Summer Reading

So I've indulged my summer by reading a lot.  Without classes this semester, I've been able to catch up on quite a few paperbacks.  I've finised the Immortal series (City of Ashes et al).  I hear there is a fourth book, so I'm a little excited. I've finished Paolini's trilogy, which will now become a series since he couldn't squish everything into the third book (his own admission).  Looking forward to that fourth book.

I'm still waiting on PC & Kristin Cast to allow their last couple of books to go into paperback for their teen vamp series.  I could check them out from the library, but all those teens are ahead of me on the waiting list!   I'll also have to make sure the Last Apprentice doesn't have another paperback/book in case 6 wasn't enough for me of super scary bogeymen & women!  I have to admit that Joseph Delaney knows how to write a seriously scary story.  The illustrations tend to add to the fright level.

I'm contemplating re-reading the Twilight series.  Not because I liked it.  Truly, Meyer doesn't really know how to write well, still by the 4th book she had improved somewhat.  No, I'd like to re-read it for the literary value (whatever might be found) and see how it fits into the teen scene with other books like Harry Potter, the Last Apprentice and others.   Teens seem to be into supernatural and scary, more so than the sci-fi/fantasy of my teenage years.  It's an interesting trend.  Definitely something to investigate.

At some point I'll also be delving into my past and reading some classics.  Dickens, Hardy, Alcott, Cooper.

You know those books that are mass produced?

Many times, during class, in general research and while skimming through websites I have found the words "mass market produced" usually followed by "paperback". When you go to the local book store, whether a Borders, B & N, Half Price or even Amazon.com, you might pick up several paperbacks. I have some friends who only like hard cover and now my mom is reading hard cover more than paper back--physically cleaner than the paperbacks at Half Price in her mind.

Those paper backs are usually "mass market produced". This means they were printed by the thousands and shuffled off as fast as possible to book stores around the world. Ok maybe around the continent. [As a side note, you should see how many are published in other countries with different covers.] Some are reprinted enough times that I actually have 1-2 in my collection with 12 and 14 indicating up to 14 reprints of the same edition!

What makes these so enticing, so appealing to the public? One is the cost. Hard cover typically costs two to three times the amount of paperback. I think paper back is catching up in price. The publishers have realized the appeals. Another appeal is the size. I do not like hard cover because they are big and bulky and HEAVY. Paper is so much more pliant and lighter. [Insert comments that Kindle and Sony Readers are even more so--pooh to you! I like my BOOKS!] A third appeal is the easy of storage. Many paperbacks will double stack, one row in front of the other, easily on a book shelf. They are similar in size, unless you get those new fangled "larger print". The hard covers may vary in size, but also take up more space and you cannot double stack them as easily, thus you lose at least 1/2 the storage area. Cheap, small, easily stored--what's not to love?