Paperbacks

I feel this is the best group to ask advice on the best paperbacks even though they're obviously inferior in quality to what's usually discussed.

I've realised I sometimes space out when reading books on Kindle as it feels so monotonous, or that I feel dissuaded reading thicker novels when I see the unchanging percentage on the bottom of the page. As I prefer to buy more expensive editions after I've gauged whether I enjoy them, I figured paperbacks might be the way to go instead (rather than glued hardbacks that take up space and weigh more without providing better quality).

So far I've only tested out some books from the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, which should have acid-free paper. They also feel sturdier because of the covers with flaps and, despite being glued, they open wide without the spine cracking. Not being able to open paperbacks properly without damaging them is one thing that bothers me.

Could you please share what publishers / editions you'd recommend as superior among other paperbacks and why? Are there other editions that offer acid-free paper or that can be opened easily? Do you prefer some due to the introductions or notes being included? What do you think is a reasonable price for the quality you get?

OT: Nice and affordable alternatives to Folio: https://www.librarything.com/topic/313131

Thornwillow Press has some fine press 'paperbacks,' which are really sewn softcovers. They are not cheap.

Paperback publishers I like based on their title selections and design aesthetics:

Archipelago
Persephone
NYRB

My more mainstream paperback purchases are done solely to read the book, and if enjoyed enough then a more durable and attractive hardbound will be sought (if one exists). So I'm not sure which mass-market paperback publishers are good nowadays. In the past I've had good experiences with Pantheon, Gollancz, Tor, and Vertical, as well as Penguin Random House. Atlas Press does very nice paperbacks if you are interested in their highly focused curation of subject matter.

I only have a couple, but the Pushkin press is a company I would recommend

New York Review of Books (NYRB) is especially intriguing to me because they specialize in newly translated literature not otherwise available in English, although they have more mainstream authors too.

Be careful about Penguin, especially if you buy used copies. I have some that I bought new 20 or so years ago that have ugly brown pages now. Perhaps they are using acid-free paper now, but they weren’t then.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

Does anyone know which of the ones with very wide selection of titles might have glued binding that still opens fully?

>6 jroger1: I'm not sure but I think that most Penguin paperback editions are not acid-free. It's specifically just the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition.

A search online gives me the following:

Pushkin Collection editions feature a spare, elegant series style and superior, durable components. The Collection is typeset in Monotype Baskerville, litho-printed on Munken Premium White Paper and notch-bound by the independently owned printer TJ International in Padstow. The covers, with French flaps, are printed on Colorplan Pristine White Paper. Both paper and cover board are acid-free and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.

I don’t normally buy paperbacks but the ones I bought (from the Pushkin blues range?) were very impressive

>9 DMulvee: That sounds promising! I didn't know the term "notch binding", thank you.

>5 DMulvee: Pushkin seconded, a lot of great titles available from them. Their mystery line is top-notch too, with a number of choice authors included.

T and J Books ("International" seems to have been dropped) did a number of books for FS back in the day. They are also the go-to printer for Little Toller, who do a line of illustrated paperbacks mainly on country matters, on good paper, sewn, and then glued into a flap jacket which allows near-flat opening.
They are reasonably priced, and can be ordered from Canada at UK price. I order them from SF to cut down on postage. Most titles are no longer available in hardback, so really they are an end in themselves rather than a step towards a good hardback edition.
That's also true of Persephone Books, which are generally reprints of forgotten classics of feminist interest. They're good quality, but not up to T and J standard; and they've started charging rebarbative prices for overseas customers, unavoidable because you have to order direct from the publisher.
For new UK publications, paperback no longer seems to mean lower price. Since the demise of Book Depository I order through Blackwells, who have a similar policy of charging slightly more for paperback than hardback; makes no sense to me, but I'm not going to complain. To compound my puzzlement, I own a couple of recent tomes signed by the author which were cheaper than the virgin copies. Perhaps the office junior is handling the Canadian account.

>12 Jayked: The modified overseas prices are the one thing which have kept me from filling more shelves with Persephone books. I could countenance it if the rate adjustment was distributed across the whole order to account for shipping costs, but as a flat per-book rate it is daunting for a US customer.

>1 santiamen: Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions do not have acid-free paper. It usually mentions if the paper is acid-free on the page where the copyright and publishing information is. However, I live in the US. If you're from the UK, maybe they use better materials there.

I always recommend Everyman's Library editions. They are cloth rather than paper but still very affordable at 20 - 30 USD. The paper is acid free and they are a comfortable size in the hand. If a work is lengthy, they normally split it into multiple volumes which I like.

Edited to add that they are almost always sewn rather than glued.

Edited again to add that the introductions are usually robust and well done. In particular I like their Shakespeare books. I like to have introductions for each play and footnotes which are included in the Everyman editions.

I was thinking that, in my language (Spanish), 'prestige paperbacks' are rather the norm in independent publishers and fairly common to find. Cream-colored offset paper and smyth-sewn bindings and the like. It's actually hard to find the same for hardcovers.

But in English I'm hard pressed to find a clear example of a publisher with the same production values that publishes in paperback. As far as I know, NYRB for example doesn't sew their books, but the paper is decent.

>16 dyhtstriyk:
My experience with NYRB books is the same as yours. The paper is acid-free and the bindings are glued. However, I have never had one fall apart or even a single page come loose. Glues today are probably better than they used to be.

I would recommend Deep Vellum and Europa. Both good, quality paperbacks with wide-ranging selections.

>14 billburden: Thanks for pointing that out - I found those claims online so I've emailed Penguin directly to get a definite answer.

My paperback copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray is from the Ignatius Critical Editions series. It is clearly bound into signatures, and the title page has the acid-free paper symbol: ♾.

The Oxford World Classics Shakespeare paperbacks have sewn signatures.