a bigger, thicker, and heavier version of a paperback book, hopefully sharing the same title. usually the hardcover comes out first, since it costs more to print and buy.

Most people buy paperback books because they don't want to pay twice or more for a hardcover edition. But I'll tell you something: once I went to my grandparents' home in the country and I found some shelves full of books, all of them at least thirty years old and some more than a century old. Hardcover books were nearly in perfect condition, ready to read again. Paperback books were crumbling to dust.

I know what most of you will say: "Yeah, well, that's right, but hardcover is still a robbery". Just think twice... Think that a book can last more than a life, and its value increases with time (not just monetary, but sentimental value). Paperback is good for books you won't really love and worship (Stephen King's crap, for example, and I know this can mean a few downvotes for me), but... you won't buy the Bible in paperback, would you? So please... when you're going to buy books, think about it: is it better buying two books in paperback, or just buying one in hardcover and asking a friend or a library for the other? Think about your grandchildren.

Not all hardcover books have sewn bindings. And not all paperbacks have glued bindings.

Since about 1970, more and more hardcover books had been made with glued bindings. The glues are better than those used in the old paperbacks - they will remain flexible for quite a while - much longer than the paperbacks. The reason for doing this is that it costs less to produce a book with a glued binding than a sewn one. With lower production costs, it allows a publisher to offer a hardcover book (which is more desirable) at a lower cost.

In perhaps the past 10 or 15 years, paperbacks with sewn bindings have become more available. These books combine the advantages of a sewn hardcover book with the size and weight of a paperback. They are more expensive than normal paperbacks, but cheaper than sewn hardcover books. This sort of binding is generally used for books that will receive a lot of use and where space is an issue, like guidebooks.

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