I very rarely buy (or read) hardcover novels, but in recent times I've picked up some great hardcover bargains and am currently enjoying the new Nicci French novel, a book I treated myself to on the weekend.

There are things I love about hardcover books, and things I hate. They're luxurious to hold, with thicker paper and smooth, sometimes deluxe-to-the-touch dust-jackets, but they weigh too much to cart around on the train and they take up too much room on my bookshelves.

Which do you prefer - hardcover or paperback? And why?

I prefer hardcover for bigger books, like reference books and encyclopedias, and paperback for the smaller ones. I try to read whenever I'm not at home, and HC books generally are cumbersome to manage, especially when I'm reading while on my feet.

I will go with this answer also ;-)

Paperback for use, hardcover for shelves.

This.

Hardcovers look nice on the shelf but I find them just too unwieldy for longer reading sessions.

I prefer hardbacks, they're much easier to scan. The covers tend to saw off nicely.

I prefer ebooks. Otherwise, paperbacks, since they are cheaper, and easier to handle. They may not be as durable as hardcovers, but I tend to treat my books well, and never had a problem with any of my paperbacks.

In Spain hardcovers are not as common as in the United States or other countries. A lot of new books are published directly in paperback. But it's not a mass market paperback: the covers are reinforced and they are bigger than regular paperbacks. This is actually my favorite format: it combines some advantages of hardcovers (better paper quality, wider pages) and those of paperbacks (they are usually quite light).

Neither. Digital is the way to go for me these days. My Kindle weighs about as much as the average paperback, but it has so much more content. Also, no clutter! ;)

I do agree with people's statements above though. If you have to choose between either, paperback is much more convenient a lot of the time.

I usually use ebooks, so I mainly buy real books for collection purposes (or if they're cheap. Lots of booksales around here). As such, I prefer hardcover.

I like hardcover books. There is something about sitting down in a quiet room with a good solid book that enriches the experience for me. Paperbacks are good for stories that I think I'll read once, but they don't have the feel of a hardcover book and they don't hold up well over time for me.

I bought a kindle and have tried to read with it. It's not the same. My daughter loves hers. She uses it all the time. I read stories all the time about how people love their e-reader. But for me, give me a dark room, a good hardcover book and good light for my little area to read by, and I'm off to another land.

In general I prefer hardcover, but I usually get softcover because they are cheaper. I prefer my books in paper; technology is fragile and obsolete by design, paper is forever.

Hmm. You either don't think that "forever" lasts as long as I do, or you seriously underestimate the durability of stone tablets. :)

Depends on what type of text it is and how much I'm attached to it. I mostly buy paperbacks because they're cheaper and more practical, but I like hardcovers better (at least if they're normal sized and not too thick). Like Zandolf, I can't get anything out of reading ebooks, contrary to some people I know who don't touch neither hardcover nor paperback anymore since they've got an ebook reader. When it comes to games, I'm all for going digital to clear my shelves (since videogaming is a digital hobby anyway), but regarding books, I'm old-fashioned.

This ^^