Bibliophile

When I worked in a book store during high school, I used to love the feel of trade paperback books. The covers had a beautiful matte finish and the paper used for the pages was slick and silky. I loved the paper used in trade paperbacks – it made the price difference between the mass and trade versions worthwhile. You could feel the better quality materials.

Now when I see trade paperbacks on the shelves they use the same pulpy paper as mass paperbacks. The have a larger formtatstill, which is more awkward to carry around than mass paperbacks. Overall, the same quality is just not present any longer. It’s irritating to me because more books are being published as trade paperbacks and fewer as mass paperbacks. So not only are the books more awkward to carry and the same quality binding and materials as mass paperbacks – they’re still more expensive.

Which leads me to my next complaint: why are Canadians still paying a premium on books printed in the US when our dollar has been so strong for the past three years? When the Canadian dollar first stabilized near par, book retailers claimed that they couldn’t sell at the US price because their stocks had been purchased earlier. Six months later some of the major retailers offered US list price on select newer titles. It has been two years since then and Canadians are still paying premiums to get the same titles.

Mass paperbacks are 12% more expensive in Canada than in the US; trade and hardbacks have an equivalent price disparity. In a time when major book retailers are going bankrupt and the industry as a whole is in a tizzy that no one is buying books, one would think that the market would be more flexible. I own an e-reader but I am not willing to forgo the pleasure of handling and reading physical books. I love the smell of books and knowing that I can go back and read books again wherever I take them. I do not have enough faith in the nebulous internet cloud that all the e-books I purchase will be available to me as long as material copies.

Current issues with iTunes and downloaded music only reinforce my concerns that our society has still not balanced artistic rights and the business of selling artists’ work. If you buy mp3s, you should be able to download them again if your computer or music device fails. There should be no restriction on these downloads because if you had the cd and your computer failed, it would be a non-issue. Of course, this is based on the idea of responsible consumers. People have shared music for decades and still the music industry is making money. The same goes for books – sharing books hasn’t hurt authors to my knowledge. I learn about new authors and buy their books; my friends learn about new authors and buy their books. Win-win. I just want to enjoy my books.