Books, Collecting, Care, Pretentiousness, Anality...

[FizbansTalking_Hat]

So, how are you when it comes to collecting books, etc, things of that nature.

I do not dog-ear. I do not crack spines or fold pages behind. All of my books are kept in mint condition the way they're bought, and thats just the way I read, I only bend them back far enough so as to not damage the spine. Some people think its hard to read the way I do, but I get by and all my books are in great and perfect condition.

I do not take books into the washroom, just my thing, reading in the bathroom when it does happen is only with magazines, books stay out.

I wash my hands before I pick up a book and I don't eat or snack on anything while I read.

Maybe I'm anal and pretentious about the way I read books, but I was raised to respect and treat a book as a friend, with care. That's how I am. Whenever I sell back books to the used book store, I get compliments from the buyers on how nice my books are kept, they're brand new. In fact there have been times that I have read a book and returned it to the bookstore without them knowing I've read it.

Ah well, what ways do you read, care about your books, do you care, do you dog-ear, do you break spines.......Cheers.

[I'm Murrin]

Well, I prefer only to read books I own, that might give you an idea of how I treat them... I hate not being able to open a book all the way - I hate it when you put it down and the pages turn on their own, thus, I always break the spine. I like a book that has the used feel, but not so much that it starts falling apart - I take care not to tear pages, pull them out, I try to keep the covers as intact as I can, though it's easier with some than others.

That's what I hate - I don't like hardbacks, I like a book thats the right size to hold in your hand and to carry around, but paperbacks do get a little worn after a while.

[danlo]

I treat my signed copies; The Illearth War, The One Tree, A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, Metropolitian and A Medicine for the Melancholy very well. Unfortunately the paperback of A Storm of Swords is so HUGE it tends to break apart on it's own and about 15 pages of all 5 paperback copies of The Wounded Land I've ever owned fall out around page 120. Other than that I beat my poor books to death. (but there's always Ducttape! )

[Encryptic]

I freely admit to dog-earing (if I don't have something handy to mark my place), bending the spine and other offenses. I don't leave them sitting in water or otherwise trash them carelessly, though.

I love my books, but a good portion of them were bought from second-hand bookstores so I'm accustomed to them being "well-used". I do try to keep them in reasonably good shape insofar as pages not falling out, but I'm not planning on selling them. I would like to get another copy of Power That Preserves and The Wounded Land, though. Both are second-hand copies and the covers were already a little trashed to begin with, then the bottom right corners broke off on the front covers after some time....

I do wish that Tor would have done something about the shoddy quality of the Wheel of Time paperbacks I own. I had to repair the first 3 books in the series because the covers started to peel off the spine (they were bought brand new). This apparently is/was a common issue according to some WoT sites I've visited.....

[[Syl]]

I have a few collector's books - a signed first of White Gold Wielder, A limited signed edition of Dorothy Parker's Not So Deep as a Well, and a first edition of For Whom the Bell Tolls. I rarely touch those books, and when I do, my hands are clean and my touch is gentle. When I'm done with the book, it goes back to its place, spine vertical, out of the sunlight, not shelved too tightly.

Almost everything else, it doesn't really matter. I dogear, highlight, and leave notes in the margins. I don't break spines, but I do break books in after I buy them (spinebreakers, please read this article). Having once catalogged for an online out of print bookseller, I've realized it's pretty much the only way to go about it. You have reading books, you have collecting books, and never the two shall meet.

[Worm of Despite]

I only have one signed book, and I keep it right in this little cupboard by my comp. As for reading etiquette: I do drink beverages sometimes while reading. I was reading Lord of the Rings for the first time in December 2000, and I was at the Fields of Cormallen; I had a big glass of milk in my hand and it slipped and spilt all over the pages. It's all fine now, but a couple pages are still a little crinkled.

[FizbansTalking_Hat]

Almost everything else, it doesn't really matter. I dogear, highlight, and leave notes in the margins. I don't break spines, but I do break books in after I buy them (spinebreakers, please read this article). Having once catalogged for an online out of print bookseller, I've realized it's pretty much the only way to go about it. You have reading books, you have collecting books, and never the two shall meet.

That was an interesting article, thanks for sharing that. Cheers.

[Edinburghemma]

I think that books that are left pristine after they are read look unloved. I write notes, underline, dogear, and generally 'abuse' them. A great book should look like it has been read and enjoyed.

[duchess of malfi]

Most of my books are pretty abused looking. I do buy some of them used, so those tend to enter the house in somewhat abused condition to start with. The others become that way as soon as I devour them. If I know I am going to read a book many times, I will buy it in hardcover -- like my ASOIAF books. They can take a beating and still stay in somewhat decent shape.

I have two signed books, both of them gifts from close friends here at the Watch. Those two I keep in my desk drawer in pristine condition, like the treasured gifts that they are.

I have never had a problem with TWL falling apart -- but my WOT paperbacks fell apart before I was even done reading them. I have seen on other websites that this is a somewhat commom problem.

While I do buy some books (like Martin) in hardcover, most of my books are paperbacks. Easier to carry around in my purse that way and read on my work breaks, while waiting for people at appointments, and in bad traffic jams that way.

[danlo]

Most of my books are used or paperback cauz I be PO!

[duchess of malfi]

Ah, Danlo -- I am looking forward to going book shopping with you in Albuquerque.
I hope you know some good used bookstores we can damage our wallets in together.

[I'm Murrin]

I said that the covers and spines get damaged when I read, what I should add is that I hate it when people damage the pages. I can't stand pages being folded, torn, marked.... My books have broken spines, creases on the covers from holding them, worn edges, discoloured pages, but the pages are mostly intact (though some of the early WoT books have a loose page or two (while book 7 always surprises me with the fact the pages are straight and white)).

[FizbansTalking_Hat]

I think that books that are left pristine after they are read look unloved. I write notes, underline, dogear, and generally 'abuse' them. A great book should look like it has been read and enjoyed.

I enjoy and love my books dearly, and that is the main reason why I try not to mess it up by having it used, broken in, underlined, etc.. I also collect books, I have a few 1st editions that are hard to find and as a result of my habit of collecting, all books that I own are treated with great respect and care, it might border on anal, but thats just how I am with books.

I have a 1st edition in mint condition, minue 2 points, for a small tear on teh jacket cover of the Original DUNE by Frank Herbert.

I also have a 3rd edition Ezra Pound, Poems and Translations and its worth a hefty amount of moola, I won't share how much I spent it'd make some people here, go WHAAAAAAAAAA. Anyways, thast how I am. Later.

[Furls Fire]

My books are my prized possessions. There are many that I have both the HC's and the PB's. With the Chrons, I have all the original HC's and they are kept in our glass-doored library. But I also have them all in PBs...and those are the ones I read and re-read. They are dog-eared and yellowed. The cover of LFB is gone, the Illearth War is in pieces, and The Wounded Land lost it's back and the glossary.

The same holds true for The Lord of the Rings. I have a collectors edition of that, in red leather, which stays in the library, but, like the Chrons, I have the PB's that are read and re-read. They are in the same shape as my PB's of the Chrons.

I have mountains of books. Classics, books of poetry, art, music...and they are all in the library. I treat my books like the treasures they are.

[FizbansTalking_Hat]

I'd love to collect the Donaldson Books in hardcover but I can only ever find one or two and then the collection seems half done if you have mixed hardcover adn paperback. I have all 6 of the Chronicles in Paperback in teh Black Cover, the latest release edition in mint condition.

I know of the Illearth War & White Gold Wielder in Hardcover at the local bookstore near by in semi-descent shape, so if someone really needs these, I can get em for you and we can work out the mail thing, just hought I'd mention it to the die hard collectors out there. I collect plenty of hardcover and fantasy novels, but I think its too late for me to start a collection of these books, so I figure someone on this site might be interested, if anyone knows someone who is looking for them, private message me and we can work it out, cheers.

[danlo]

I don't know if it's New Mexico or not but there is an abundance of very good quality TCTC hardbounds in many used bookstores here. So if you need some let me know.

[CovenantJr]

I hold some kind of middle ground in my treatment of books. I bend them enough to read comfortably, but I try not to dogear them or bend the spines too much. People who bend them right back appall me I'm also appalled when I buy a used book and find pencil marks and things in it. Disgusting behaviour! Obviously, when I get a used book it's usually in slightly ropey condition, but I do my best not to make it any worse. So I'd say I'm a mid-grade book snob

[Edinburghemma]

I think a better word for this sort of behaviour is being anal.

[CovenantJr]

Possibly. I definitely have an obsessive-compulsive streak Mostly I suppress it, but sometimes it surfaces

[FizbansTalking_Hat]

One of the other things that I love about books, collecting them, is that smell of an old book. Just a hint of dust, and that prserved smell, it makes everything, so very nice. What are your thoughts, you knwo when you walk into a used obok store, the smell of books, to me is one of the greatest in the world. Cheers.