Do you keep your books pristine or do you prefer them worn and used?

Poll

How do you keep your books?

I'm really careful with my books and hate to bend the spine or cause any damage as I love to keep them looking spanking new!

How do you keep your books?

Vote on the poll :smile:

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Reply 1

claireestelle

I'm pretty careful with them, i feel it's just wrong to even consider annotating a book with a pencil!

Reply 2

Nirgilis

No-one gets to borrow my books unless they have a proven track record of keeping their books mark-free :tongue:

Reply 3

M14B

Pristine!
and I hate broken spines

Reply 4

High Stakes

Original post by Queen Cersei

I'm really careful with my books and hate to bend the spine or cause any damage as I love to keep them looking spanking new!

How do you keep your books?

Vote on the poll :smile:

Pristine. I consider it wasteful to damage the book and leave it looking worn out. Treat your possessions with respect and care, that includes books.

Reply 5

SinsNotTragedies

Much as I'd like to keep my books looking undamaged, my English Literature study methods don't allow for that. I annotate, fold pages, bend the spine. :colondollar:

Reply 6

hezzlington

A bend in the spine frustrates me.

Reply 7

username2552331

I like new books but after I've finished with them they have no cover and have a ton of loose sheets. :smile:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 8

IMakeSenseToNone

I adore it when books look old and tatty. My copy of Fear and Trembling has had about every type of beverage spilt on it at some point and gawd bless it its still going strong. I like the character is has when they're all worn and dogeared.

Moral of the story: Never let me borrow your book.

Reply 9

peanutbuttercup

I study a literature degree and, whilst writing assignments, I tend to use my books as plates at the same time. They all look scruffy once I'm done reading them and annotating the hell out of them but that's the way I like it - it just shows how hard I've worked on it. I find it really satisfying when I've finished an assignment and I'm able to put the book on my bookshelf; I know I'm done with it and never have to read the f'er again! haha

Reply 10

Plagioclase

My books are definitely very well used! I guess I see a well-worn book in the same way as an 18th Century doctor would see a well-bloodied apron...

Reply 11

TheonlyMrsHolmes

Worn and used! It shows a book has been loved :colondollar:

I fold my pages, annotate, the spine breaks when I carry them around, the corners fold, the pages wrinkle... :tongue:

Reply 12

jamesthehustler

it depends on how i like the book as while some i bought and read once are pristine and like new
others i have had for few years and won't get rid of until totally ruined and then replace them

Reply 13

Sandtrooper

Volunteer Team

Depends on the book. Most of their spines are wrecked. If I like them a lot, I will have no doubt spilled lasagne on them at some point as well.

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Reply 14

Alexion

I like my books nice and toasty :cute:

Spoiler

Reply 15

the bear

you know when bear™ has been perusing your tome, nomsayin'

:ahee:

Reply 16

Alexion

well spotted :tongue:

Reply 17

saladays

I try not to damage my books, but they always end up creased and bent after travelling around with me and being constantly thumbed through. But they look cosier that way.

Reply 18

Krollo

If you want something to sit in your house and look nice, get a pot plant. Books are for reading.

Of course I don't go out of my way to damage books, but books are as much about how you respond to them as they are about the author's intentions. If you don't make some kind of notes off the cuff to show both your immediate and more considered reactions as to what you're reading, you're losing the opportunity to make a book your own. I find it interesting to return to a book I haven't read for years and see how my opinions have changed in the meantime.

It doesn't even need to be your own annotations. This is partly why I love 10p library book sales and shelves at the back of Oxfam: there can be some absolute gems. There is something beautiful about picking up a copy of The Rape of the Lock and, as you go along, having not only your own reactions to register but also those of a sixth-former sitting in his English Lit lesson in 2001 who makes sarcastic comments about his teachers in the margins. Such a snapshot in time, an immediate record of some deeply personal opinions that would rarely see the light of day, are sometimes of as much value as the book itself.

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Reply 19

blamethenargles

It depends. If it's from a charity shop or something it's probably already tattered, but if I buy them new I try to keep them pristine, but sometimes it's really difficult. Have you every tried reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix without cracking the spine? It's a dangerous game but I'm more than happy to play it. My books look great :biggrin: