The condition of books...
Oct. 31st, 2008 09:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoFrom October 30, 2008:
Mariel suggested this week’s question. 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?
I am very careful with books I borrow. Which is one reason I read borrowed books very, very slowly. I'm generally too busy to spend as much time reading as I'd like, so I read at every stolen opportunity - on the bus, in the lineup at the bank, or at lunch at work. Which means I always have a book with me. I often make paper covers for them, which helps to keep them from being dog-eared, but kicking around in my purse or backpack isn't generally good for them. I never turn down a page deliberately, but dog-earing sometimes happens.
I used to - and still might - cut a paperback apart if it's too big to fit in my purse. Carry half of it, or less, at a time. I read Shogun in six parts. This appalls my friends who are bibliophile purists, but it seems to me a sensible way to handle large books. If the book is good enough to keep and read again, I'll buy another copy and pitch the fragments.
Except for that, I don't deliberately break spines, but sometimes a book falls apart in my hands. Especially extremely old paperbacks. I find that Penguin books don't age well. The old Everyman series, small hardcovers, are delightfuly sturdy and handy.
I don't ever, ever highlight books, not even when it's a book I don't intend to keep. I find highlightly counterproductive to learning something: If I want to learn it, I make notes.
If I find a quote I like, and can't write it down at the time, I sometimes put a little five-pointed star in the margin beside it. More often, I jot down the page number on the handiest scrap of paper, or just try to remember it. This works well if I can get back to the book within a day or two. A week later - no chance or remembering the number.
Sometimes I have 'special case' books. Like the Karin Lowachee novels. My favourite character by far was Captain Cairo Azarcon, but he wasn't a constant presence in the books. So to be able to easily find his scenes, I jotted down the page references in the inside front covers.
I never worry about how other people treat their books. Life's too short.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-31 08:26 pm (UTC)When we set up our literature circle, I very adamantly insisted that the cookies we would bring for the coffee break should have no chocolate or any coating to keep the danger for the books to a minimum. They are now lovingly referred to as "compromise cookies". *g*
The hair in my neck start to rise when I see that people scribbled around in library books. Argh!!
The bending the cover thing gives me a little shiver too... *g*
I am guilty though of sometimes using a highlighter - for very memorable quotes - and I once did notes in pencil. It was a biography about Empress Elisabeth of Austria which was the base for the musical "Elisabeth" and I wrote the corresponding lyrics on the side of the page or between the lines.
Cutting books??? *shudder* *grins*
Oh, and I sometime pet books. Yup. Before I open it to read, especially when I'm very excited about reading it, I pet the cover. I wasn't even aware of doing it at first, until one of my co-mods pointed it out and now everyone's looking and grinning and waiting for it. Oh well. *lol*
no subject
Date: 2008-11-02 12:07 pm (UTC)I don't do that, though I do it shamelessly with magazines. Depending on the magazine. Not with Torchwood magazine, of course.
I agree about cookies and scribbling in library books.
I don't bend covers, though it squicks me more to see someone bend back the cover of a comic book than of a real book. Because they are more fragile.
Petting books: I don't think I do it, but I understand.
Another pet peeve of mine: books that are upside down in bookshelves.