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?

Updating My Library

I went through 2 of my 4 official bookshelves yesterday and added my existing books to Library Thing. (See my side bar flash through books) I have two more book shelves of my science fiction, education, childrens, and mystery books. Many of the books currently listed are old.

I have a full set of serial Charles Dickens with no date and no publisher listed. I was told 15 years ago these were probably sold door to door or through catalogs. Interestingly, I have two other collections that look like serials, but they have the missing information. Most of these collections date from before 1950. I also have a few books from the late 1890's. I still kick myself for missing that McGuffy's Primer from the 1850's for $3!

As I was scrolling through many of the books looking for my publisher, publication date and material(hardcover, paperback, leather), I found many people had entered erroneous information or have a slightly different edition from the one I held in my hand. I even found one of my serials with ? pub. date that I was able to fill in for my library.

Enjoy!