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.

[Hellmark]

So, this week, I had to do some flying for work, and I was kinda surprised to see exclusively mass market paperbacks at the airport. Been a while since I've seen them.

[DNSB]

Interesting. The last shop I stopped by that used to have 2 or 3 racks of MMPBs now has about 80% trade paperbacks and about 20% MMPB sized books.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

So, this week, I had to do some flying for work, and I was kinda surprised to see exclusively mass market paperbacks at the airport. Been a while since I've seen them.

I spent far too many hours at the Philadelphia airport yesterday and there were a couple of straggler mass market paperbacks, but was almost completely trade paperbacks.

[WillAdams]

When my father retired to the second lowest tax base county in Virginia, the local library at that time was a carrel of used paperbacks in the basement of the old county courthouse.

Used to be for the Scholastic orders, the teacher would open the box, remove one or two books ordered by other students, then hand me the box (after removing the promotional poster which my order had qualified for).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

A while back I bought boots that cost 100€ or so. They lasted for a year. Then I bought boots that cost 50€. Again, wore them out in a year or two. Then I spotted cheap boots that cost 10€ and thought that they wouldn't be a big loss even if they lasted only one winter. That was 5 years ago. I still wear those boots. 5 winters and continuing.

I bought a polo short for 5€ at a flea market in Tenerife about 4 years ago and I've worn it a lot and it is still as good as when I got it.

[JSWolf]

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.

I remember the Science Fiction Book Club.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I remember the Science Fiction Book Club.

That was exactly the case with me. I loved getting those Science Fiction Book Club titles in the mail. This was between the late 50s to early 60s. About 20 years ago, I found a whole crap-load of titles from the mid-50s with those incredible, iconic covers. They are in storage awaiting me when I move back to the [snip] U.S.

And before that, in the mid-50s, it was Scholastic books. (We pored over the catalog in class and individually turned in our orders to the teacher.) Weeks later (oh, the cruel, heartless passage of unremitting Time), our teacher distributed the books we had ordered weeks before. EXQUISITE RAPTURE! It was the most incredible experience I remember having concerning books. I lovingly fondled them, smelled the paper, turned them this way and that way as I caressed them like a reunited lover encountering them after an interminable absence. Such joy!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

That was exactly the case with me. I loved getting those Science Fiction Book Club titles in the mail. This was between the late 50s to early 60s. About 20 years ago, I found a whole crap-load of titles from the mid-50s with those incredible, iconic covers. They are in storage awaiting me when I move back to the [snip] U.S.

And before that, in the mid-50s, it was Scholastic books. (We pored over the catalog in class and individually turned in our orders to the teacher.) Weeks later (oh, the cruel, heartless passage of unremitting Time), our teacher distributed the books we had ordered weeks before. EXQUISITE RAPTURE! It was the most incredible experience I remember having concerning books. I lovingly fondled them, smelled the paper, turned them this way and that way as I caressed them like a reunited lover encountering them after an interminable absence. Such joy!

I don't have my SFBC books any more. I used to enjoy the special editions that had multiple books. I also enjoyed browsing that month's flyer to see what books I might want. It's a shame that the SFBC has closed. It closed February 1, 2025.

[snip]

[pdurrant]

Moderator Notice
I shouldn't have to remind such long-term members that political comments aren't permitted outside of the P&R forum.

But it seems I do. Political comments deleted.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't have my SFBC books any more. I used to enjoy the special editions that had multiple books. I also enjoyed browsing that month's flyer to see what books I might want. It's a shame that the SFBC has closed. It closed February 1, 2025.

[snip]

I wasn't aware that it had ceased operation. --- Thanks.