The hill I will die on: Heavy, awkward and incredibly expensive – we don’t need hardback books | Larry Ryan

It’s an annoying choice: either lug around a heavy tome or try to remember when the paperback version is coming out

Recently, readers have been all a-flutter over the publication of Patrick Radden Keefe’s richly reported new book, London Falling. Reviews of the celebrated writer’s exploration of the death of an English teenager embroiled in the murky worlds of crime and the ultra-rich have been rapturous. The podcast interviews are plentiful and images of the fresh hardback copy are popping up all over my Instagram. And about all of this I think: “Looks great, but I’ll wait for the paperback.”

I’m a fairly typical reader and get through a decent number of books every year. I mainly read fiction and try to keep up with what’s going on in contemporary literature. But time and money aren’t plentiful; I’m a slow reader and a freelance journalist.

Larry Ryan is a freelance writer and editor