Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Booking Through Thursday--Conditioning

Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?

If the book is not mine, I read it and give it back in the same condition it was in when it was handed to me. If it's mine, it can be an entirely different ball game. I do not break spines or dog-ear pages. Dog-earring is something my husband used to do until he found out it drove me nuts. I have a huge bookmark collection I've gathered over thirty years. There's no need for dog ears in this house! I make sure he has bookmarks; he makes sure he doesn't dog-ear. (For anyone who likes bookmarks but doesn't like the fact that they can fall out of a book easily, take a look at the link section on my left sidebar that's titled "It's All About BOOKS" and click on Magnetic Bookmarks. They're cheap and wonderful!)

In my high school and college days, I used to notate comments in the margins of my books and go to town with a highlighter. Now the only books I notate things in are cookbooks, and the only books I use an erasable highlighter on are reference books from which I get a lot of use. I don't do it to the fiction books I read. I have a folder on my computer for quotes, and I'll just add ones to it as I read. Especially now that I've joined Paperback Swap, I don't want to mail out books in which another reader has to wade through my own personal highway markers!

One thing I learned very quickly when I moved here to Phoenix is that some climates are not kind to books that are left out in a car. I think I only had two books disintegrate in my oven-like car before it became habit not to leave them in there!

I wouldn't say that my books are in pristine condition, but they are taken care of and loved. Do I flinch or scream in pain if I see someone else breaking spines or dog-earring or highlighting or notating in their books? No. Before you point out that I've already said that my husband dog-earring pages drove me nuts, I'll point first: those books are jointly owned by a non-dog-earrer. If a person has purchased a book and wants to break its spine, dog-ear it, write in it, or highlight page after page, that person has the perfect right to do so. I don't have a problem with it. I draw the line at wanton destruction--particularly if the miscreant does not own the book he is destroying.

If you'd like to see more answers to this fun meme, just click on the Booking Through Thursday graphic at the top of this post!


17 comments:

  1. Oh, I forgot to mention cookbooks in my post. I make lots of margin notes in my cookbooks -- but I still don't break the spines.

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  2. I treat my books with reverence. I remember the days when I couldn't afford to buy any.

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  3. Yeap I agree Cathy. My books are not in perfect new condition but they still look good.
    I have never written in a book. Like you I keep a small notebook I write down quotes in. I have bought a couple books recently from a second hand store that I know must have been from either a high-schooler or a college person. Had to chunk the book because it was so distracting reading their thoughts in the columns.

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  4. Bookmarks fall out, and that frustrates me. I have an inexpensive solution: Post-its!

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  5. My books are usually in excellent condition. I have a ton of bookmarks and always make my husband use one.

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  6. Yikes! I didnt realize books get messed up in hot cars!

    I'm a big time bookmark user (even if it's a piece of paper or reciept). I'll have to check out those magnetic ones.

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  7. Thank goodness I don't live in a hot climate - I can't tell you how many books would be lost at this point. There are at least three in the car right now - you need something to read in case you get into an accident, right?

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  8. I agree ownership makes a huge difference -- I wouldn't dog-ear or write in anyone else's book.

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  9. This is a great question. I'm noticing a lot of nice, long posts.
    Happy Thursday!

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  10. I love magnetic bookmarks!!

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  11. I try so hard to keep the spine unbroken, but with bigger books, it's often too much trouble (because you can't see the text by the inner part of the page). I never dog-ear any books!! The only books I treat better than my own are library books. Too bad others don't feel the same. I can't tell you how many times I've come across food stuck to pages or coffee stains, or whatever. Gross!!!!! On the other hand, my textbooks from college and law school are so covered in highlighting (always yellow!) and handwritten notes that they're kind of hard to read now.

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  12. I keep a journal for quotes/annotations on books that are from the library or loaned, but otherwise I like to write directly in the book so that my thoughts stay right there and will never mistakenly be lost or misapplied. I think the thought goes with the quote/passage, so I put them right together like a diary. I understand the computer thing, but I rarely read near a computer, it's almost always during my morning communte or during my lunch hour at work or while I'm waiting in line at the store.

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  13. I NEVER break a spine and I do try to treat books with respect.

    But I have been known to dog ear a page or two so I was forced to buy some of those magnetic bookmarks. They have LIGHTHOUSES and if anyone has looked at my blog you nay have noticed my fondness of lighthouses. I guess I may give some away at Christmas...or not.

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  14. I used to make notes in my college books and texts, too. It's amusing to go back and read those notes now. :) Ooh, and you are so right about cookbooks. You add your own changes to the recipes and such. :)

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  15. Cathy, I do dog ear, and I bend back the covers on paperbacks (that's breaking the spine, right?)

    I think I need to amass a greater collection of bookmarks. If they were always ready and lying around I'd be more likely to use them.

    By the way, I loved your Spotlight on Bookstores post at Dawn's site. Barter Books sounds awesome!

    Shana
    Literarily

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  16. In our house, it's usually my husband who reminds me not to dog-ear, I'm afraid. I do try to keep my books in good condition. But the only pristine books on our shelves are the ones we've acquired since leaving Texas and Louisiana, the land of the giant paper-eating cockroach! (And you thought Phoenix was tough on books.)

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  17. Hi!
    I'll have to agree with you on your post. If someone else wants to mark up or bend corners on their own book that's there business. Take Care!!

    Sherrie

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