Do you prefer hardcover books or paperback books?

Paperbacks, most of the time. Easier to read in bed.

Hardbacks can be nice when they're albums but the dust jackets always end up dog-eared. I don't treat books very well.

Hardcover if I can get them for books I really want to read or collect. Paperback if i'm not all that fussed. The only thing I hate vehemently are digital books.

Hardcovers are nice for decor, but paper covers are more flexible and easy for when I'm reading.

Kinddle

Only like reading kindle now, truth be told.

I spend the bigger bucks on hardcover art books and omnibuses.

Aside from those,I'm less inclined to buy a hardcover if there is a cheaper alternative.

Paperback.

I don't dislike hardcovers and they do look nice on a bookshelf but you just can't beat the perks of a paperback; cheaper, lighter, less worried about losing it, easier to read in bed, etc.

And there's something nice about a worn, dog-eared paperback book that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that you don't get from a hardcover you're trying to keep mint condition, you know? If it's yours, it's like reuniting with an old friend; if it was someone else's, you wonder about the people that enjoyed it, where it's been. I bought a book in England, read it on the flight over to California, gave it to my brother-in-law who read it on his way to Japan, who left it at his coworkers house....I wonder where it is now?

It doesn't matter to me, but if I'm looking for a book at like Barnes and Noble or something I'd probably be looking for a paperback to keep prices down unless it was something I was anticipating and only released in hardcover. However, I would like to have a nice office one day with leatherbound or nice hardcovers lining a few book shelves. Something like the Trading Places office would be bad ass.. lol.

Paperback. Easier, cheaper.

Paperback easily, although these days I usually read ebooks on my Kindle.

If it's something I want to reread, hardcover. A disposable one off? Paperback.

@LJS9502_basic: How do you know until you've read it?

My two favorite books are ones I never would've expected - a crime drama novella packed into a collection with four other throwaways, and the novelization of a play.

Not a big preference, but paperback. Easier to hold.

Hard back ,atleast the front and back covers won't fold and crease up on me. Kindle is my preferred method

Generally if I've read something and find merit in the author.