From One Book Lover

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I love a hardback book, the heft and integrity.  They last longer, sort of.  They're also more expensive, as much as $30 retail.  (Talk about heft!)  If it's purchased early enough, it's a first edition that, if signed by the author, has some value beyond warm fuzzies to the owner.  I feel like I should respect the hardback. Paperbacks, on the other hand, are books I carelessly toss in my purse or backpack.  I like the trade paperback, with its larger size and often artistic covers.  Usually, the trade paperback doesn't sport a movie tie-in or a Fabio-like hunk with a non-existent shirt, which also lends a sense of gravitas. However, smart book marketers are playing for a new life in paperbacks.  The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee received a decent response when released as a hardback last year.  However, when Penguin Books (USA) re-released it as a paperback, the publisher sold 151,000 copies in two months — more than three times as ...