Reading books

Araillac · #1 03-03-2009, 09:20 AM

When you read a book, are you generally gentle or rough when reading them? When I finish reading a brand new book and put it back on the shelf, it still looks brand new like no one has read it. When my dad reads a brand new book and he finishes and puts it on the shelf, it looks like its been through the elementary school library system for like 10 years.

Mark Latimour · #2 03-03-2009, 09:21 AM

Rough. Books need character. I tend to buy used books when I can.

CrispyDelicious · #3 03-03-2009, 09:36 AM

Whatever book I'm reading at the time lives in my backpack and commutes 2 hours a day, five days a week, to work and back (not to mention commutes for any other reason). So they always get pretty beat up.

And +1 on the used books. One day at my favorite used bookstore I spent $70, then calculated the list prices on all the books, and realized that had I bought them new I would have spent over $250.

theory028 · #4 03-03-2009, 09:45 AM

I'm pretty gentle with them, but I also carry books in my backpack with text books and folders. My books couldn't pass for new, but lightly used. Lately, though, I've been marking them up a lot more. We've had some historical readings (not my forte) like Mein Kampf and The End of History and the Last Man. It helps to mark spots in the book for discussion and paper ideas.

My recreational reading is typically very light on the book, and I usually read at home so the book doesn't suffer from a crowded backpack.

machine gewehr · #5 03-03-2009, 09:57 AM

I'm a rough reader.But I'm having a real hard time with Victor Hugo's classic "Les Misérables" right now.Its such an old copy that if I go rough on it its going to be torn apart.No matter how gentle I am still some pages and the cover is dropping off.

Lately I've been reading my dad's old books -man has a good taste with books- and I had to go gentle on them too,they weren't as bad as Les Misérables though.

Relic · #6 03-03-2009, 09:57 AM

I'm murder on books. They are to be read and enjoyed and not babied. (enjoyed as in: used as a coaster for that morning coffee cup/evening beer, used as an implement of doom for that hairy-arsed little spider scurrying towards me, used to prop up the one end of the pool table downstairs, you name it.) Books aren't just for reading

Bruce Lindfield · #7 03-03-2009, 10:03 AM

It depends - if I read it at home it will look like new - worse, if I take it on my daily commute etc.

One book I remember was "Middlemarch" which I took backpacking round Europe and which looked like it had been in a kids library for about 30 years rather than the 6 weeks of travel!!

I like having books to read on the beach when I go on holiday and they always suffer with sun exposure, salt water, suntan lotion, sand etc.

hbarcat · #8 03-03-2009, 03:25 PM

I'm very gentle with books because when I was a teen I always borrowed my father's science fiction books and he insisted that they be returned in like-new condition.

I still borrow books from him about once a month and I have to sign them out like a library because lots of people borrow them and he needs to keep track of where they go. He has a little over 11,000 science fiction books, now (all in little, plastic, acid-free bags).

For my own books, the ones that I enjoy reading more than once I buy an extra copy of and then I can let one of them get roughed up without worry.

Blackmag+c · #9 03-03-2009, 04:34 PM

I try not to bother about how the book looks
I dont like it if it smells
but i dont tend to pay much care to turning the page gently
(but i'd never intentionally rip anything)
Its all about the story, not the pages.

MatticusMania · #10 03-03-2009, 05:24 PM

Depends. I bought a book a while ago, and while it was still brand new a chunk of pages fell out on me. I just put them back in and left them there... some books I finish and they still looko immaculate, others not so much. Im a variable reader.

steve21 · #11 03-03-2009, 05:27 PM

My books get read and get used. I doubt I'll buy a book new anytime soon prices are ridiculous.

I'm careful with graphic novels/comics though. **** has to be pristine.

Joe Gress · #12 03-03-2009, 05:27 PM

Rough.

I buy used as well.

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #13 03-03-2009, 05:41 PM

Rough. I like to be able to hold a book in one hand, or lay it on a table, and if it won't stay open of its own accord....vell, vee haff vayss off persvaysshun, don't vee?

I'm on a Dostoyevsky kick at the moment, and my wife's copy of "Brothers Karamazov", which looked unread until a month ago, now looks very read. If I have a newish (virginal) book, the spine ends up looking like it's been broken in about 10 places to make the book stay open by time I'm done. If I get it from the library, usually one of my ancestors has already done this to the book, so I can be gentle. I don't mind buying new, but the older I get, the bigger the print it better have.

coolrunner989 · #14 03-03-2009, 06:02 PM

I'm fairly gentle, but I dont pitch a fit if it gets messed up or used in some other way. I dont like it when food/drink gets on the pages, and I HATE putting a book facedown with the pages spread apart - it breaks the binding and detracts from the life of the book. I always have a book of some sort in my backpack, and I have shelves full of them at home - they look good but you can tell which ones I have had the longest or read the most.

Used is great, but I buy new alot too. Whichever strikes my fancy

tplyons · #15 03-03-2009, 06:48 PM

Depends... my business books stay in really good shape after reading them once and keep them around for reference.

On the other hand, my nonfiction is usually in bad shape... softcovers, bent backwards... I get very comfortable with my books.

Thunderscreech · #16 03-03-2009, 07:38 PM

I try to be easy on my books, but I don't like it when they get messed up. I get SUPER pissed if someone else messes them up.

I think the time I've ever coming close to killing someone was when my mom bent the cover of my copy of Cold Mountain back.

I buy used whenever possible, too. Most of my good sci-fi is a blend of new/used.

Beno · #17 03-03-2009, 08:37 PM

If I like it enough to bring it everywhere it can get beaten up.

Otso · #18 03-04-2009, 02:43 AM

I used to carry books in my camotrousers pockets in the army. After my Thus Spake Zarathustra was butchered, I covered all that I took with me using that plastic which has a glue surface on one side. Works wonders on paperback books, makes the covers last pretty much anything without being rigid like hardbacks.

armywalaby · #19 03-04-2009, 04:07 AM

My sister spends a fortune on books all time time, and she has so many! Sometimes I wish there was a place like a video store where you could just rent the books instead. She would save a lot of money that way.

CrispyDelicious · #20 03-04-2009, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbarcat

I'm very gentle with books because when I was a teen I always borrowed my father's science fiction books and he insisted that they be returned in like-new condition.

I still borrow books from him about once a month and I have to sign them out like a library because lots of people borrow them and he needs to keep track of where they go. He has a little over 11,000 science fiction books, now (all in little, plastic, acid-free bags).

For my own books, the ones that I enjoy reading more than once I buy an extra copy of and then I can let one of them get roughed up without worry.

I have sent out a secret ops team to steal that entire collection.

Serisouly, I am jealous beyond words.