series "late" so the first books I purchase are PB (as they're usually cheaper and more readily available) but then if I want to buy later books in the series I either have to buy the usually more expensive HB and have half the series PB and half HB or wait months for the PB whilst trying not to be spoiled on the content if I can't access it via the library/borrow a friend's copy. I've also experienced a series where I've borrowed a friend's books and then wanted to buy the whole series for myself to read and it's been impossible to get a full set of either, there's only (for example) books 1,2 and 4 available in HB and books 3, 5, 6 are only available in PB so you have to buy a mix.

I can’t speak for the UK, but in North America, publishers release in hardcover first, and IF the book sells well enough, THEN they release the paperback.

Personally, I think it should be other way around. Paperback, then hardcover. Make books more accessible.

This is why I have a book sleeve to protect my paperbacks in my handbag. It's basically a ziplock bag for your book - my favourite is made of durable, slightly padded, waterproof material in a bright floral pattern (so easily spotted no matter how big my bag is) and has a Velcro flap so I can just pop the book in, Velcro the flap. It keeps it protected from the rest of my handbags contents but is accessible in seconds

This will not happen because as I said, libraries. They are major purchasers, and the numbers on buying paperbacks vs. hardcovers do not add up. They would have to buy far more copies because paperbacks can't stand up to as many borrowings.

(If you're going to say "but ebooks" those are the worst possible purchase for libraries. They have a cap on the number of borrowings to force libraries to repurchase them, since they won't wear out.)

DP bought me a first edition copy signed copy by my favourite author- best present ever. YABU

I disagree they are more wasteful, they last longer and so they are less wasteful. A heavily read paperback does not last that well at all.

I love hardbacks and, like others have said, prefer a hardback if it is a book that I want to keep and read more than once as they keep their shape better. I do read some paperbacks too though and would take a paperback if I needed something to read when out and about. But I don’t really like when a hardback has a beautiful dust jacket but is just plain underneath. My favourites have the cover image printed on the actual boards or the boards are at least a nice colour. I love the sprayed page edges you sometimes get at Waterstones! And I love a glossy new hardback’s smell, its stiffness, and that creaky noise the spine makes when you open it!

I prefer paperbacks because they are easier to handle, easier to carry around, are cheaper, and take up much less room on bookshelves (if all my books were hardbacks I would be able to keep far fewer of them).

However I will buy a hardback if it’s very pretty (particularly if it’s got nice sprayed edges!) plus I have some signed ones as authors tend to do their events when hardbacks are published rather than when the paperback is published.

Most of the time though I wait for the paperback (if it’s one I really want to read and can’t wait I will try and get it from the library then buy the paperback if it’s one I’ll want to reread (I do reread a lot of books).

I’m not referring to libraries, but rather general readers. I agree that libraries have a different need than an average customer.

The problem I see is that the general customer often prefers the lower price and more easily handled paperback versions. My teens, for example, loathe digital. They will choose another author completely vs a hardcover. It’s too heavy to carry in their backpacks, and expensive to boot.

I'll always prefer an e-reader, but some people (DH) love a beautiful hardback book, and I do admit they look nice (though I hate dusting them). As for their being pointless, they're no worse than many other things.