Book Condition

[Jules2]

I think I must come into the obsessive category! I can't bear the idea of anyone folding over the corners of pages and spines should remain crease-free if at all possible. The only exceptions are books that have come from charity shops (and even then I'm quite selective) and books I've had for absolutely ages and have been read several times over.

 

I even have a problem when I'm buying new as I can take ages selecting a book that has an absolutely pristine cover. I have been known to pick up 5 or 6 copies of the same book to ensure I get the most perfect one.

 

If only I was this fussy when it came to doing the housework!

 

Jules

[Kylie]

I even have a problem when I'm buying new as I can take ages selecting a book that has an absolutely pristine cover. I have been known to pick up 5 or 6 copies of the same book to ensure I get the most perfect one.

 

I'm the same! There's an excellent remainders bookshop that I regularly go to that sells new books quite cheaply. Problem is, there is often some sort of problem with them (creased/torn cover, bent pages etc). They're often UK editions of books, so I don't know if these problems happen in transit or, more likely, they don't store them properly (I've had glimpses of their back room).

 

I'll go through every single book in a large pile and carefully consider each book before choosing the one that I deem to be the best quality. I probably look weird doing it but I don't care!

[Nellie]

There's one rule in my house.

 

You break my books' spines, I break yours.

 

That is all.

 

With you all the way there!

[Ruth]

I never borrow books (I have far too many of my own to get through), but on the occasions in the past when I have done, I have always returned them in the condition they came to me in - it's just courtesy. I'm also very careful with hardbacks, but with regard to my own paperbacks, I don't mind if they end up looking a bit battered (or well read, as I prefer to call it)!

 

But certainly with regard to borrowed books - or anything borrowed - I will always take extra care with other people's belongings and make sure they are returned in the condition they started in.

 

When buying books in a bookshop though, I always like a pristine cover!

[Stephanie2008]

I hate reading books that have already been read. I don't like them being tampered with. Especially the book spines as some people have said.

[Tiger]

I don't like second-handers that are in bad condition, but I do borrow a few off of Angel. We both tend to look after our books well. I also can't stand breaking the spine.

[lexiepiper]

I do like to keep my books in a good condition but don't get too anal about spine creasing as it's inevitable sometimes, i don't like creases or page bends though i must admit

[whitegold]

I try to keep mine looking as new as possible and I prefer if the people who are borrowing them do the same but I am not super anal about it.

[Charm]

I try to keep mine looking as new as possible and I prefer if the people who are borrowing them do the same but I am not super anal about it.

 

 

:she:I like my books to stay in good shape. I also like the books in a series to have the same type cover. I think it looks far better on my book case!!

[anisia]

I like my books to be in a fairly new condition but I'm not really obsessed with it. I like the older editions of books at the library where you can tell they've been read and reread.

[Chrissy]

I have made myself become more philosophical about the condition a book is

returned to me. I was close to scaring myself with how irate I

felt at damage, especially cup rings .

 

Now I just give a wry smile and remind myself that the book being read and enjoyed is what's

important.

 

 

*deep cleansing breaths. In with love/out with hate*

[Nollaig]

I only get uppity if its one of my favourite books, like when my millionth paperback copy of Wuthering Heights gets chewed by the dogs.

[lexiepiper]

:she:I like my books to stay in good shape. I also like the books in a series to have the same type cover. I think it looks far better on my book case!!

 

Yeah, I have to admit I'm exactly the same when it comes to them having the same style covers

[BookBee8]

I do try my hardest to keep them in a good condition, but if I've read them a few times then the spines do tend to get a bit haggard! I never fold back the pages though and if the front cover gets bent back then I hate that, so I make an attempt to straighten it out!

 

As for lending them out to other people? I have had terrible experiences! I lent the half blood prince to my sister and it was returned with no spine at all, it had been ripped off by my two year old nephew!!! She's also lost my deathly hallows.

 

And then, I lent Twilight out to a friend and he got loads of food all over the cover!

 

Such an angry post, hehe!! I've learned a lesson though: Never lend your favourite books to anyone!

[jewell]

I've learned a lesson though: Never lend your favourite books to anyone!

 

I don't mind books looking like they've been read a few times. In fact i have a thing for old books and have been known to buy some to put on my shelf because of the way they look. Looking well read i don't mind, but looking tatty and being thrown about and unloved gets me really narked as well. I'm exactly the same with my CD's, DVD's and Vid's.

[Suzanne123]

I always try and keep my books in the best condition as possible!

If I lend them to anyone, I have to exam them when I get them back (away from who I lent them to of course!)

[Paige]

For me, books always have to be in mint condition. If I see a broken spine or folded corner I feel like I'm going to faint. On the bus to work each morning I want to shout at people I see who fold pages or break spines.

 

I almost fell out with a mate because she folded the front cover back of a new book and broke the spine in front of me. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. She looked at me like I was mad and said, 'It's my book I can do what I like with it.' It nearly broke my heart.

[Kell]

I once watched an episode of JAG where Catherine had got halfway thought two books but only had room to pack one of them so Harm "solved" the problem by tearing the two books in half! I nearly passed out! Dale was shocked to hear me actually whimper when it happened! I spent the rest of the episode repeating over and over, "But, how could he do it???" and haven't a clue what happened other than htat - I was too shocked to register anything else!

[Anika]

I used to loan out books but never do anymore! Well, I just 'might'-- if it's a really worn out old paperback I will probably never read again, and wasn't in the best of shape when I acquired it, but NEVER a book I bought NEW!! I'm too picky about my books to risk it. Obsessive? Yup, that's me.

 

Even my own mother doesn't ask to borrow them ( a famous 'read-in-the-tub' person and I can't count how many books in HER library have actually fallen in!!) She's picked up books from my shelves and exclaimed: "This is new. You haven't even read this one, yet!" Only to be told I've read it 2-3 times. We most definitely have a parting of the ways when it comes to how we treat books.

[BookJumper]

I'm quite possibly the most OCD person on this forum. Let me illustrate my case.

 

Buying second-hand dismays me, as used stores seem to: never dust their shelves as a matter of policy, not consider pencilled pricing a defacement of volumes and value books far above the state they're in. Also, sellers / swappers on sites such as Amazon and BookMooch tend to be over-generous in their descriptions, leading to disappointment, anger and loss of faith in the goodness of the world on my part.

 

I'll only lend books to pretty much two people: the mum that taught me everything I know about obsessive bookishness (although, after a recent comparison of our shelving methods, we have established that I've surpassed her) because she reads books in one night and returns them the following morning, and one lone friend of mine from back home.

 

If OH so much as picks up a book from my shelves after dinner without washing his hands, I yelp; if absent-mindedly I do the same, I'll spend days pondering the invisible marks which are all too visible in my mind's eye. Similarly, when too good a bargain forces me to compromise on condition (as when a few days ago I bought three books for

Edited November 10, 2009 by BookJumper

[Ben]

Giulia, I don't think anybody can question or challenge the fact that you're unarguably the most obsessive and loving when caring for your books and the condition they are in; in the same sense nobody can deny how passionate about your novel collection you are as a whole, either.

[libri vermis]

Also, sellers / swappers on sites such as Amazon and BookMooch tend to be over-generous in their descriptions, leading to disappointment, anger and loss of faith in the goodness of the world on my part.

I sometimes sell books I no longer want on Amazon, and I always underrate the condition. Of course, my feedback rating is 100% positive.:mrgreen:I wouldn't feel right selling someone a book that I felt was in poor condition.

 

I'll only lend books to pretty much two people

I won't lend my books to anyone except my boyfriend, and he knows better than to be careless with them.

 

Anyone dare to challenge my OCD supremacy ?

I won't challenge your supremacy, though. In every other way, you are the OCD queen of properly kept books.

[BookJumper]

I sometimes sell books I no longer want on Amazon, and I always underrate the condition. Of course, my feedback rating is 100% positive. I wouldn't feel right selling someone a book that I felt was in poor condition.

I'm exactly the same on BookMooch. We are righteous people, you and me, and wouldn't dream of bestowing something that doesn't meet our standards to the blissfully unaware. Now, if only everyone else was as righteous as we are... .

 

you are the OCD queen of properly kept books.

Yay do I, like, get a crown and everything?!

[funrun]

I some times tend to fold my books .I hate writing in them .If I borrow other people books the library I treat with super care I would hate to destroy some one elses books because of my stupid clumsyness

but most of the time there in great condition:tong:

[Anika]

 

Buying second-hand dismays me, as used stores seem to: never dust their shelves as a matter of policy, not consider pencilled pricing a defacement of volumes and value books far above the state they're in. Al

 

 

I buy a lot from used book stores, but I've pretty much resigned myself to what's available, if it's a book I really want to read..... They're often in poor shape.

 

I was so glad to find a used book store I didn't know about one day, but then to my absolute HORROR I saw that the owner had priced ALL the books in the store, in huge numbers, with a black grease pen---on the FRONT cover!!! It was all I could do not to insult her in front of everyone that she had no business selling books!!!