A little while ago I was checking out a fellow book blogger’s post over at The Written Word where she posted in response to another blog out there, Booking Through Thursday . I have noticed their button 
on other book blogs and never thought twice about it, but after reading TWW’s post and checking out the link to BTT’s site I was curious. They post a weekly question related to books on multiple levels and then ask you to blog about it on your own site. This weeks question was intriguing so I guess this is where I loose my BTT cherry so to speak. The question is:
While acknowledging that we can’t judge books by their covers, how much does the design of a book affect your reading enjoyment? Hardcover vs. softcover? Trade paperback vs. mass market paperback? Font? Illustrations? Etc.?
I left a comment over at The Written Word post “Cover Up” but decided that on this lazy Sunday I would do a post about it myself.
I think that it’s very hard not to judge a book by it’s cover in most cases. When I am in a book store and can actually pick up a book, soft or hard cover, the cover is the first thing that my eye is drawn too. Be it the picture or the font of the title, unless I am going in for a specific book and have great will power and can avoid all the other books on the shelf I may be more likely to pick up an interesting looking book. Yes the title itself has a role in it for me but the whole package can be very persuasive.
I read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides for a book club a couple of years ago and had this soft cover version:
Well, at our book club meeting one of my friends had the hard cover version: 
I ended up asking her if she would like to trade books with me and now I have this beautiful book on my shelf. I will admit that I was glad to actually read the softback version due to the weight difference and the fact that I do a lot of my reading in bed lying down, but with it being one of my favorite books, I am happy to have the hardcover version. I also like to have interesting looking books so when buying books I might look at the bargain priced version to see if it’s different then the latest more popular copy. Especially in times when a book like Middlesex recieves Oprah’s Book Club stamp on the softback version.
Due to the weight of books, hard and soft covers, I am very interested in Amazon’s KINDLE and hope to get one when we move back to the States in 2009. I blogged about the Kindle when it was introduced to the world back in November 2007 and am just amazed by it’s capabilities.
Planet Books 