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What vexes you?


Zumii

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So what vexes you when it comes to books, other peoples reading habits or anything book related? Can you think of 5?

 

Mine would be:

 

1 - Book spines being damaged!

I always cringe when I happen to glance at someone putting their full body weight into making a 'lovely' dent into the books spine. Surely if the book decides to spring arms & close all by itself, it won't be too hard to find where they had got up to? Poor, poor books they never stand a chance lol.

 

2 - Folding the corner of book pages!

Arghhh, another one that not only makes me cringe but makes me rawrr (maybe not out loud ... but inside I can assure you I'm like a Bugbear waiting to jump out & scare someone ;))

 

3 - Lending a book & never getting it back!

This has happened to me so many times, that I have now gotten to the point where I won't lend my books out. It's bad enough I'm quite OCD with the condition I like to keep my books in (or any kind of paperwork), but if I do brave lending it out, I do at least hope it comes back & if it's still in one peace that's a bonus too! :smile2:

 

4 - Using a book as a drinks coaster!

Why, oh why, oh why ... would anyone want to put a steaming hot cup of anything on top of a nice (hopefully enjoyable) book? I did a book swap with a friend many years ago, I loaned him my David Lindsay - Animosity (which I never got back ;)) & I borrowed his Terry Pratchett - Pyramids. What a state it was in :lol:. There were cup marks, food marks, many many spine marks .. all in all it was a very sad day in book-world.

 

5 - Bookstore formula of annoyance ...

A last available copy of a book + a small person (said person being me) + a book on the top shelf. Then throw in to the mix a tall person who ninja's the book while your helplessly standing there doing one of 3 things ... 1) looking for assistance, 2) hoping the book will sense you want it, spread its wings & feather-fall directly into your loving hands, 3) look gormless as you watch said tall person take the book & then nudge you out of the way just as a special thank you for being vertically challenged! :001:

 

So what gets under your skin?

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So what vexes you when it comes to books, other peoples reading habits or anything book related? Can you think of 5?

 

Mine would be:

 

 

4 - Using a book as a drinks coaster!

I will think of 5 in the morning, but this, THIS is just wrong. These "people" must be stopped immediately if not sooner.

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1. THe book I want being "unavailbable" for whatever reason.

 

2. People folding over the corner of the pages to mark their place. Really - what's so difficult about using a bookmark or a scrap of paper or something???

 

3. People who put the book open and face-down on a surface. Just pop your bookmark in place and close the book to put it down, people! It's not difficult!

 

4. People who purposely break the spines on books. I'm not talking about the natural creasing which happens eventually when you're reading - I'm talking about those folks who bend a book right open in order to crack the spine on purpose - especially if they already know it annoys me and do it right in front of me! I hate the sound it makes - I feel like I can hear the book screaming out in pain as its spine is broken! Lumped in with this is those people who wrap a book back around itself (folding it in half backwards) when they're reading. There is absolutely no need for this! It causes pages to loosen and come out far sooner than they ordinarily do so.

 

5. People who don't return books when they've borrowed them, or who damage them in some way (i.e. coffe rings) through being unthinking or careless (accidents happen and I accept this, but things like coffee cups on books or leaving them on damp surfaces is just disrespectful!) and think this is nothing to get upset about. It shows a flagrant disregard for the property of others. It's the reason I no longer lend my books to anyone unless they're ones I plan on passing on anyway, in which case I just hand them over and tell them they can keep it if they like. I pass a lot of books on to my sister when I'm done with them, but she's building her collection (she only started reading for pleasure a few years ago) and she's very respectful of books.

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So what vexes you when it comes to books, other peoples reading habits or anything book related? Can you think of 5?

 

Mine would be:

 

 

3 - Lending a book & never getting it back!

This has happened to me so many times, that I have now gotten to the point where I won't lend my books out. It's bad enough I'm quite OCD with the condition I like to keep my books in (or any kind of paperwork), but if I do brave lending it out, I do at least hope it comes back & if it's still in one peace that's a bonus too! :smile2:

 

 

 

This is without doubt my major gripe. I can never understand why people, who in any other circumstances would never keep anything lent to them, seem to think it's okay to keep books which are lent to them. For that reason, I VERY rarely lend books nowadays. I rarely borrow any either, but that's mainly because I have so many of my own already!

 

I must admit to cracking the spines on my own books, although I don't turn down page corners. However, on the rare occasions that I do borrow a book from someone (or from the library), I never crack the spine. If I am reading a book that doesn't belong to me, I always make sure I return it in the same condition in which it came to me. But when it comes to my own books - I like to see them looking well read and well loved:)

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1. Using as a coaster! MUST NEVER DO THIS.

 

2. Folding pages to mark them. NO!

 

3. Bending the spine. BLASPHEMY!

 

4. Touching with wet/unclean hands. BURN THE HERETIC!

 

5. Never returning the books you borrow and saying you never took them. That's prolly the worst thing.

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Personally, I am a culprit for most of these things. :smile2: Usually I'll try to keep books in good condition but eventually it ends up just not being possible! Most of my books (unless they're HUGE) I carry around my bag so they end up getting naturally dog-earred and creased. When I get to about the middle of a book it starts getting annnoying to half-open pages whilst trying to keep the spine perfect, so eventually i'll just get peeved and give it a big crack open so I can see the whole page. I also balance stuff all over the books in my room - cups, keys, stationary, whatever, and I use them as writing desks! :lol:

 

I used to be REALLY picky about damaging books, but I gave all that up when I realised it just wasn't gonna happen. The only books I now try to keep perfect are collectors editions or expensive ones. I don't usually take those out of the house. I actually kind of like used-looking books now. It looks like they've had a good, rigorous read! ;)

 

The one thing that does really rub me up the wrong way though is when people borrow books and then lose them or forget that they've borrowed them and they say they haven't! You can't really say anything to them 'cause it'll sound like you're accusing them of lying, but you KNOW they were the last people to have them and you never got them back. I lent one of my Harry Potters to someone in England while I was at university and never got it back - now I have an incomplete set! Rage. ;)

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I'm with you Nienna. I don't do any of these things on purpose, and I only have one book that is precious (a Jasper Fforde booked signed by the great man himself), so I'm not bothered if books get dog eared or dirty. People who've borrowed books off me comment that they look pristine and question whether I've actually read them, but I never lend a book unless I've already read it.

 

Books go in my bag, in my pocket if they're small enough, carried in my hand, in a shopping bag, wherever I need to put them to carry them with me, so they could easily be bashed around a bit. (I am a bit of a freak for a woman though, as my handbag has only a book, my purse, my keys and a set of headphones in it, so it's not like there's that much to bash the books!)

 

Now, having said all that, I hate getting books from the library that have been drawn on, had drinks spilt on them, have loose pages, been dropped in the bath or had food spilt on them. And the worst thing about library books is when the plastic covers they put on them get damaged or broken, as they leave sharp edges and I end up with cuts when holding my book :D

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One thing that really bugs me is when a bookshop only has one copy of the book I want, and it's in really bad condition (seems to happen a lot in my local Waterstones!). I'm too much of a coward to ask for a discount, so I once ended up spending

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I hate seeing people folding the corner of the page. Get a bookmark!!!

 

I hate seeing people breaking the spine of a book. There's no need!!!

 

When I get the bus to work in the morning I see many people doing both of the above. I have to hold myself back because I'm always tempted to say something to them. I love books and it just hurts to see someone treating them badly.

 

I remember, one of my mates folded the front cover over of a book and pressed down the spine in front of me, breaking it completely. I gasped and almost caused a major argument. She told me it was her book and she could do with it as she pleased. I understand that but I wanted to break her spine after seeing her do it to a book!:D (not really!)

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One thing that really bugs me is when a bookshop only has one copy of the book I want, and it's in really bad condition (seems to happen a lot in my local Waterstones!). I'm too much of a coward to ask for a discount, so I once ended up spending
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5 - Bookstore formula of annoyance ...

A last available copy of a book + a small person (said person being me) + a book on the top shelf. Then throw in to the mix a tall person who ninja's the book while your helplessly standing there doing one of 3 things ... 1) looking for assistance, 2) hoping the book will sense you want it, spread its wings & feather-fall directly into your loving hands, 3) look gormless as you watch said tall person take the book & then nudge you out of the way just as a special thank you for being vertically challenged! :D

 

Kick them in the shins, grab the book and run - you get extra points for avoiding them by sliding Indiana Jones style under a table or other low obstacle!

(Funny post btw, post more!).

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Kick them in the shins, grab the book and run - you get extra points for avoiding them by sliding Indiana Jones style under a table or other low obstacle!

 

I know what would happen if I tried the above. Things would be seemingly going so well, I'd think the coast was clear & I'd have the cashier in sight. With the thought of success running through my head & a grin on my face like a cheshire cat, I'd become distracted ... then bang! Head meets table, I become dazzled & as I slump to the floor to get my bearings again, the ninja would strike back! As I stir & sit up, the ninja would flash me a laughing smile. As I mutter "Nooooooooo!" the world would enter slo-mo mode & all would be lost. So I'd do what any other sane person would do, get up, hope no one else had noticed my fumble & then inhale deeply ... to the next book store I go! All I can hope is the tables are bloody higher than the last ones! :D

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There are several crimes that should be punished and I don't think that we should be lenient at all.

- leaving a book open on a table- use a bookmark

 

- not turning the page nicely, just pushing it over roughly - the pages should be turned from the top right hand corner one page at a time

 

-writing in the margins - should be banned by law

 

- deliberately cracking the spine - how would you like your spine cracked, not nice eh

 

- turning a page whilst resting the book on your belly causing the page to bend or even tear at the bottom - go on a diet or use those hands to lift the book prior to page turning - doesn't take alot of effort

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For the time being, here's a Top3:

 

1. Not having a job in a bookshop by now, though I spend most of my free time automatically re-shelving books in shops and gently informing vacant-eyed booksellers that book x has been mis-categorized and really shouldn't be in the Children's / Science Fiction / Whatever section.

 

2. While I object to book vandalism in all its forms (corner-folding, spike breaking, coaster-replacement, lack-of-preparatory-ablutions etc.), the one that gets me the most is when dealers pencil prices into second-hand books. Stickers may be expensive, but I for one would happily pay my second-hand books more if it meant getting them unspoilt. Inscriptions of the dedicatory variety add charm, which is why I ask people who give me books as presents to write something in them, but there's not much charm in '

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2. While I object to book vandalism in all its forms (corner-folding, spike breaking, coaster-replacement, lack-of-preparatory-ablutions etc.), the one that gets me the most is when dealers pencil prices into second-hand books. Stickers may be expensive, but I for one would happily pay my second-hand books more if it meant getting them unspoilt. Inscriptions of the dedicatory variety add charm, which is why I ask people who give me books as presents to write something in them, but there's not much charm in '
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There are stickers that don't rip covers or leave residue, they're not cheap but I am quite willing to pay the difference because rub as I may, pencilled prices never disappear entirely from the front page :D!

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I would rather have pencil marks than to open the front cover of a book to find that the secondhand bookshop has stamped their name and address inside. I don't understand the point of doing it and it's usually a huge stamp!

 

Spine-breaking is a big no-no for me, as is damaging the book in any other way. I like my books to look pristine.

 

I should get/invent a 'book seat' for my car. I always put my book on the passenger seat next to me and if I haven't secured it properly it can fly off the seat and onto the floor, upon which time I freak out and almost run off the road trying to lean over and rescue my poor book to check for any damage. Or maybe I could just drive more slowly. :D Ooh, I could make up a 'Books on Board' sign so other drivers won't get impatient with my slow and careful driving. :D

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when dealers pencil prices into second-hand books

 

No see this is what I like! :D Books in second-hand shops are supposed to look all used! I like knowing a book has a bit of history. I especially love it when I find a very old book and it has an old pencil enscription inside it like "Mary Smith, 1934, St.Dominic's Grammar" or something like that - I like imagining other people getting the same pleasure from the exact same book I have. I like the pencilled price because it gives it that proper independent bookshop feel - stickers are so chain store! :D

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Books in second-hand shops are supposed to look all used! I like knowing a book has a bit of history.......I like the pencilled price because it gives it that proper independent bookshop feel - stickers are so chain store! :D

 

I totally agree with you Nienna! I like to see a pencilled price or name of a previous reader. It shows the book has been read and hopefully enjoyed before.

 

I also like study books where the previous reader has underlined a phrase or quote (in pencil of course!). It all adds to the character of the book.

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I'm sure I've been guilty of a few of the above crimes :blush:

I do like my books to look nice, I can be quite anal about it, but I'm sure an author would prefer to see their books looking battle scarred, it's like cookery books, the one's that are the most food splashed are the one's that are seen as successes.

 

I'm trying to wean myself off of being too picky about it, someone lent me a book recently and it looked like it had been through hell and back, she retrieved it from the boot of her car and it had been dunked at least once in the bath, but she said she loved it so much she'd read it four times and I thought I bet the author would love to see that book, to me it didn't show a lack of reverence .. quite the reverse.

 

Having said all that I still hate stickers on books that don't peel off etc etc but I don't mind 'damage' caused by overly loving a book or being so engrossed you've fallen asleep and dribbled on it or dropped food on it cos you can't put it down for five mins. Leastways I'm trying not to mind it :)

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I'm sure I've been guilty of a few of the above crimes :blush:

I'm sure an author would prefer to see their books looking battle scarred, it's like cookery books, the one's that are the most food splashed are the one's that are seen as successes.

 

 

I agree. I don't see why it would bother anyone else what I do with my own books anyway:D And I like my books to look a bit battered - it's a sign that I have loved them:) However, like I said before, if I borrow a book (which I very rarely do) I make sure that I look after it and always return it in the same condition which it was lent to me in.

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