Book Condition

[lexiepiper]

I've had the same problem BJ, I got one package that was actually ripped open all down one end, so when I picked it up all the books came flying out

[BookJumper]

Awww seriously, what the...? One might as well pay books 1p + P&P if paying next to RRP is going to make no differenc condition-wise! I'm sorely tempted to switch my purchases too 100% shop-bought, at least then I can personally check the state of books before laying down money for them !

[Univerze]

I have two different opinions or whether I like to keep my books looking good or not. One, is for my hardcovers, my pretty books and books that mean a lot to me (you know, when I finally get to buy it after having read it several times at the library or something). Those books I treat with care. I love hardcovers too for letting me read them over and over without looking mangled, even though I hate dust jackets or whatever that cover's called.

Then, there's paperbacks. Most, if not all, of my paperbacks look like they've been read plenty. I have to enjoy reading, and I can't when I am constantly worrying if I crack the spine or not. So my paperbacks can look really bad.. I always figure when it's so mangled I have the urge to throw it away, I'll buy me a cheap-ish hardcover some day. Like at some discount book store, or when I walked into Forbidden Planet with a friend and discovered they had the very pretty hardcover of Kushiel's Chosen for just 4 pounds.

But besides cracking the spine, I keep them looking nice. You know, no dog-earing, no smudges etc.

 

AND it's for ME to mess up my books. When I loan my books to someone (rarely ever happens, my friends don't care about my kind of books, nor do they read english ones), they have to be returned to me in exact the same condition they were.

 

And about the parcels being delivered.. well I order just at one online shop since I don't have a creditcard and we don't have that many national online bookshops. So I always order at the cheapest one, which also happens to be the one that has the most books, and the best service. It's a shop that started out as new books shop, but now sort of intermediates for second hand books too... have bought my copy of Harry Potter and... eh, well can't remember which one exactly, but it looked brand new. However, if you have complaints, the book's not as expected, the shop makes sure you get money back etc. So that makes it safe to buy secondhand books. And our post is usually very careful with parcels, yay.

[lexiepiper]

Awww seriously, what the...? One might as well pay books 1p + P&P if paying next to RRP is going to make no differenc condition-wise! I'm sorely tempted to switch my purchases too 100% shop-bought, at least then I can personally check the state of books before laying down money for them !

 

I've been thinking that too, it's almost worth paying the extra money, and plus you get them on the spot and don't have to wait for ages for them to come

[BookJumper]

I'm not even sure about the 'almost'...! Next time, I'll just ask for book tokens as opposed to Amazon vouchers... .

[nightingale]

Since joining this site i've started buying books again after many years. So far i've only purchased on Amazon. As long as the seller has a good rating and the book is described as being in an acceptable condition i'll buy it. I go for the cheapest price available. So far the condition of the books i've received have been ok.

 

For now i'll accept buying slightly scruffy books, but once i've got into the reading habit and have a better idea of what tickles my fancy, i'll then consider buying books brand new. I'm a bit scared at the moment to pay full price for a book i may not enjoy reading .

[Kenny]

I don't like it either when books are ruined.

[BigWords]

I'm not sure about other parts of the world, but here in the UK it can be as cheap (if not cheaper) to get a book or small parcel couriered up the length of the country by a private company instead of the post office. I spent

[jankensan]

I always crack the spine on books (if I own them, not library books or ones I've been lent!!!!), it's very satisfying to take a book from shop condition to used. I get really frustrated when I see people avoiding cracking the spine because I love the feeling of doing it. I think there might be something wrong with me!

 

I do hate it when people fold corners though, especially on library books. I don't lend books I care about for this reason alone. That and the fact I rarely get back books I lend anyway!

 

I know it's cold and one doesn't want to be delivering parcels at five in the afternoon but is there any need for packages of books to look like they've been used as a football for the past week? My Amazon books arrived at last today, and nearly all of them have mangled corners. I dread to think what I'll discover in daylight. Then it'll be a case of deciding whether I can be bothered to send them back for replacements, which I probably will have to be as it will just vex me otherwise.

Email them and let them know, they may give you a reduction on the price. I once got a really battered book from amazon and emailed them intending to get an exchange for a better copy. they offered me 10% of the purchase back by way of apology so I was more than happy to keep the slightly battered book as a result....Their customer service is second to none. Edited January 13, 2010 by BookJumper

[Pablo]

I've got to be honest here and admit that I love books that are battered and worn. They show they've been used and enjoyed by those who were too engrossed in reading them to worry about damage being done.

 

The books that line my shelves are of that standard. I dog-ear any book I read, unless it has a thread attached. I'm also never afraid of stains, for they are marks of what the book has been through.

 

To me, books that have been read should look like they have been read. I love musing on the circled words and stains of library books, wondering what was going through the persons mind as they read, or what they were doing to stain the book.

[BookJumper]

Email them and let them know, they may give you a reduction on the price. I once got a really battered book from amazon and emailed them intending to get an exchange for a better copy. they offered me 10% of the purchase back by way of apology so I was more than happy to keep the slightly battered book as a result

Ah but you see, I don't want my books battered no matter what I pay for them, that's why I browse a lot but buy little in second-hand shops.

 

I got my refund yesterday and I knew it, they gave me it as another voucher so I had to spend it with them. I substituted a couple of the most fragile books in the original order with other titles, hopefully with that and the ice being mostly melted the next batch will arrive in better shape.

 

@ Pablo, I'd probably faint if I ever laid eyes upon your collection. The only book on my shelf that's battered is a 1946 copy of C.E. Montague's A Writer's Notes on His Trade, but that's different - that's vintage .

[jankensan]

Ah but you see, I don't want my books battered no matter what I pay for them, that's why I browse a lot but buy little in second-hand shops.

 

Hehe, I'm the opposite. Browse at the book shop, buy at the charity shop/ car boot sale!

 

I always think as long as you can read the words it's all good...I agree with the sentiments that a well worn book is a well enjoyed book, but I suppose a neat and perfect book is a well protected and loved one!

 

How about library books then, how do you cope with them? Sometimes they can have had a long life by the time you get to read them.

 

I think we are super lucky that we can pick and choose our book condition. In the days of old all books were lent out and borrowed (I remember when I was young that people hardly ever bought a book to keep it for themselves, they were always borrowed or shared). Compared to our grandparents we probably own 100 times the amount of books they did!

[iamnotreal]

I'm also a bit of a book Nazi. I never used to mind, but since I've started reading properly, I make an effort not to crack the spines on books.

 

What really annoys me is when you finish reading a book and it looks brand new but then you lend it to someone and you get it back looking like it's been dragged backwards through a hedge! I can never lend books to my mother - she's a spine-breaker. I'd much rather buy her a copy of her own than lend her my pristine copy.

 

What has to be the most annoying thing, though, is when someone picks up one of your brand new books and says, "Ooh, this looks good." And then opens it up to a page somewhere in the middle (I don't get why people do that) and they crack the spine in the process! AH!

[Scarlette]

I don't mind cracked spines - it's only embarrassing when they crack at particularly naughty bits and it seems like you've dwelled on those parts too long. I have many a cracked spined, moderately stained, dog-eared novel on my bookcase - and I myself caused said damage from reading and rereading and taking them everywhere with me. Like Bookjumper, I enjoy a browsing visit to the secondhand-store, but I prefer buying books in mint condition.

[Ruth]

All of my books end up with at least very heavily creased spines when I've read them! I love bending them back on themselves - makes them easier to hold, and I like looking at all my battered books and remembering how much I enjoyed (some of) them.

 

Having said that, I never ever crack the spine on library books or books which someone has lent me. If they're not mine, they get returned in the same condition as they were in when I got them.

[Pablo]

"...Pablo, I'd probably faint if I ever laid eyes upon your collection."

 

Yes, you probably would BookJumper. It's safe to say that all my books look vintage!

[MountainGirl]

I like my books to look nice... though I don't really mind if something happens-- or at least I tell my self it adds character!! I don't know about loaning my books out too much, I seem to not get them back! For some reason I love having all of my books is that weird?

[pontalba]

I don't expect my books to look brand new forever, but I do my utmost not to damage them in any way. I don't crack spines, or dog ear, especially hardbacks. I must have dozens of bookmarks, about half of those are from Library Sales, where they hand them out free.

 

For discussions, I do mark up books, pencil only. It's the only way I can keep it straight. I'll write definitions of words I look up, and page references for continuing themes. Only paperbacks though, hardly ever hardbacks.

 

I buy lots, in fact the majority, of my books either from Library Sales, Amazon Marketplace, or second hand book stores. But I shop around for the best condition. I won't buy marked up books, as I don't want to be influenced by what other readers have thought of it. When I buy a hardback second hand, I'm always careful to buy one that has a dust jacket in good condition, that's one of my pet peeves.

 

I don't loan books out. Too often in the past, I've not gotten them back. I'll give a book away, but not loan.

[Skírnir]

If they're my own, yes. If they're something I borrowed at the library or exchange books you buy for school - it's pretty much unavoidable. They either all have broken spines by the time I get to them, or they will, soon enough.

 

I can't stand the broken spine on the books on my shelf so I try to be careful with them when I read them. I also loan people my books if they're interested but I often ask them nicely to be careful and often I just take the paper cover off when I'm loaning it to my friends who don't mind, it's usually in the way anyway.

[lexiepiper]

I lent a book to my boyfriend's best friend a few weeks ago. The book had been a xmas present and was in brand new condition, looked like it had never been read. I got it back and it was a right state, great big dents and marks on the cover, and what looked like a food stain on the back. Was pretty gutted to get it back like that, after all you should keep things in a nice condition if they're given to you that way

[BookJumper]

... that's inexcusable, and to my mind your boyfriends BFF should have the decency to buy you a new copy/the book's RRP so you can replace it!

[lexiepiper]

Yeah I think so too, but I don't want to cause problems, so I've just sucked it up this time, I won't be lending him anything again though

[Nicola Booth]

I like my books to look nice... though I don't really mind if something happens-- or at least I tell my self it adds character!! I don't know about loaning my books out too much, I seem to not get them back! For some reason I love having all of my books is that weird?

 

 

No, its not weird. I love having all my books too. I just purchased a book shelf from IKEA in January and when I went to put some of my books on it, I noticed I was missing a Cecilia Ahern Book. I immediately rang my mum to see if she had it. She didn't so I asked my sister who swore she did not have it. My sister just found it in her attic last week, so happy!!!

[pickle]

I love having all my books and hate to lend them out to people, especially some whom I don't see from day to day, but as for the condition I am not to bothered, I read in the bath I buy second hand so I can't be too fussy.

[Nienna]

I used to be very picky about the condition of books and begrudge lending people them because I knew they'd come back with bent spines! I wouldn't even open a book properly in case it creased the cover. Now, however, I've relaxed a lot. It's really a case of resigning myself to the fact that books will get bent and dog-eared if you carry them about at all or want to read them with the pages actually open. Most of the books I've read in my collection are pretty tattered because, unless they're HUGE tomes (see: Wolf Hall ), I carry them to work and back in my handbag. I do, however, still have one peeve: when I order new books from Amazon etc. and open the package to find an ALREADY CREASED COVER. Urrghhhh!