Saturday, May 2, 2009

Drop the Book and No One Gets Hurt


I have a question. Are you really protective of your books? Protective meaning you won't let anyone borrow them, in fear of a new crease appearing in the bind, or a dog-eared page?

It may be a little out of the blue, but I am like this. I don't let ANYONE near my books and if someone touches them, I try to hide my irritation, but usually cringe or something. Am I just weird or are there any others like me out there?

14 comments:

Watching said...

Yeah, I'm like that too... I even fear bringing them to school X.X

Nancy said...

He he Hellllo!!!
you are sooo on the same page as me. I am better about lending books, but I am soo anal about them that people are usually scared and dont bother asking anymore. I treat my books like my babies...meaning NO creases, do dog eared edges, no food marks. I even cover all my books in brodart covers (the nice shiny stuff) so that the dust jacket i remains pristine.

Yeay..I am that way about my books. I read them and they never even look as if they are read. I respect my books too much and will do anything to protect them.

~THE OPTIMISTIC PESSIMIST ~ said...

OMG yes, I too do the Brodart covers! I read with the spine held tight. So no Spine creases!
I have some people I will freely loan to. Who will treat my books as they would there own.
Then there are people that I will NEVER ever loan a book to. My niece **granted she was 17**
the book came back to me creased, pages rolled, dog eared, the spine was cracked. It was soooooo hard not to go ballistic. She loved it so much that I told her to keep it. And I bought a new one.
Yeah I am a book loving soul what can I say!!
So right on my sistah friend..

D Q said...

Oh yeah! My books are like my babies-you better be gentle with them.

Kate said...

I'm also protective. I used to be a book-abuser (tragic, I know). Until my librarian told me that using a bookmark instead of leaving it open at the page you want upside down, doesn't break the spine. My friend borrowed a book from me the other day, and she was bending the cover and all the pages backwards. But when I asked politely she stopped doing it. I don't think she noticed she was doing it :)

Anonymous said...

I'm like that too so no worries. I like my books to be really well kept and some people just don't take care of my things when I lend them. I've learned from past experience to be cautious.

So Many Books, So Little Time said...

I do that too! I'm so glad it's not just me. My books look like they've never even been read!

Molly Jo said...

I'm currently trying not to think about the fact that ALL my John Green books AND Mortal Instruments books are loaned out. John's for MONTHS. And Claudia Gray, but I practically made my friend sign a contract for those because they're both signed.

If I'm reading a borrowed book, I won't turn down pages, leave it in the car, or do anything that might damage it. I only loan books to people I can trust to use the same care.

Anonymous said...

I'm the opposite. If I can get a friend to read a book I like, I will practically throw it at them.

Anonymous said...

I am totally like that. I baby my books soo bad. In my defense...I have had bad experiences with people borrowing my books. One was returned to me with the spine totally broken.

Let's just say that NEVER happened again.

Senfaye said...

I am the most anal person about books! When I was a little younger, when a page was bent or the spine cracked on a book, I would cry. I never let people borrow books..hehehe!

Reyna Meinhardt said...

Last Monday I let my friend borrow my ARC of "A Certain Strain of Peculiar." Even though it's an ARC, I was still worried about her dog earing it :) I even thought about putting a book mark in it for her to use!!!

Sadako said...

Well, not really. I'm kind of sloppy with my books. They pretty much go everywhere--the bathroom, my bag, on the subway. So they're more the well-worn species of book. I know, it looks like I totally hate on them from the outside, but as Mama Jenkins of "The Long Secret" put it, it's not the book itself, but what's IN the book that matters.

Iryna said...

One of my good friends borrowed my copy of Twilight before she went on vacation since she hadn't read the series yet. When she came back from Egypt, the book was, to put it simply, in awful condition. When she handed the book back to me at school my other book loving friend was their with me and we just kind of stared at the book for a second. Finally, my friend gulped and said, "You know Iryna, it could have been worse."