I like paperback books better in some cases; like if I am traveling or I need to fit a book into a small space. But in some cases, I perfer hardback books because the cover can be a bookmark and hardbackbooks stay open by themselves depending on where you are in the book.
I usually buy all my books in the paperback editions. I have read a lot of books and I still have them all. I traveled a lot and came to rely on the paperback as it was easier to travel with. I do have some books in the hard back. I tend to try to keep all the series in the same format if I get the first one in hardcover the rest will be in hard cover. 90% of all my books are paperback.
I have 20 pages of books that I currently own. I would say that 85% of them are 1st editions. I could outfit a good library with my books.