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A little bit late to the discussion, but to answer your question. I prefer Hardcovers for books I want to keep a full set of (Preston and Child's Pendergast books being a good example. I buy signed copies of each new book as it is published.) Mass markets are my preferred physical version for books I am reading but don't have a huge investment in or want to plan to people.(Bentley Little, Harlan Coben, etc fall here). And ebooks are probably my most frequent these days just out of convenience. That being said, I will make a point of finding and buying Mass Market copies of your books so I can have a special shelf for them.

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You have excellent taste.

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BID TIME RETURN by Richard Matheson? It uses a coin. Became the movie SOMEWHERE IN TIME with Christopher Reeve? A coin was involved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bid_Time_Return

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author

Good book.

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Apr 19, 2023Liked by Gary Jonas

Thank you for the lesson. I actually had no idea that different book sizes had names. But to continue the lesson let me ask about the difference. I'm trying to find a book I read in the 80s and it was a trade paperback. And I think it was the first one I'd ever seen. Up until then I'd only seen mass market paperbacks. Why was this one book a trade paperback and will that reason help me find it?

To answer your question I prefer audio books. But if I'm going to buy one and they have both trade and mass available I'd buy based on what format the rest of the books by that author that I have at home are, you know so the shelf matches.

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Not sure I can help you find the book based solely on the format, but I can give some more background for you. In other countries, trade paperbacks have been popular for a long time. Back in the 1970s, there were publishers in the US who specialized in hardcovers, and they sold the rights to the paperback to other publishes who handled mass markets. That really changed in the late 70s and especially in the 80s. Publishers started expanding--some paperback houses started doing hardcovers and trades, while some hardcover houses added lines for trades and mass markets.

Hardcover lines initially used trade paperbacks for classics, books they felt were important, or had more literary merit, and some of those trades sold incredibly well (The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a good example). The concept of trades having more literary value has stuck with the format, even though there are plenty of trades that no one would call literature. I like to tell people I put the "litter" in literature. I don't know who first said that, but it's always amused me.

If you can tell me more about the book you're trying to find, I might be able to help more, but I'll need something to narrow it down. In particular, the genre, anything about the plot, the author. Let me know, and I can hazard a few guesses. Thanks!

As an aside, I enjoy audiobooks, too. Especially on long road trips.

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Apr 20, 2023Liked by Gary Jonas

I was hoping there were less trade paperbacks in the 80s but it sounds like there were more. I didn't really expect you to know the book. Lol I have a post in goodreads what's the name of that book group, but no luck so far. I think it was general fiction and not scifi. I can't remeber much of the plot other than it was about a man who I think was not really liked by his family. It takes place in current times for when the book was written, so i think 80s, could be 70s tho. I just remeber the end. The man is transported back to the 1800s - there were horses and carriages in the street. And all he had with him was a gold coin that belonged to his grandfather. And maybe he sees his grandmother. And I don't think the book says it but i felt that he is his own grandfather. It was a male author. But I can't remember either the books name or the author. It was loaned to me by my aunt who has no memory of it. And it couldn't be heinlein because at that point I loved heinlein and would have remember that

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Sadly, the books that come to mind for me with time travel from the 70s or 80s to the 19th century are Time and Again by Jack Finney (wonderful novel, but doesn't fit your description aside from having a trade paperback edition in the 80s), and Time Out of Mind by John R. Maxim, which is a cool thriller, but again, it has a sympathetic protagonist, and didn't have a trade paperback edition (unless your aunt had an ARC--advanced reading copy). Both of these books spend a lot of time in New York City of the 1880s, and both are worth your time to read.

I hope someone on Goodreads can come up with the correct book.

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Apr 21, 2023Liked by Gary Jonas

Thank you for explaining about paperbacks!

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