Hardcovers [Daily Photo #551]

You might have noticed that I like books a lot. =D And I like to keep them in good condition, so of course I prefer hardcovers as they are more durable. But. I was quite disappointed when I discovered that most of the time hardcovers from USA have very plain covers with pretty dust jackets on top. It feels like cheating. =D You pay a lot more but the durable cover of the book is plain, and the pretty dust jacket won't last long unless you're very careful. Meh!

*grumble grumble*

I guess I'm a spoiled child of USSR. Most of my Russian books are hardcovers, as they are more common than paperbacks and affordable there, and most of Russian hardcovers don't have dust jackets. Have a look!

That's certainly more durable and worth the money.

Only two books there have dust jackets and one is a paperback.

I wonder why jacketless hardcovers aren't as common in USA or UK as they are in Russia. This article from 2010, for example, calls jacketless hardcovers “a new fashion” which is soooo strange for me, since for Russians that's the norm, and has been for ages. =D