@cheribaker Relatively cheap mass market paperbacks helped keep me sane as a tween and teen. I could escape real life and get lost in a fictional world. Like most kids, I didn't have a lot of money but buying both used and new paperbacks stretched my reading dollars. Used mass markets for 50 cents let me explore the back catalog of science fiction and mystery authors from the 1950's and '60's and helped build my list of favorite authors.

The longest wait in the world (as a teen) was when one of my favorite authors published a new title in hardcover only which was too expensive and I had to wait one or even two years for that book to finally come out in mass market size. It was like forever.