Mass market paperbacks will all but vanish from the publishing scene in a few weeks

[cgsmom]

I was lucky. We had a decent library at school and the librarian would help me find books I liked. Our public library was excellent also. Mom took me there all the time. I still remember saving my allowance for the latest "Brains Benton Mystery". I wanted to own them.

[rkomar]

I remember ordering books from the Scholastic Book Club once a month way back when I was in grade 5. I still have most of them (my Roget's Thesaurus is falling apart but still in heavy use, and I still re-read my copy of Frankenstein every decade or so). For paperbacks given to kids fifty years ago, they have survived reasonably well. If only you could reverse the magic marker scribblings of younger brothers .

[ekbell]

Originally Posted by Courant

Wow, your convience store had sections of books. I remember the Scholastic Book Club, but not if I ever ordered any books. I had a good library growing up and my parents bought me books. It certainly influenced which books I read.

It had one shelf of romances and one shelf of everything else.