Hardback vs Paperback

Which format of book do you prefer? Of course there are also audiobooks and ebooks which are great for accessibility as well as being fun to read, but I’m wanting to focus on physical books. Whether in large print, dyslexic friendly font, or braille, books come in both paperback and hardback options.

A lot of the bookish internet loves hardback books. They’re so prevalent on booktubers shelves and in bookstagram photos, and so many people say that they prefer them! I can totally see why to be honest. Hardbacks look absolutely gorgeous on the shelf together, they look more like art! And there’s more that you can do when you have both a dust jacket and the hardback itself to play with. But for me they’re a little awkward to read. I have an old injury in my dominant hand so it hurts for me to hold up a hardback book for a long period of time.

On the other hand, paperbacks are so so much easier for me to hold. As well as them being cheaper and smaller so that I can fit more of them on my shelves! And they’re a lot more common in the UK, with some books here being published only in paperback which I think is less of a thing in the US. I’m not sure about other countries.

If I LOVE a book. If I’m happy with it taking up more space on my shelves and paying more money for it, then sure. I’ll pick up a gorgeous hardback! But the majority of the time I’ll opt for the paperback option and I’m happy with that!

What do you prefer?

January Physical Book Haul 2021

Is it good or bad that I brought 2 books into my home this month? On the one hand, it’s only two books! On the other? I’m supposed to be getting through my tbr shelves, not adding to them!! I couldn’t resist these books though, I found them in the selection of free books at work and given that I moved to working from home in the middle of January (thank god) I needed to grab these and take them with me when I shifted home!

First up is Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. I’ve only ever read The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments by Atwood so I would like to branch out to some of her other works. This seems to be a fictionalised account of a real life tale, following a woman who is believed to have committed murder, but the reality may be more complicated than that. A historical fiction set in Canada, I’m really interested in seeing how Atwood takes this story and interweaves truth and fiction, as well as how this stacks up against the facts that we know about the case.

Secondly is No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald. This is a non-fiction work, written by the journalist who published Edward Snowden’s reports gleaned from classified documents. This book starts with Snowden and Greenwald first communicating, it talks about the NSA, and it examines the far reaches of the US government’s surveillance programme, far outside the boundaries of its borders. Whilst I’m not an American, Snowden’s reports were still widely reported in the UK and I didn’t follow them too closely at the time. A mixture of my change in interests and being busy with education. But I’m definitely interested in reading about this now and fingers crossed the book will be interesting!

And those are the two books I grabbed from the pile! There were many more books there but most weren’t the sort I would enjoy and I was trying to not be stupid with the books I was taking! Have you heard of or read either of these? Let me know what you think of them! And let me know which books you brought into your life in January!