I want to think that most of the cheap mass market paperbacks I used to buy were in the vicinity of 4" x 6", and about 300 pages long, which is not far off from

I want to think that most of the cheap mass market paperbacks I used to buy were in the vicinity of 4" x 6", and about 300 pages long, which is not far off from these, and most importantly, were convenient to stuff in a coat pocket or the back pocket of a pair of jeans. At that kind of size and weight, they weren't at all painful to read for an extended time. And they were so cheap that it wasn't a tragedy if I happened to drop one in the mud coming back from my deerstand or it fell overboard fishing. I don't really buy fiction on paper anymore, but all the paperbacks I see in the stores or airports are much bigger. Part of it is ballooning length, but there's a lot more printed at something like halfway between a trade paperback and the old mass-markets. Or those really awful awkward tall narrow paperbacks that remind me of the aspect ratio of the original Microsoft Surfaces.