The Greatest Reading Sins

I was just commenting to another LTer what I think should be done to people who read the last page first. Suffice to say that anything I could think of is too good for 'em. So then I started to think about all the crimes I'm guilty of. In extreme circumstances and when I can't find a bookmark I do turn down page corners, though not as much as you'd think when you consider my general attitude to books, which is that I value and revere every word in them but have less than no regard for books as artefacts. I'm quite happy to bend back spines, underline things or even scribble in margins. As a small-time writer I always think that if I had published a novel and saw it on someone's shelf, I would want it to look battered, well-handled and loved, rather than pristine and unopened.

So what does everyone else think? What is the worst sin you abhor in others? And which are the ones you commit yourselves?

Obviously, nothing should be done to people who read the last page first. I'm one of 'em.

I'm so sorry, fleela. I'm afraid that when I get to rule the world you'll be spending an awful lot of time 'inside'. You might like to know, though, that you will be sharing your cell with some very nice people. There are some things that even nice people can never be forgiven.

Why should you care whether someone else reads the last page first?

Does lightly skimming THEN reading the last page count if you're reading a stinker?

I'll bend the corners of paperbacks but not hardbacks.

I'm one of those people who like the covers to be pristine, so take them off before I read a book and put them back on after I finish or abandon the book.

I don't really care what other people do to books except burning. I get a sick feeling and am filled with a white hot rage when I see footage of people burning books.

I went through a stage where my shelves (and mind) were very unorganized. When I started cataloging on LT I found 50 or so covers tucked behind shelves of books..... put all of them back on the books I still owned. As I kept cataloging I kept putting covers back on. I think I have about 10 covers left of books I don't own any longer but can't bring myself to throw them away.

#4 I just feel sorry for the author who has taken the time and trouble to create a journey for the reader. A bit the way I'd feel if someone asked me to plot a trip through Europe for them, taking in France, Spain, Italy, Greece and ending in Croatia and then, after I'd gone to all that trouble, said 'Ah, sod it, we're just going to fly to Croatia and hole up in the hotel till it's time to come home'. Admittedly, what you do in the privacy of your own home is up to you, but I hate to see people denying themselves all the surprises and twists and turns of a well-crafted plot.

#5 If it's a stinker you can do anything you like to it. I also used to think it was a terrible sin to abandon a book halfway through. Now I think if the author can't keep their side of the bargain (to keep me interested) why should I keep mine? I now hurl them across the room with glee.

>6 Booksloth:
Reading the last page (or sentence) of a book doesn't take away anything. If the whole story can be summed up on the last page then the author hasn't done a very good job of storytelling.

The greatest reading sin I abhor in others is defacing library books, whether by underlining or highlighting or (the one that has been dogging me most recently) cutting pages out.

The best punishment for them I can concoct would be to make them memorize the entire contents of something like the Treasury of Favorite Poems before ever being allowed into a library again: not because I dislike poetry (I'm actually working my way through that very book), but because I think library-book-defacers would.

I agree with drbubbles, writing in a book is the most grievous sin. I have to mention one exception I found a few years ago. I was in the Cincinnati Public Library doing some research when I found one printing genealogy that had writing in the margins of almost half of the pages. At first I was upset but then it became obvious that the author had come to the library again and again over twenty years to update the book. The most recent entries were in a very frail, shaky script. I felt that someone should make a final update with the date of her passing.

#7 hi booksloth! I remember reading Cold Mountain after receiving it as a birthday gift. The last two chapters made me so mad that when I finished it I said some bad words and hurled the book against the wall. It's still on my shelves because my MiL gave it to me, but I'm working up the gumption to clean my shelves of things I'll never re-read and that I don't think my daughter will want.

I made a promise to myself that for this year I'll read everything I start. I decided to do this mainly because of the 888 challenge. I have broken it one time, and only last week, and don't feel bad about it, mainly because it wasn't an 888 challenge book. (Search for a Soul by Rosemarie Bishop. I like vampire stuff, but this reeked). So I have finished a few stinkers this year. Next year, I'll be back to my normal put a book down without guilt if the author doesn't keep their side of the bargain - how charmingly put!

#9 drbubbles. I don't use the library for books anymore but agree that defacing library books is terrible. I also don't understand how people who borrow CDs from the library manage to scratch them so terribly. Just as bad, IMO.

I'll strongly second the writing in the margins of library books or books you've borrowed from someone else. However, writing in the margins of your own book is just fine (though I prefer post-it notes).

As for reading the last page, I'll have to second the opinion that, if a book can be completely understood in a last page, the book wasn't that good and the journey not worth taking (some allowances made to this for detective novels). But I also tend to read alot of nonfiction. I often already know if a character dies, but it's never taken away from the story. That being said, it took every ounce of self-restraint I had not to look at the last page of the last Harry Potter.

Other book sins-using foodstuff as a bookmark, bowdlerizing others' books, and being a plot spoiler for someone else.

I think it goes without saying that doing anything at all to a book you don't own (besides reading it and returning it in pristine condition) is an abomination - though I must admit I've had some really good laughs from other people's marginalia (and the ruder the better).

#11 Oh no! I just bought Cold Mountain yesterday and was quite looking forward to it. Hope I don't feel the same way!

I would certainly agree that only a bad book would reveal the whole plot on the last page but I have very occassionally caught sight of a give-away, even while accidentally picking a book up at the wrong page and ruined many a good surprise. A quick glimpse at lines like "Randy's funeral was a quiet affair" when you're right in the middle of hoping like mad that Randy's gonna make it, can be a real downer. But either way, presumably you bought the book because you like the author (or are prepared to try liking the author) so why not trust him/her to tell their story in the order they want to tell it?

I agree on the issue of defacing books that are not owned by you. But, I love when I buy a book, mainly an older pre 1950's, and I can read the notes in the margin or the writing in the cover.
But the biggest sin a reader can do, is tell someone to much about the story they just read (if the other is going to read it). My wife has read Stephen King's Dark Tower Series, which I am starting this summer. The problem is, she keeps mentioning stuff abou the series when we talk books, some of the stuff details I think I would better enjoy by reading it. Maybe I should let her know my frustration by writing a note in the margin of the book she is currently reading!

>14 Booksloth:
Because I don't want to, and I don't have to. Simple, really.

And speaking of books that are not owned by you - why is it that people who, if the lent them a fiver, wouldn't dream of not returning it, think nothing of keeping books you lend them?

ETA - spelling

The greatest "sin" is one reader telling another reader how to enjoy a book.

The next greatest "sin" is one bookowner telling another bookowner what they can or can't do to their own books.

I'm often a flipper-headerer.

I get all nervous about what's going to happen to the characters, like really filled with anxiety sometimes, so I flip ahead just to see if their name comes up if I think they're going to die for example, or to see if they HAVE in fact: been put in prison/divorced/been left/miscarried/been cheated upon/fallen out of a plane

and all manner of terrible things that authors like to do.

I ruin my suspense, and I get annoyed at myself.

Can't stop though. I used to read the last page too - sometimes I still do, but not as often.

Meh, I still enjoy the book just as much. In fact, I can honestly say that when I've put paid to my fits of anxiety I enjoy it much more. For one thing my nails last longer..

I've explained my stance in various other threads. I enjoy the journey of the story MORE after reading the last sentence or two. I have the fun of figuring out how the characters/plot are going to get to that end point as I'm reading.

To each her/his own!

ETA to add: #13 Booksloth - you will enjoy the book - I did enjoy it - I just had a hard time with the ending. You may love the ending. Finish it by the end of the month and we'll see each other in Book of the Month!

Okay - apologies to all. I thought it was a fairly lighthearted question about things that bug us but I seem to have mortally offended at least two people here. Will cotinue the discussion with offline friends instead as I didn't realise I'd touched a nerve.

>18 Morphidae: "The next greatest 'sin' is one bookowner telling another bookowner what they can or can't do to their own books."

Homer: I'd like to buy a mint condition "Spider-Man #1," please.

Comic-Book Guy: I'd like an hour on the holodeck with Seven of Nine.

{Homer puts the briefcase on the counter and opens it. It is stuffed full of money}

CBG: Oh, Saturn's rings! Let me get that for you.

{with a dramatic flourish, CBG enters a combination into a keypad under the
counter. A tube rises up, containing a copy of the first "Spider-Man" comic. It has a price
tag of $20,000. CBG carefully plucks it out with a pair of tweezers and presents it to Homer}

CBG: Paper bag, or triple mylar?

Homer: Eh, no thanks. I'll just eat it here. {rips a page out of the book and eats it}

CBG: Oh, oh, no! What are you doing? {Homer continues to eat. CBG collapses to the floor, crying.}

>22 Booksloth:
Methinks you've overestimated a wee bit.

Giggle-gotta love it when Homer is financed by Burns.

I watch too much TV... :)

To me the worst thing that can happen to a book is when a library pastes its bookplate or card holder over the endpapers, particularly when the front endpages are different from those at the end.

I do not like books with highlight in them, and if they underline words, I would prefer that they have done it with a straight edge.

I also don't like paperback books whose backing has been destroyed so that the book can lie flat.

No worries, booksloth, most responses are light-hearted and fun.

I break into a cold sweat when I walk into a model home or worse, a Pottery Barn or similar home design store, and they have placed books flat open on their tender spines and folded the pages to create a silly little fan effect (I feel sick just imagining it!). Makes me want to run around the store unfolding and placing the books back in their natural, closed position, the poor things!

bookladykm, I think that might be to suggest they are being read? Perhaps? I hate when I go into a furniture store and I see expensive, beautiful furniture and the only books around are those Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Surely someone who can pay $5000 for a bedroom set or an office would expect to see some real books. I hope I'm not stepping on any toes, but, to me, those are equivalent to those fake books.

I turn down the corners of pages in books that I own, but not ones that I borrow from others or the library. I like to keep my books in good shape, and was horrified to receive back a book I had lent to a friend that had been tortured - the cover had been curled back and the binding was broken. She took one look at my face and immediately offered to replace the book. I haven't lent her another one since!

I think I could buy more used books. But like many of the things listed above, marks, bends, some quirky defects are often deal breakers.....unless it's an obscure find. (Sorry about post above btw)

>10 TLCrawford:: TLCrawford,
That's a cool story!

I write in my books on occassion, but it can be difficult to detect. It drives me crazy when an author doesn't know the difference between sat and set, so I correct them. If the author's grammar is really bad, my correction marks are noticable. Of course, I would never write in a borrowed book.

---

A book 'sin' that bothers me is leaving finger and food stains all over a book. Who wants to read a book in which you can trace the previous reader's meals? Yuck! (Naturally, what you do to your own books is up to you, but I've seen chocolate and Cheetos fingerprints in library books and that's just gross.)

I'm an sinner in need of the mercy of God. For a variety of reasons, but in this instance because I mark the crap out of my books. In fairness, they are books I plan to reference in the future. I despise book "damage" like torn pages, missing sections, covers gone etc in a book I lent out.

I think the greatest sin is not describing damage to books being sold. I realize I'm taking my chances with a book described as "fair" but if there are pages missing, a cover gone, etc. That needs to be listed specifically in the desciption or you need no sell it. As for reading ahead. Eh, I've done it, I think its worse if you read ahead and then tell someone else what happened while they are reading it. hate that.

@32

Heh...I once dropped Jennifer Government in my chicken tikka masala. It's still bright orange in places. :(

I'm the worst eater-and-reader. I said somewhere else, though, that any icky foody marks I leave behind almost make a chart of the times when I was happiest, and most relaxed. Sunk into a book, lost in the world. I have to read when I eat, whatever it is. Even if it's the back of a cereal bag. Of course, as a grown-up type person I'm not nearly so bad as I was a kid. The Masala Incident is really my only recent misfortune.

And, I too, have been known to edit - I usually edit in my head and abuse gently reprimand editors out loud. I have been know to cross out things sometimes. Fairly soon I will start crossing out the word 'wonderment' in my current book, which has already appeared upward of 10 times. Puzzedly gets a strike too. Puzzedly, I think, is one of the most ridiculous words I've ever read...

>27 bookladykm:
ugh yes, like this at a Fossil store?

@35

Omg. That's criminal.

What is wrong with people?

>34 Severn:: foody marks I leave behind almost make a chart of the times when I was happiest, and most relaxed. Sunk into a book, lost in the world.

oh thank you, this reminds me of my 1966 copy of "Fifty Famous Fairy Tales" -- I treasure the chocolate mark on page 14, proof of the Russell Stover French mint bars my mom used to treat me to :)

I am always guilty of battering my books. Pristine books always = unloved books in my mind, even though that is probably not the case for other people.

Reading the last page of a book I've found, does very little to ruin the story in most cases.

But people who Google the book in an effort to talk about it first with others before actually reading it? Sin, sin, sin... especially if they have no intention of ever reading it through. My ex used to do things like that. Drove me CRAZY...

I too have a tendency to have a too reverent attitude toward my books.
I have think back at times to my German professor who said that he did not want to see any clean textbooks in the classroom. He wanted to see coffee stains and food stains like egg stains on them.
What does our approach to books vs. our approach to the the writing inside say about us?
By the way-Dostoevsky liked to put the last part of his books first so maybe we shouldn't be be so judgmental.

I have a bad habit of using books to prop thing up. or as furniture. My plant stand doesn't reach close enough to the window, so a row of old books topped with copies of the reader's digest covered with a scarf works out well.
There's another stack of book under a lamp on an end table.

I actually am afraid to put books on Book Mooch because of all the 'perfect book' people. If I ask for a book, it's because I want to read it and pass it along, not enshrine it. If I feel strongly about a particular book, I buy it. That way I know what I am getting. I own some books, mostly obtained at yard sales or used book stores. I use libraries all the time and swap books with friends a lot. I believe in the phrase 'a used book is a loved book'. My quirks are no writing in books, no underlining, never reading the end first, No dog earring even though I have done it in the past (hangs head in shame). I would rather not see foods stains in a book but it doesn't gross me out and I have also puts a few in books in my lifetime. I rarely abandon a book. I have regretted that a few times but I have read a lot of books that I would have given up in the middle but forced myself to finish and LOVED how the book turned out. I also throw books. Sometimes because of emotion and sometimes because the book stunk. I have also thrown away books that I hated with a passion to save mankind from such trash.

28 emaestra and 35 detail: Detail, that is almost it. What Fossil has done is slightly more forgivable to me because they haven't actually folded the those inner pages in half to create an even bigger "fan" of pages. Ugh. It's all so painful!

I have to admit that sometimes I have read the last page, not first but early, but only for two reasons:

1. I am utterly hating the book but know I will be haunted by it if I didn't know the ending (not because I care but just because that's how my mind works) and by reading the ending I can forget the book forever.

2. If there's a dog and it's looking like something bad might happen to it. I need to prepare myself.

I try very hard not to break spines or bend pages over and I take a very dim view of book borrowers who return them damaged or dirty (or just don't return them at all).

So many things here to agree with. If I were an uthor, I too, would want my books to look well read, well loved.

Folding pages over is for catalogs, and not real books Sorry, anything can be a bookmark, why bend?

Not returning a book is a crime.

Jody, and the dog thing.. I have been known to do the same

I am careful with my books. I do not break the spines, and often have a sore thumb to prove it... from holding the book open with one hand.

I eat and read all the time, I read while I do a lot of things.. and sometimes my books get dirty from it. Not usually, but sometimes.

I think there should be a universal rule about what constitutes book condition. I have gotten things marked "good" from amazon that were too yellow and brittle to read.

I will mooch a book I want to read, regardless of condition... but I do look for better copies. I have never put a book up that was in less than really good condition, including the one my cat munched recently. I don't know why.. I have gotten a few that are real clunkers, but they still had all the words so it was ok. I just don't re-mooch them.. I pass them along at work.....

Oh, and I don't care how people read.. backwards forwards or inside out.. as long as they enjoy it.. I a pretty sure I would feel that way even if I wrote the book.

#8 - got to disagree a bit here. I just finished a book (oddly enough recommended by Booksloth) and if I had read the last page first, or actually even just the last line first, the atmosphere of suspence through the book would have been lost.

I would have known who lived, who died, and what the survivor went on to do next (there are really only two characters in the book, although they discuss other people and we see flashback bits with other people briefly).

But even though the whole story was pretty much summed up on the last page (and left way for an easily imagined sequel) the author did a fantastic job with the storytelling of the book. I was desperate to peek at the end the whole way through but am so glad I resisted.

45: "anything can be a bookmark" reminds me that some time ago I read, on another LT thread, about a librarian finding (in a returned book) a slice of bacon which had been used as a bookmark. Not something easily forgotten.

I read that thread too, lol. Bacon! I do use almost anything, never tried bacon though. My current bookmark is a packet of Aster seeds that I failed to plant..

A twist on the question perhaps: Are there certain books you do not dare mark or take special care of?

i.e. I got yelled at by a friend because I had marked up my Bible. THey could not believe I would make notes on the word of God. This seemed odd to me but hey... to each his/her own.

I'm not limiting it to the Bible or other religious texts, but are their any books that are "untouchable" so to speak. I'm interested in what others hold dear bookwise.

I have a terrible double-standard when it comes to my books... I won't do anything at all to them, including breaking the spine—it's finally happening after five readings of my Lord of the Rings movie-edition paperbacks—and dog-earing the pages (even the ones whose front covers don't lie flat anymore bother me, but...). I won't write in or highlight them unless they're a textbook.

I do, however, adore getting secondhand books that have had stuff written in the margins and getting secondhand books that are all but falling apart, as long as all of the words are still intact. I really enjoy reading what other people have written in the margins.

49: You could say that I don't dare mark in any of my books, I guess, even though they're usually the cheapest ones I could find.

My absolute cardinal sin is to do ANYTHING but read and return a borrowed book in anything other than pristine condition, and if that doesn't happen, offering immediately upon returning it to replace the book. I had an ex-boyfriend I lent books and CDs to; half of them were "broken" and battered and scratched (CDs only, heh), while the other half I never saw again with a $20 to replace a good TEN or so of my favorite books, which is tough to do even used, regardless of how difficult some of them were to find. Digging up that memory still makes me upset, even though it gave me a good excuse to go through a bunch of used bookstores. :)

I personally don't like reading the last page/sentence first, but I have a good friend who swears by it—if he's not intrigued by a combination of the title, cover, and last sentence, then he doesn't read the book. To me, even if nothing's revealed in the last increment of the book, it spoils the ending because for the entire book, I'll be waiting to see how they get to whatever conclusion it comes to rather than following the plot.

Even though I do read and eat at the same time, if it is a borrowed book, I never eat while reading it.

I too love getting books that have notes in them. I have a niece who will buy any second hand books she finds with an inscription. She feels bad for them, and for the original giver. I understand that.

I do love to find writting in books, usually anyway. I once got a secondhand mystery story with the identity of the murderer written in on the second page, but apart from that I like to find things.

I especially like dedications along the 'To...Happy...love...date' but I am very fond of odd notes that don't make any sense to anyone but the person who wrote them.

And I love to find odd things used as bookmarks, but I'd prefer to find postcards or photo's rather than bacon.

Random thoughts on book sins:

I loaned my copy of The Sparrow to a fellow book club member and it was returned in terrible shape. She offered to replace it, but I just said no because I know she doesn't have much money. But I won't lend any of my books out to bookclub members again.

I also KNOW that I loaned Special Topics in Calamity Physics to my MiL but she says she doesn't have it, so I think she loaned it someone and forgot. No more books to MiL.

I borrowed Snow Falling on Cedars from same MiL (I have two because of divorce) and spilled coffee on it - so I bought her a new copy. Fortunately it hadn't been inscribed to her or anything special. I still have the coffee stained one.

Up until about 4 years ago, I used to eat in-the-shell sunflower seeds. I had a bowl for shells, a bowl of fresh seeds, a book, and a nice leather/metal weight to hold the book open while I read. I'd lay on my side in the bed, reading and eating seeds. I started this in high school and only stopped because my jaw started hurting.

I will occasionally find a piece of a sunflower seed shell in a book.

I sometimes read the ending when I'm about halfway through a book. Normally its because I am trying to decide if I should keep reading, but sometimes it's because I need to know who lives or dies.

I think the worst thing to do is not to return a borrowed book. I have 2 coworkers that I have let borrow books and have never seen them again. Recently, one of them wanted to trade books and I said only if we get to keep them. I got burned again. I brought books to trade and she has yet to bring me mine. It's ok though. I gave her 5 books I don't like and would never read again.

Sin one, a while back I recieved a bag of books on the old west, about Earp, Doc Hilliday, subjects of that sort. I wanted to keep them, but used them to put a tv on in an entertainment center that was to big for the tv. Well, I took them out two nights ago, and just out of curiosity looked them up. They are all worth alot of money! I was shocked. Now paperbacks and one hardcover that my dog chewed on are under the television. Im still a sinner!

I work with another aide who is just as careful with books as I am. If I loan her a book, I get it back just as it was when loaned. It may take her a while to give it back, but she does every time.

We occasionally give each other books we have read as well. I feel very fortunate.

The greatest reading sin is (insert unpopular book treatment here) with a book that *does not belong to you*. I once loaned a book to a friend, and when I got it back it was sticky, like a jolly rancher had melted on it. Another book (and different friend) was found at the bottom of her book bag, being crushed by her textbooks. And it wasn't laying flat, the spine was against the bottom of the bag, so the pages were being crumbled up.

Do what you want with your own books, but borrowed books should be returned in the condition in which they were received!

Just curious: would you guys rather get a book back in poor condition, or not get it back at all? I think I'd rather not get it back at all; every time I saw the poor condition it would be like poking a bruise.

Since I'm coming closer and closer to the decision to NOT LOAN BOOKS TO ANYBODY ANYMORE, I don't think I'm going to have to worry about the condition I get books back in.

Except perhaps Louise, my retired neighbor. She respects books and returns them in beautiful shape.

I don't loan books out if I suspect they are out of print.

I have to agree. I don't look to the last page of a book before diving in, but I don't want to read any book where I'm already predicting the outcome and the ending is all neatly tied up. To me, that is bad writing, what I call "pop culture" writing that so many bestselling authors are guilty of.

>43 QueenOfDenmark:: Jody and 45: mckait,

Have either of you read No More Dead Dogs? For a while there, if it had a dog on the cover, I didn't want to read it because I knew the dog would die.

>58 drbubbles:: drbubbles,

If the book was nearly-impossible to find, I would want it back regardless of its condition. If it was a commonly available mass-market paperback, I'd rather not see its damage.

haven't read it.. I will have a look at it though, thank you!

I only loan books to my nearest and dearest now.

A little while back I loaned one of my favourite books to my landlord's wife. Never saw it again. Asked for it and got a 'oh no, I don't think I borrowed it'! What was I going to do? Call her a liar and have fisticuffs with her in the house she owned, and I only rented?

Ah well...at least I have a brand, spanking new copy.

And...I broke my rule and lent a book to a neighbour just a couple of months ago. They moved out...so did the book. I think it's possible she thought I was giving it to her. It's likely I won't replace it, as it wasn't a favourite...but still.

So, now, my best friends (who are family to me - and treat the books well enough) are the only ones to get their mitts on my books.

I keep getting poorly packaged books delivered from the Book Depository - they're shoved in the package so the covers are bent out of shape. It's driving me insane! When a buy a new book I want it to look new. Definitely a book sin. The only reason I forgive them is because they're cheap and delivery is fast.

I once lent a book to a good friend and got it back when I went to visit her. She was in another room so didn't hear me whimper (I literally made little crying noises) when I saw how she'd ruined it. It looked to me like she'd thrown it on the ground and stomped on it. Turned me off lending books to people.

Basically, I like to keep books I buy new in fairly good condition. I don't mind so much if second-hand books get a little messed-up.

#62 - I haven't read it (or heard of it before) but I will look out for it now.

I confess (mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa) that I sometimes skim an ending. Sometimes, the tension in a storyline troubles me to the point I don't want to pick it up again. A quick skim is sometimes reassuring enough to let me finish the book and see HOW they got to the ending I have peeked at. I resist the urge firmly when I read mysteries, and when I was reading Deathly Hallows. I ask forgiveness, but fear I have not truely repented, since I can't promise I won't sin again.

Lots of times I'll put my hand over the last half of a page at the end of a chapter to avoid temptation as I'm reading. Sometimes that last sentence just jumps out at me if I'm not careful.

#68 - I do that too!

So do I! :)

#68 - I thought I was the only freak who did that. Nice to know I'm not alone.

I actually didn't expect other people to have that habit. The joys of LT.

I never read the last page first, but that's just me.

I never write in books, but don't consider it a sin for other people to write in theirs.

I do my best to keep my books in the same condition they were when I bought them, and I hate it when I drop a book and pick it up to find the fall has damaged it in some way.

However, I do try to remember that a book is an object, and I am oddly calm if I get a food stain on a book of mine. Don't know why, but that's never really bothered me. I think it comes down to my ultimate feeling that a book is to be not only read but "lived with" during the time you're reading it. Sometimes that means "sharing" your meals, I guess!

I don't turn down page corners, either, but again, to each his own. But I did think of this conversation thread with a laugh when I yesterday found the following:

I had just decided to pull down it's spot on my baseball books shelf my copy of Frank Frisch: the Fordham Flash, an autobiography of a famous baseball player to put in the revered "To be read next" spot on my bedroom end table. I found this book not too long ago at a garage sale in Mendocino County, CA. The book is a discard from the Ukiah, CA, branch of the Mendocino County Library. As I thumbed through the first few pages, just to have a look, I found the following announcement stamped in light but very legible print on the first page of Chapter One:

"A fine will be imposed for every leaf turned down."

On the other hand, maybe it's an obscure quote from Thoreau.

I felt horrible when my mom loaned me a long anticipated book that she hadn't even read yet and I dropped it. open edge down and it was a huge book and broke the spine. I could have cried. God love mothers, she forgave me and wouldn't except when I tried to buy her a replacement.

I just packaged up 4 books received from Amazon yesterday and am returning them - the packaging had come apart and the books had obviously fallen out of the packaging. Each book had a damaged corner or spine. I debated keeping them, but just COULDN'T. So off they go. I'll just have to be patient. Sigh.

I confess, I've dropped more than one book in the bath! But I won't stop reading there!

Like just about everybody else, I hate it when I loan books out and it comes back damaged. There's one friend that I stopped loaning books to because she threw my books in her trunk with her shoes, texts, and anything else she needed. I'm not sure a *used bookstore/library* would accept these books, they were damaged that badly. I too have lent people books that they then never returned. Very annoying.

I'm really, really anal about loaning books I haven't read to anybody. If I paid for it I'm going to read it first! I also figure I get first dibbs to do any accidental damage :) I've only ever broken that rule for one friend and that was after I spent twenty minutes extracting promises from her that she'd take extra good care of it, i.e. no dog-earred pages, don't break the spine, etc. And she kept her promises- almost couldn't tell it had been read. I'm still friends with her :P

I'm also one of those people that are guilty of reading the ending first...well sort of. I generally read the first chapter or two and *then* read the ending. If that's all it takes to feel like I've read the book then why waste my time to finish the book? Fortunately most of favorite authors don't make me feel that way. In fact most my fave authors, after reading the ending make me even more eager to finish the book.

As for writing in books...that's also very taboo with me. I was once instructed by my 8th grade English teacher to highlight specific passages in our copies of a book. I hated the idea so much that I took the extra time to re-write every passage in a notebook.

Here's my rule for loaning books: Don't loan unless you can live with the prospect of never seeing it again.

I hate books that have been written in. Not because of what it does to the sacred object, but because it's an annoying intrusion to me when i'm trying to read it.

I'm one who was raised to take care of my books and thus don't write in them or turn the pages, however, if the books belong to you, then I grant you the right to do anything with them you want. Make paper airplanes from every page if that suits you. (Or wallpaper your living room with the pages as I saw done in a design show.)

My gripe is when I see someone abusing a book which doesn't belong to them (i.e., library, bookstore copy, loan, etc.). I was in Borders the other day and watched a woman pull a book off the shelf and sit down and begin reading it. Later, a friend interrupted her and she turned the page down to mark it while she talked to her friend. She left the store an hour later having purchased nothing. I pity the poor soul who buys that hard back book only to discover that the page has been turned.

That reminds me of a funny/tragic story -- I heard (from a very reliable source, a bookbinder and conservator) about these people locally who were on Trading Spaces, that tv show where you have friends decorate a room of your house. (Why anyone agrees to that is beyond me.) Anyway, one of the couples had a signed edition of JFK's "Profiles In Courage" that was a treasured belonging. So their "friends" took it apart and papered the wall with it. I wonder how their reaction played on TV ...

Oh dear, I feel faint!

I have seen that show, and they don't seem to have much of a heart towards the sentimental. But to do that with an obvious collectible book, NONSENSE! I would be upset!

Sorry -- I realize I'm coming late to the discussion, but one of my favorite books is 84, Charing Cross Road. I feel the author has such a lovely sentiment about previous owners writing notes in the margins: "I wish you hadn't been so over-courteous about putting the inscription on a card instead of on the flyleaf. It's the bookseller coming out in you all, you were afraid you'd decrease its value. You would have increased it for the present owner. (And possibly for the future owner. I love inscriptions on flyleaves and notes in margins, I like the comradely sense of turning pages someone else turned, and reading passages someone long ago has called my attention to.)"

AMQS That is a lovely sentiment indeed. I have several books that are inscribed and I agree.

"AMQS That is a lovely sentiment indeed. I have several books that are inscribed and I agree."

Yes. Inscriptions, in my opinion, are absolutely a different issue. When you give a gift as a book and write an inscription on the inside cover or title page, I personally feel that you have added good karma to the book, enhancing it with personal good wishes from the giver to the recipient. It is sometimes sad to find a book in a thrift store or used book store that includes a heartfelt inscription and realize that the receiver either let the book go despite the fact that it was a gift, or perhaps has passed away and had their library sold off or donated rather than treasured by a relative or friend. I realize that's not always possible, but still . . .

Any book that is inscribed to me personally stays in my library forever. That's a given.

I once found a novel written by one of my most honored grad school teachers (actually, my adviser) in a local SF used bookstore. I took it down from the shelf and realized it had been inscribed to another of my former teachers. Both, by that time, had passed away. Needless to say, that book came home with me and is now one of my most treasured volumes.

My niece buys any inscribed book she comes across. She feels sorry for them. One of my greatest finds imo was a cheap used copy of a WONDERFUL book,
Under The Stone Paw} by Theresa Crater that had been signed by the author. Loved the book and it felt like it came to me for a reason.

I would never give away an inscribed book. To be honest written in books don't bother me, but don't turn down the pages!

I know I'm joining the discussion a little late here and I apologize for that but I think I have a great sin. I live in a very rural area, we still have livestock auctions once a week, and last Monday I came home from that very auction almost in tears. For there on the auction block were four boxes of books looking for a new home, which I was more than happy to provide for them. When I got them out of the box I noticed that an entire box of the poor things had been nibbled, yes I said nibbled, on by a rodent of some kind. While none of the actual words have been lost, the books look just awful with bite marks on the bottom of the spines and in the corners. I will still definitely read them, but I don't think I could ever get rid of them now, I would be so afraid someone might think that I did that!!!!!

Hmm. My pet peeves (I didn't realize I had any until reading this thread)

I don't write in the text part of a book. Ever. Not even to correct a typo.

I will turn down the corners of a paper back that I own. Never a borrowed book or a hard back.

I used to borrow books from a really skinny girl who was perpetually on a diet. There were alway dry crumbs interspersed between the pages. That just made me smile.

I can't read now without those slim post-it notes to mark the passages I want to mention in my 'reviews.' I misplaced my card of them the other day and could not rest until they were replaced.

What I do as far as lending my own books. There are some that simply never go out. I usually 'test' a relationship with a new lendee by giving them something not so precious to me, if it comes back and the lendee offers to loan me a book in return then the relationship continues. If not. Not. I loaned another book out that had obviously been dropped in the bathtub. :( And another time someone lost my book and simply replaced it. The original of course was a special inscribed copy. :( Please if you lose a borrowed book TELL the lender and offer them the option of a copy of the same book or the same money for a new book. A new book might just take the sting out of losing the loaned out book.

Nobody gets my inscribed books. I only loan books to my sister, or one friend at work. I give books away at times to other friends, if they are fluff that won't mooch well.I send books I like to my daughter, and she either kees them, sets them free or sends them back as requested.

I do not even loan my inscribed books to my sister or my daughter. I will buy them their own copy first.

As for nibbled books.. sadly, my cat nibbles now and then.. she is careful to nibble only new books.

Speaking of cats, several years ago my friends were moving. They had a couple boxes of books half packed and their cat decided one of the boxes would be good to pee in. Soiled, Stinky Books!

oh no! bad kitty !!!

I don't lend books. If someone wants a copy, I will offer to buy them a copy. I stopped loaning books out after loaning the first three or four Harry Potters to a nephew, and having them come back split in half, with a denial that it was the nephews fault, claiming he recieved them that way. I recently loaned a copy of Dracula to a friend at school, and got it back with crumpled pages, and damage to the dust jacket. Yet more proof that a book lover should never loan their books.

So lovely to come back and find the thread has finally been taken over by nice people with a sense of humour!

I do tend to end up with more than one copy of some of my favourites, so I can lend out the scruffy one to other people but there is definitely a rule in my house of 'one strike and you're out'. I never, EVER lend a second book to someone who has failed to return in the past.

Anyhow - after a while away I've just been catching up on everyone's comments so bear with me for a minute.

#57 - Okay, this is going to turn out to be some kind of American foodstuff, isn't it? but please can someone just clarify for me what a 'jolly rancher' is. Only I have this vision of a big fat cowboy splatted between the pages of your favourite book, and it just won't leave me.

And 'Oh Yes' to whoever it was who brought up the point about covering the bottom half of the last page so you don't spoil the ending (sorry, I've lost my place in the thread now). I do that all the time!

As for the person who turned down pages while reading a book she hadn't paid for! I get mad enough when I see people walking around supermarkets eating food they haven't paid for, but at least nobody else will have to buy it after they've finished with it. These read-while-you-eat coffee bars in bookshops are a great idea but I still only start reading the books I've just bought as, if I did have an accident with the coffee, I'd feel obliged to pay for the book I'd ruined. Not sure whether everyone feels that way though. Well, obviously most of you guys do but then you're book people. So many people you find in book shops aren't.

And can I just put in a good word for The Book Depository? I think they're great! Cheap, quick, always manage to find obscure books, and I've never yet had one in bad condition. So sorry to hear someone else has had a bad experience. Have you tried asking them to double-wrap your books? They seem prety human - I wouldn't have thought they would mind.

Booksloth

I am not big on candies but if memory serves me a Jolly Ranchers is a capsule shaped candy with an outside like an M&M (I think you have them in the UK)and an inside like a Jelly Baby that is sold in a box. The last time I remember buying any the box cost a quarter. Good-n-Plenty’s were better, same general description but licorice inside. Now I am really to far off topic.

For all I know, there used to be such things. But nowadays Jolly Ranchers are mostly-hard, translucent, fruit-flavored things. It's been a while since I had one but I don't recall that they are excessively sweet; mainly what I recall is that there's a distinct tanginess to them. Not quite sour. They're about like a Tootsie Roll in hardness but a lot stickier. If you try to crunch them with your teeth all that happens is it fills the ridges in your tooth crowns and cements your teeth together. In a pleasant way. Strangely, though, it seems like the smaller it gets as you suck it, the more brittle it gets.

Jolly Rancher's are hard candies of different flavors. They come in individual bite size pieces. They use to come in a stick for about 10 cents each. They are like a sucker without a stick and are notoriously sticky and adhesive. Well that's my essay! LOL

I stand corrected.

With grandchildren I should know these things.

I still rue the day Jolly Rancher discontinued their all strawberry bag. My dentist does as well. {shakes fist}

Thanks everyone! Only (#95) don't get me started on Tootsie Rolls - we don't have them either!

No loss. I think they were invented as a cheap alternative to candy for Hallowe'en.

I am not a fan of Tootsie Rolls, particularly since we have started having heated discussions in our office as to whether or not they are chocolate.

For fiction, I like my books as they are printed, without doing anything that leaves a permanent mark. Hand-written notes and turned-down corners would annoy me when re-reading books. The only damage I don't mind is when the pages begin to fall out - this always means I read the book on a beach and reminds me of a great way to spend the holidays.

I think that in general, if the book's likely to be passed onto others, it's courteous not to write in it, turn down page corners or wipe bogeys (that's boogers for US LTers) and other nasties on them. I read a lot of library books and suspicious-looking stains are to be avoided.

Very interesting thread. It did seem to get a little touchy in the beginning, but finally it got back around to the light hearted nature it was obviously started with. Of course there is some irony to the fact that someone with a username that includes Sloth would harp on other people's Sins. lol.

Turned down pages irk me quite a bit.

Marking in books used to bother me. But with all the Literature classes I have taken over the last couple of years, I have really come to see the value in making notes in the book to connect running theme threads, point out metaphors and symbols (which sometimes involve whole passages or pages), or the like. However, I still like to do my markings in pencil so that I can edit or remove them at a later date. As far as marking in the Bible, I have always believed that God enjoys a two-way conversation.

I also tense up when I hear of people reading the last page first. That's a cult I could never be tempted to join. In fact, I'm in the same pew with the weirdos who cover up sections of a page to fight against the temptation of the curious wandering eye.

Although, in defense of last page readers - if this thread were a book I would recommend anyone to start with Message #93. The suspense of wondering how and why a big fat cowboy splattered between the pages of book is a sin would just be too much to bear and would force them to read the whole shebang.

FYI - if you are wondering what a shebang is then here is your answer:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-whole-shebang.html.

#103 Ah, but I did start out by admitting I have plenty of my own (sloth is just the one I can talk about in polite company)!

God certainly gets a two-way conversation with me! Despite being an atheist, I do own a bible and I do read it (well, I need to know what I'm up against) and the comments in the margin thereof could fill another book themselves.

I do think it's study that brings most of us round to margin scribbling (in pencil only, of course). At least if I've scribbled it in the margin I know where to go back to find it - unlike with all my other very messy, entirely random notes. Yes, it can be a bit annoying when I want to reread my old set books but there weren't that many, after all, and with the state most books get into after a year's study I suppose it wouldn't kill me to replace them.

It seems that many of these comments are concerned with respect for people's property, so not returning a loaned book or returning it with anything other than a big fat cowboy splatted across the pages is out, and anything you do to your own books within the privacy of your own home is fine. As long as the book has given consent and you have chosen a safe word to be used to stop the abuse.

Here in the UK, a social movement is gathering where people leave second-hand books on trains and in other public places, in the hope that these foundlings have a good home and are later passed along to other good homes. The books generally come with a note to this effect and are in good condition. Has anyone else noticed this?

# 104 Yes, we all have our own sins to deal with. I'm sure whatever sins I have committed against books pale in comparison to other aspects of my life.

#105 I'm in the US, so I haven't heard about leaving books for others to find. That's a very interesting concept. It would be impossible to measure, but I would be curious to know if something like that would have any effect on literacy rates and encouraging people to read more.

I would hazard a guess that there are many living among us who have a dormant "voracious reader" gene in them that just hasn't been activated by the right book or was too maliciously manipulated at a young age to read things they truly hated. Perhaps this chance encounter with a wayward book would be the "vampire bite" that brings them over to our side. {Insert sound of diabolical laughter here}

Overall, I think most agree that a book is meant to be read, and therefore is open to signs of wear and tear as they age - but they deserve a certain amount of respect as well. I see a book as a modern version of a story-teller of the old oral tradition before written manuscripts existed. As the story-teller grew older the timbre of their voice would most certainly decline. But it would be horribly rude and discourteous to drop-kick them or intentionally pelt them with food (not to mention throwing a big fat cowboy on top of them).

I haven't been a part of this because I have a hard time giving up books I like, but check out http://bookcrossing.com/.

I would always feel guilty marring a book in any way. i don`t even write my name in my own. In my little town, the Friends of the Library maintain a cart of books in the train depot. It`s wonderful the see the number of books adopted this way. They tend to include paperback mysteries and short reads long enough to get one to Chicago.

Seconding bookcrossing, which I was introduced to by another LTer. Paying for their labels etc (though you can download for free) seems a rather expensive way to me of passing on books but the idea is great. Many of the places I have been to on holiday offer a book exchange scheme where you can leave one (or more) of yours in return for someone else's. This year, inspired by bookcrossing, I wrote a short message with my email address in the ones I left behind as I would love to know one day where they ended up.

i am a member of bookcrossing... or at least I am signed up.
Most often I just give books away to someone I know will enjoy them....I have only gone through the site once or twice.

I am also careful not to mar a book.. especially folding the pages, that fills me with horror.

I am sure that some have reason to write in them, and although I do not, I do not have the same reaction to that as I do to page folding...

;p

>93 Booksloth: - I back your call on the Book Depository. I did receive a damaged book but when I complained they refunded me and supplied a new copy. That's what you call service.

So now we're on to moaning about bookshops - how about those people who stick their stupid '3 for 2', 'a Richard and Judy book!', 'Oprah's book club', 'SALE price' labels etc all over the blurb on the back cover. Firstly, stick your labels. . . . . . . . elsewhere. The fact that the book was once discussed by some semi-literate TV presenter is not going to affect my decision to buy it. Secondly, have a little respect for the reading (as opposed to 'buying') public. Is it really too hard to understand that we would like to know what we are buying? Blurbs are there for a reason. Grrrrrr!

I am with you on labels.. I peel them off immediately, when I can.
I really hate it when removing them mars the book!
WTH??

Blurbs are there for a reason!!! yes!

I guess this might fall under this category--I hate when someone borrows a book from me and a) either never returns it --that just totally makes me irate or b) returns it in horrible condition.

I also abhor defacing any book--but especially library books.

Just wanted to comment a little on loaning out books - I once loaned out my favorite book. I had some reservations because I knew this person to be somewhat scatterbrained. But I feel that books are more than just regular objects like a table or chair and have a special value that is related to their interaction with the reader. It is no good to have a book all nice in plastic wrap, it must be read. I really want to share the book experience with others, this makes the book come alive for you and the other person when both of you read it. Well, my favorite book did not come back in a timely manner. Both of us went to different jobs. I felt a little miffed, why did she not return it. I got the book back 3 years later when we both went back to our previous jobs (the job boomerang effect at this place is huge!). I felt this was almost a mystical experience. Now I loan without hesitation. If asked when I want it back I say "within my lifetime". My experience with the online communities of LT and bookmooch have just reinforced my beliefs. Live, love, read. Apologies for lack of complaints.

What a lovely message. Thanks for reminding us all that life shouldn't really be a running tally of who owes whom what. I still won't be lending out my books to anyone who has failed to return in the past but it's great to know there are people around who take a less retentive approach to life!

I agree janeherr...but I also value the books that touch my heart. I always get a second copy of them to loan.

Sometimes my connections with a book may fade, and I will then give or mooch them away.

I just picked up a book the other day from the library that absolutely wreaks of cigarette smoke. Honestly, I am not sure that I am going to be able to read it, the book smells so bad. For people like myself that are allergic to cigarette smoke, this is probably the ultimate book sin.

I do not turn down pages in any book, whether it belongs to me or not. I have been known to use the tiniest bits of paper, my husband's comb, anything handy at all to use as bookmarks.

I do occasionally write in books. I am currently reading The Death of Literature by Alvin Kernan and making comments as I read, but most of the time, I do not write in books, especially as so many of mine come from the local library. I will correct spelling in books.

As a young student, it was drummed into us not to mar the BOOKS. In those days text books were used for years. I still cannot write notes or make any changes. One suggestion for those who need to make notes for future reference, those little stick`em papers are reliable and wont hurt any page.

Oh, how silly of us! Sticky notes! It's the perfect solution, since we don't own our own books, but are merely custodians of the potential future property of others.

Why does someone always have to get sarky?

Snarky or not it is the truth. Unless we find immortality we are merely custodians of the future property of others.

Not if we burn it up before we die!

>121 Booksloth:

I got s{n}arky because the "suggestion for those who need to make notes" (emphasis mine) struck me as exceptionally condescending. And I'd do it again.

Edited to add: In the interests of full disclosure, I was actually being sarcastic rather than s{n}arky.

Hmm, I thought Kerrlm was simply revealing her dislike of marking or marring books in any way, shape or form. That's the greatest sin for her. Which is what the discussion thread is about, yes?

Thanks Madcow, I thought so too.

ETA - Though, TLC, nobody else is getting their hands on my books when I die, I'm taking them all with me!

I do not go into book ownership philosophically. I take the two-year old approach proudly. MINE! MINE! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! MINE!

And for all of you courtly lovers of books, you would shudder in horror if you saw the condition of some of my mass-market paperbacks.

Sincerely,

The selfish book ravisher

I like the cut of your jib, quillmenow!

>124 Madcow299:

Kerrlm's first 3 sentences certainly did "simply reveal... her dislike...". The last sentence is what got my dander up. Suffice to say I find it presumptuous.

You can read it your way; I've read it mine. (Limited authorial authority and all.)

#123 - sarky is short for sarcastic (which I am not being right now, promise)

If we are going to be burning books when we die we might as well wait until we are dead and use them as the funeral pyre.

Personally I want just one favourite, as yet unchosen, book in my coffin with me and the rest will go to a suitable relative who loves books like I do. At the moment that relative is my ten year old nephew.

Well played, drbubbles, well played :).

Jody, I love it, Pile me on my theology books, and all my other books and cremate me that way. Not the bibles though, that's my own personal quirk

#127

I like this book discussion. Good job bringing it up for everyone to talk about, Booksloth!

Oh, and I have to agree about the books that reek of cigarette smoke. At my favorite used book store there are three beautiful copies of Hemingway's works. You think you've landed on a goldmine until you pull the books off of their shelf and wafts of funky stale cigarette smoke smacks you right in the face. The pages are all nicotine yellow. Those books have been in that store for over a year now. It's so sad.

I too am anxious about book-lending and the condition in which my books are / could be returned. I am inspired, however, by a C.S. Lewis quote (which I cannot locate at the moment) about how all of the rips, tears, stains etc. in the books we lend will be transformed into gilt edging and engraved illustrations in heaven. :-) I like the idea of our books having an afterlife, the loveliest of which belonging to the books we have lent!

I rarely buy books, instead choosing to use the library, and my children have grown up with the mentality of needing to be careful with the books, because they don't belong to us. I was talking to my oldest son (age 22) this weekend and he was telling me about a book he bought on Amazon that he was having to read quite slowly because it was hard for him to take everything in and retain (a nonfiction book about a scientific topic). I suggested to him that he make notes in the margins, or highlight or underline key statements, to aid his understanding. The look of horror he gave me was absolutely precious! The thought that he could mark in a book being read for pleasure (as opposed to a text book for school) had simply never occured to him!

I'm not sure where I fall in the spectrum of sins against books. I don't advocate damaging property of any type unnecessarily, but there is no reason to keep anything (including a book) in a pristine condition if that interferes with your enjoyment of owning it. Something owned by someone else should be handled very carefully, so to prove yourself worthy of being entrusted with it. Unless a book has an intrinsic value apart from its worth as a creative or instructive work (a rare first edition, for example), I don't see anything wrong with creasing pages, or writing in it, or even eating or smoking while reading, if the resulting damage doesn't bother you, its owner. Potential future owners can choose not to own it if the damage is not acceptable to them. Personally, I don't crease or mark on pages. I'm not a smoker, but I do eat and drink while reading and occasionally will spill onto the pages.

#133

A lot of my books are chocolatey.

:)

#134 Yum! Dark or milk? I've also gotten wine stains on more than one book.

>132 jackiewyse:: a C.S. Lewis quote (which I cannot locate at the moment) about how all of the rips, tears, stains etc. in the books we lend will be transformed into gilt edging and engraved illustrations in heaven

Reminds me of a quote by the artist Barbara Bloom: "When the Japanese mend broken objects they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold, because they believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful."

I love these in theory, am not quite there in reality :))

#135

Both. I'm a very versatile human being when it comes to chocolate.

#136 ~ Love that quote! Thanks ~ gives me something to strive toward :-)

#136 - I rather like that idea too. As I think I may have already said at some point (or maybe not, as I can't find it now), if I was a guest in somebody's house where I spotted, on the shelf, a book I had written, I would be terribly upset if it was in pristine (and possibly unread) condition. At least if the covers were bent back, the spine was broken and there was chocolate all over the pages, I would feel that somebody had loved it enough to reread it, maybe carry it around with them or curl up in a corner eating comfort foods while reading it.

>134 quillmenow:

Mmmm...chocolate books...do you bite the cover off first? Oh, wait; you mean you're feeding chocolate to your books, don't you? What a waste of good chocolate!

#140

Ha! No. The only thing that nibbles on the corners of my books is the cat. No books thus far have complained about the chocolatey fingerprints I put on the pages. They'd better not, anyway.

Ouch! Drbubbles, I deserved the sarky comments. Book owners are certainly free to do with the books as they wish. Being an old book collector, I`m hoping someone will treasure my collection years from now. I like the term sarky!

I can't tell you how many books I find in the library with vital pages ripped out. Argh! Disrespect for library books is bad news.

I have a problem with spilling tea on my books, but if they're mine... no biggie.

#143

My mass-market and softcover books usually take a mild to severe beating, but when I borrow other people's books I do everything except wear little white gloves to protect someone else's property. Regarding library books, what really puts my teeth on edge is to find these beautiful reference books marred with highlighters and pencil marks. It's an abomination.

But like Sakura Kitty says, if they're mine...no biggie.

I had a tea party a few months back that was also a poetry reading. I took some of my favorite poetry books out, including my Yeats, which is an Easton Press and very fancy. Though some of the other books were in less than perfect condition, for the sake of the Yeats I waited till the eating and tea drinking had died down before commencing the reading. I guess it all depends on the edition.

well for books i like to keep mine prestine looking, but i understand the people who like there's to look used or battered.
my sister is one of the 'read the last page'-ers. and i hate it. it ruins everything.

before on accident i was flipping to the back of the book to read the extra pages in the back about the author and other books they've written. i stopped on the wrong page and just from the little bit i read ruined the book for me. it gives away so much.

i know its not really any of my business how people read books. it just seems so pointless to read the book after that point.

I've done exactly the same thing lawlasaurus. I'm even beginning to wish they wouldn't put those extra pages at the back as it's too much temptation. It's not a question of the whole plot being revealed on the last page, but if you catch a quick glimpse of some you thought was dead doing something (to give just one example) then the whole point of the story is lost on you. Of course, what anyone does with their own books is entirely up to them and I have been horrified at some of the sins people have mentioned here that involve other people's books but, for me, the first reading of a book is all about learning the secrets of the text. Many books then cry out for a second reading when you can spot all kinds of things you'd missed before in the light of what you now know, but that's a different experience all together.