I’ve been thinking a lot about mass market paperbacks lately, especially now that they’re being phased out by many publishers.
For me they were impulse buys and some of them turned out to be way better than I expected.
So I’m curious: What mass market paperbacks genuinely surprised you?
Books you picked up because they were inexpensive or convenient, but ended up being memorable, well-written, or even favorites or movies.
I’d love to grab a few more while I still can. Thanks!
by HTCIWA
3 Comments
Books were published in several different editions. Mass market format was affordable, Penguin put out a whole lot of classics. So any book could be mass market size and shape, it was not about content.
Night of the Hunter, Davis Grubb. Outside of the movie he’s had no impact on the American Letters scene, so I thought he’d be like Walter Tevis. Instead the novel is wonderful, and I re-read it just a couple of pages at a time.
I’m assuming you meant newer ones, what are your picks?
The ritual used to be stopping at the news stand to grab a paperback before getting on the plane. Not sure anyone does that now… I first read Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Scott Turow, and countless others this way. Best random find: The Eight, by Katherine Neville.