How do you prefer to read novels?

[memphis]

I strongly prefer the mass market paperbacks. I went to the library to get a particular title yesterday. I saw online that one branch had a paperback copy, which is my preference. For some reason, I just assumed it would be a mass market paperback. Those are the smaller copies of best sellers that one can buy for less than $10.  Instead, I found a gargantuan dictionary sized paper back. I checked it out anyway, but it is very inconvenient and clumsy.  #firstworldproblems.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I don't care about the back, but it has to be real paper. Ebooks are godawful.

[dead0man]

Mass market paperback is my traditional favorite.  Most of my reading is done while walking/standing and hardcover are just too heavy.  Most of my reading is also done in and around a secure facility so a tablet/E-reader is right out.

[angus]

Hard for novels and textbooks and the Book of Mormon.  Soft but well bound for travel guides.  Rough Guides have better text, but Lonely Planet is bound better, so that's what I buy.  I've never looked into those electronic things.  I don't even carry my mobile phone on me most of the time, and I never check my email when I'm on vacation.  I can't imagine wanting an electronic device of any kind except my dive computer.  Well, and I also sometimes carry around a small digital pH meter and a couple of calculators.  But no electronic book thingies.  I actually write with a pencil in my journal.  I think I'm the last one to still do that.  I look around sometimes at a coffeeshop and notice everyone else with thinkpads, ipads, ipods, laptops, kindles, quoogles, and the like.  I'm sitting there like a douchebag with a pencil and an old-fashioned notebook scribbling my thoughts.  That's okay.

[opebo]

Soft.  But alas I can't read anymore, now that I am submitted to the humiliation of paid employment.  I barely have time to brush my teeth or pick up my laundry.

[Paul Kemp]

I've been using a Kindle since Christmas. I like it as I find it easier to hold while reading. I just wish there was a way I could get all of my unread books in digital form.

[Franzl]

I don't care about the back, but it has to be real paper. Ebooks are godawful.

[traininthedistance]

I like trade paperbacks, actually.  Lighter than hardcover, but more durable than mass-market.

[DemPGH]

Voted hardback, but trade paperbacks are great. Mass market if it's something I'm only vaguely interested in and am looking for a cheap read that will satisfy some passing curiosity, like every now and again I get in the mood to check out some classic title that I never read before but have only heard about.

Not into the e-reader thing either, like most folks here. I still like to have a book with actual pages in my hands. I like to smell the pages and break it in just a bit, although I'm not hard on my books and I tend to not write in them. But I know folks who have Kindles and Nooks, and they love them. Just haven't made the jump yet - I'm sure I will in time.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I'm a hardback fan, but I don't like e-readers.  Reading long books on a screen puts too much a strain on my eyes, even though I'm pretty much on a computer 24/7.

[minionofmidas]

Any of the first three. No preference.

[MasterJedi]

I'm a hardcover fan, but they do cost too much, even pre-ordering books so I'll get paperback too if I can. I hate ebooks though as well.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Paperback because it's lighter.  Also, the smaller the book is, the better.
I don't mind reading e-books but I hate it when my e-reader battery dies.

Actually, I prefer e-books, but when I travel to the mainland I always visit independent bookstores and buy books from them in order to support them.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I used to read books, but now I just get them all on my iPad. I am a 21st century man.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Voted hardback, but trade paperbacks are great.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Preferably hardback (ugh, that term sounds so disgusting), but I don't really understand the hate on e-books. I enjoy reading on my Kindle just as much; it depends on what I have.

[Paul Kemp]

I don't really understand the hate on e-books. I enjoy reading on my Kindle just as much; it depends on what I have.

Same here. I really don't see what the problem is. I suppose those who dislike them are also listening to 45s.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

I don't really understand the hate on e-books. I enjoy reading on my Kindle just as much; it depends on what I have.

Same here. I really don't see what the problem is. I suppose those who dislike them are also listening to 45s.

I like books as physical objects. I find them beautiful, in a way that isn't necessarily separate from the beauty of the content. I don't find sleek pieces of plastic or whatever else e-books are made of beautiful.

[opebo]

I used to read books, but now I just get them all on my iPad. I am a 21st century man.

What's an I-pad?

[John Dibble]

I like a good hardback the best, but paperbacks are also nice. I also think that having a shelf full of books adds a touch of class to one's home.

[Paul Kemp]

I don't really understand the hate on e-books. I enjoy reading on my Kindle just as much; it depends on what I have.

Same here. I really don't see what the problem is. I suppose those who dislike them are also listening to 45s.

I like books as physical objects. I find them beautiful, in a way that isn't necessarily separate from the beauty of the content. I don't find sleek pieces of plastic or whatever else e-books are made of beautiful.

I prefer to find the content beautiful, no matter how it's delivered.

[angus]

I like books as physical objects. I find them beautiful...

Also, as John pointed out, if you have a shelf full of them your neighbors will think you are literate. 

[DemPGH]

I don't really understand the hate on e-books. I enjoy reading on my Kindle just as much; it depends on what I have.

Same here. I really don't see what the problem is. I suppose those who dislike them are also listening to 45s.

I like books as physical objects. I find them beautiful, in a way that isn't necessarily separate from the beauty of the content. I don't find sleek pieces of plastic or whatever else e-books are made of beautiful.

Ha, that's a nice comment and one I agree with. It's even more obvious when you tour a special collection. I've held in my hands and sat down with an early Quixote, an original Newton, and an early Galileo, among others - the Galileo had his own writing in it with his signature. I think the Newton did as well. It was stunning.

If ever I became a zillionaire and felt the impulse to spend horrendous amounts of money on something, it would be rare books, clearly.

[fezzyfestoon]

Definitely paperback. I abuse my books, hard covers aren't conducive to that. I hate reading electronically.

[Paul Kemp]

I hate reading electronically.

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