Why Paperbacks Should Go To Hell? Something about books is just fascinating. How a book takes you from one state of mind to another, from one world to another parallel and more beautiful one, is incredible. As a child, I loved when mom read me a bed time story and cried when she didn’t. Growing up, I started collecting and reading books on my own. A bent paper in a book of mine was a nightmare as I always liked it to stay neat, tidy and good as new. Let me not start talking about the heavenly smell of paper, too. However, growing up even more until this very day, I discovered, just like numerous book lovers, that paperback books are no longer the perfect companions.   Why? The amount of space that paperback books occupy, especially if a person was a book lover, is annoying. Consequently, you are limited to the amount of books you can own especially if you live in an apartment. Moreover, how annoying is a paper cut? You have the right to read peacefully with no “bloody” interruptions that often happen with a paperback. Also, how many times have you had the urge to lie in bed in the dark and read comfortably? That though is not possible when it comes to paperback books. Personally speaking, I love trees and nature. Most importantly, I love reading in the shades of a big green tree with summer breeze playing around. But how can I... knowing that the books I am reading came from that tree’s family? Think about it, can you go to your friend’s house for lunch knowing that you contributed to his brother’s death? Absolute audacity! Paperback books are major contributors to loss of trees and have other negative environmental effects.   Let’s Talk Numbers A study made showed that on average, each printed book releases 8.85 pounds of carbon dioxide into the environment. Together, the newspaper and book-printing industries cut down 125 million trees per year and emit 44 million tons of CO2. How do you like a paperback book now? E-books today can provide the most premium reading experience anyone could hope for, no blood, no dark, and no guilt!   A book is a reader’s best friend Imagine going on a two weeks trip to another country. How awful would that trip feel without your best friend? Or with your best friend present but too sick to move around? Won’t that be a complicated trip? It sure would. Similarly, readers like to keep themselves surrounded by books throughout their trip, but paperbacks weight and size makes that hard for them. It is much easier to travel with a slim e-reader than ten bulkier books. Also, when it comes to cleanliness, spilling a cup of tea on a book will leave annoying stains and won’t make it comfortable for you to read. On the other hand, spilling a cup of tea on your e-reader will not affect your e-book (although you might need to change your tablet or e-reader afterwards!). To add, given that we are living in the mid of a pandemic, paperbacks are considered carriers of the virus or many other germs in general, if lent to someone else or if simply offered by your public library. So, spare yourself the trouble, save the environment and upgrade your reading experience and give up paperback books! May we never meet again, paperback!