Or What Motivates Me To Buy A Paperback…
I rarely buy paperbacks anymore, as I mostly read on my kindle, but there’s one place I always buy tactile books (I refuse to say ‘real books’ all my ebooks are real!), and that’s at airports.
Yesterday I returned home from London after almost a week away from home with my children and grandchildren. Our short stay at Gatwick Airport wasn’t easy with three buggies, three grandchildren under four, six pieces of hand luggage three stressed parents, and two bewildered grandparents, but I managed to get away for ten minutes and run to the nearest bookshop.
The dilemma, how to decide which of the hundreds, no thousands, of books available to choose? Buy one and get one half price, good idea, so I’ll get two, but which ones?
Half the fun is looking for them. I don’t know if everyone does it the way I did, but my process was the following. First the front cover: the title, the cover art, the author’s name, prizes, bestseller component, all counted. Secondly, the back cover for the gist of the story. Thirdly, the first few pages (I mean before the novel actually starts), and fourthly the first page for the feel of it. Amazingly, all this happens in a matter of minutes.
I had various books in my hand and went through the above ritual, until I finally settled for two novels. The first was the latest by Nicholas Sparks, The Longest Ride. I’m an incurable romantic, I loved The Notebook, so after going through the four stages mentioned, I knew I’d love this book. I loved Mr. Sparks five pages of acknowledgements. He thanked almost seventy people, from his wife to his agent, editor, publicist, friends, family, accountant, readers, etc. for their support in writing this, his seventh novel. Everyone who has ever published a novel knows this is true, there are too many people to name, but he did so, and that says a great deal about the man who wrote the book.
I managed to read about a third of The Longest Ride on the plane, and I’m very glad I bought it, because I’m dreading putting it down, but I’m afraid I’ll have to put it on hold for a couple of days because tomorrow it’s back to work and back to A-Z Blogging Challenge!
The other book I chose was Miss Carter’s War, by Sheila Hancock. I loved the cover, the red dress and those red peep-toes, so irresistibly vintage. When I realised that it was about a teacher in postwar Britain, and saw it compared to the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the decision was made. Muriel Spark was my literary idol for years, and the 1950s have always fascinated me. My parents arrived in London in the 1950s and used to tell me about life at the time. I was born in 1959, on Seven Sisters Road, in North East London, so I feel almost a postwar baby, and certainly a fifties baby! The swinging sixties, also bring a melancholic smile to my eyes: the Beatles, the mini, Twiggy, Mary Quant. I’ll never forget the shock of seeing my friends get short bobs a la twiggy. I was so proud of my long hair, I would never go that far, but I did wear mini skirts and hot pants in the seventies!
If you know what you like and what you want to read, it’s easy to choose and hard to get it wrong. I was lucky enough to find two great books. There were several others, including crime novels, which caught my eye and were actually caressed by my longing fingers for a few minutes, but in the end I chose something less stressful and closer to my romantic and melancholic heart.
I’ll let you know how my reading progresses shortly.
What motivates you to buy a paperback?
Rereading Jane Eyre 
You’ve made me feel so nostalgic about the 1950s, Luccia, I think I may have to buy Sheila Hancock’s book. I’m not au fait with Nicholas Sparks’ novels, probably a lamentable omission on my part, and you’ve made me curious. As to how I choose a print book as opposed to an eBook, I more or less do what you do. Must say I have lots of downloads on my Kindle which I ought to read, but at the moment I’m fixed on paperbacks, which I suspect I really prefer.
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I also love the feel of a paperback, but now I usually read on my Kindle, so paperbacks are like a treat:) I hadn’t looked at the reviews before buying, but I have now, and Miss Carter’s War aren’t too good:( I’ll let you know what I think when I read it.
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Hi there – I downloaded The Longest Ride on audio from my library, but then didn’t find time to listen to all of it and lost it back to the library. Now I’m on a waiting list again. All i know is I need to get it (ebook; book; audio) and finish with it before the movie comes out. 🙂
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That’s exactly how I feel! Can’t wait to see the movie, but I must finish the book first:)
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I’ve read one of Sparks’ romances, and I have to admit I’m not a fan of the genre so I doubt I’ll read another. I haven’t bought a paperback in a long while because I always have my Kindle with me. Guess I’m just oppositional today!!!
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I hadn’t bought a paperback for almost a year! But I must admit I did enjoy the feel of the pages:)
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I love the photo of the three generations. I hope you all had a wonderful stay in London together.
The way you choose your paper books is similar to the way I choose mine, or used to. Now I mostly choose audiobooks and ebooks, but the technique is still the same. Many of my more recent reads have come from recommendations, such as yours.
Enjoy the paper, page-turning experience!
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Thank you, Norah🌹💖 I haven’t got the hang of audio books yet. I find it hard to concentrate without reading.
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I guess I couldn’t read while I drive, so it was thrust upon me! And I’m glad! 🙂 I especially enjoy it when the author reads their work.
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I know…don’t judge a book by its cover. But, sometimes, I do. Also, like you said, first page. First sentence. Both of those are huge. I’m a big fan of first lines. I do like my kindle e-reader but, for me, nothing compares to the feeling of a paperback book in my hands. I love it. ❤
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If the cover doesn’t deceive, and gives you the setting and mood I find it very helpful, although i agree that first pages are also vital as a reader. Thank you for stopping by and commenting 🙂
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Romance is my fallback and a genre that always uplifts my spirit. I read broadly, but will go back to a good romance for the pleasure of it.
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That’s exactly how I feel about romance. Sometimes I just need to ‘travel’ away from mundane activities and fall in love with the characters in my novels💖
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