I've had a few bad experinces with lending books out (in one case, pages folded over and spine bent and front cover torn), so I tend not to lent them out unless I really know that the borrower is going to take good care of them.

R.I.P
Redwall

House of Bush, House of Saud The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties by Craig Unger

I let my dad borrow this book and haven't seen it since. It's been years!

My sister destroyed so many of my books that I just started telling her that I couldn't find them when she asked.

How is this for a lost book story. On Thursday last, Maundy Thursday, I went to Exeter to go to a Service at the Cathedral. As I passed "Waterstones" book shop Satan tempted me and I went in. There he passed before my eyes a wondrous world of books. Then he dangled before me the final temptation 3 for 2 (three books for the price of two). He had me in his evil grip I could not resist. I bought 'Marlborough' the new biography in paperback 'Requiem' by Robyn Young and 'The Shack' to give to a friend. As I handed them in I did notice the assistant had some trouble with scanning the books in, but that was all. I arrived home later that day with my bag of books ready to read my 'Marlborough' At this point I can hear Satan laughing or is it the Lord?. My beloved "Marlborough" has been replaced by a 'Phillipa Gregory bodice ripper. "Woe is me, I cry". Exeter is 40 miles from my home town.

In my first year of college I let this girl in one of my classes borrow a collection of vampire short stories that I had just gotten the previous summer on a family vacation to Milwaukee, and I was really excited about it. Needless to say I never had another class with her and I never got it back.

Later when I worked at a sandwich shop with a bunch of degenerates I loaned a girl my copy of House of Leaves. I knew she did a lot of drugs and I had seen the condition of her house but I gave her the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately she quit the sandwich shop without returning my precious book. Later at a different job I bemoaned the fact that I never got that one back, so he bought me a new copy... which I then let a different friend borrow, and then I never got that one back (I moved rather suddenly, but I'm pretty sure she had lost it by that point anyway). I now have a copy that I am obsessed with and will not loan out; I also have a signed hardcover copy. The funny thing is I'm not all that interested in the actual book anymore, but now it's just principle. :)

My mom living in a different state has a few of my books, which is fine because she can be trusted. I'm more bothered by the fact she hasn't read them yet because I think she'll like them. Plus, when I think about re-reading Of Human Bondage I have to remember she has it so I don't tear my bookshelves apart looking for it. :)

Memoirs of Geisha-
One of my favorite books, I loaned it to my co-worker/cousin-in-law, and haven't seen it since. I think I'll just get a new copy and move on. And no more lending.....

I gave out my copy of Outlander to the lady that helped me with my mother's account at the local bank. She mentioned she enjoyed reading, and was at a standstill as to what to read next... That was over a year ago, and while she casually mentioned to me a while back that she was really enjoying the book, she's never offered to give it back! HA! Oh well, I ran across a copy of it at the library used book store and picked it up for 1.00. (and no, it wasn't the copy I had lent to her lol - I thought of that too - wouldn't that have been the kicker!). Now I just won't stress over getting "my" copy back. :)

I see this as the great universal library. I lend out books, they are not returned. I borrow books, they stay on my shelf for years. This is not on purpose, this is just something that happens organically. I never borrow a book with the specific idea of not returning it, and I will always return a book when asked. Maybe this is more a reflection of bad book keeping than anything else. I'm sure if I could remember half the people I lend books to I might ask for them back. Hmmm...maybe a spreadsheet.

People become too attached too things. That being said, if it's--I don't know--the original copy of the Codex Gigas, maybe I shouldn't lend it out.

I lent out a copy of twilight to one friend who got colored pencil all over the edges and inside of the book, one who gave it back a year and a half later, still having not read it, and one who actually did give it back. I also lent ou t a copy of Specials which has yet to find its way back to my shelves.
Also, various books lent out for school:
All Quiet on the Western Front
Of Mice and Men
Animal Farm
Lord of the Flies

Most of them that never came back I had to buy again. :(

Sybil-Flora Rheta Schreiber (my sister borrowed this and trashed it)
Freddy Krueger's Seven Sweetest Dream
Salem's Lot (special edition signed copy. Ex-boyfriends suck!)

While I was away at college my mother loaned all of my Nancy Drew and Five Little Pepper books (I had the complete set of FLP) to a friend of my brother who was ill. Several years later I asked the girl's mother about the books and she said "Oh, she never read them, so I just threw them away."

yellowbird wrote: "I'm guilty of the opposite. I had a book that I borrowed from someone else, then bought a copy for myself, then kept HER copy for something like seven years. One day I was organizing (a rare event ..."

I once read a newspaper column where the journalist confessed that David Attenborough had lent her a book and she kept it for so long she was too embarrassed to return it in person. Instead she put the book in a taxi, on its own , and sent it round to his house. It seems he has a sense of humor and graciously thanked her for returning the book :0)

I'm guilty of the opposite. I had a book that I borrowed from someone else, then bought a copy for myself, then kept HER copy for something like seven years. One day I was organizing (a rare event around here) and discovered that I had two copies of the book. I opened one up and found her bookplate stamped on the first page!
I brought her a plate of brownies when I returned it though, so she forgave me. :)

My copy of "Hoot" by Carl Hiassen disappeared at school one day. It was quite a long time ago, I believe when I was still in middle school, so there's pretty much no chance of ever getting it back. Also, I lent "Cirque Du Freak" to a friend and didn't get it back for two years.
I believe I also lent a book to my cousin and I'm not sure if she ever returned it...I really need to start keeping a list of books that I lend out.

Oh, and I do regret lending my copy of "The Corrections" to a friend who then lent it to her mother, who promptly destroyed it by folding it, creasing it, and somehow causing water damage to it! I like a well-read book, but come on, show a little respect!

This is a great thread! I have so many different books out, my friends have told me that I should start a sign-out list, like a library. I'm starting to like the idea.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Of course this is my favorite book and I'm dying to reread it :( R.I.P.
Pendragon: The Merchant of Death
I don't care as much about this one except I have the whole series besides this book and that bugs the tiny OCD part of me.

Let's see I borrowed the entire Flowers in the Attic series to one of sil years ago never got it back and haven't been able to replace them.My sister has my copy of Twilight and The Lovely Bones which I wish she would give back.

I have lost so many books this way over the years... Now, my favorite excuses if someone asks to borrow a book is "Oh, I actually borrowed this one from someone myself." or "I already told so-and-so he/she could borrow it next." It usually never comes up again, after that!

Abigail wrote: "Lol! Last time I lent a book to my mother, her dog ate it. Luckily my mother is kind enough to replace the books that are damaged in her care, so she bought me a new one a couple of months later. I..."

Ah! This happened to me, too. It was my brand new only-read-once hardback of Odd Thomas that she gave me for Christmas. The book isn't ruined, but the corners of most of the pages are gone. She's planning on buying me the entire series in paperback (which I prefer anyway) though, so it turned out fine. :D

I got all 3 of my books back. I was so happy! I sent the girl an email and asked how her progress was. She said she'd go ahead and give them back because she was afraid she'd eventually forget. So I currently have all of my books in my possession. Yay for me.

Luckily, of all the books I have loaned out, I've only lost one:

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Loaned it to a previous co-worker and I ended up changing jobs before I ever got it back. :(

Esther wrote: "I actually have some good news.

A year ago a friend asked to borrow a book (a beautifully illustrated Hebrew/English Passover Haggadah)
I was cautious, obviously, but he asked so nicely and I see ..."

Just in time for Passover!!

"The Septembers of Shiraz" by Dalia Sofer. I sent it out on an international bookcrossing book ring, and I think it was intercepted by the Iranian government! Bought another copy, going to try again!

Alas, I've lost my 1909 Harvard Classics of Adam Smith's, Wealth of Nations, not to mention Vocal Point's Forever Fatter CD (just the CD...the case was returned).

I actually have some good news.

A year ago a friend asked to borrow a book (a beautifully illustrated Hebrew/English Passover Haggadah)
I was cautious, obviously, but he asked so nicely and I see him every week....
Yesterday he handed it back to me, in perfect condition thanked me for lending it to him and apologized for keeping it so long.

I lost lot of books, but my greatest sorrow would be a whole series of Enyd Blyton's Mallory Towers, when I lent it to some girl at work.
They were collections from my childhood time.... silly..silly me..... :(

uglies....I always want to re-read the series but i can't because I never got the first book back. And I don't want to buy a new copy.....bums
Love sick.....That was just this year, so I still have hope of it returning.
One of my twilight books is somewhere is circulation too...

I stopped loaning my books after it happened to me :(

I never loan out books for exactly this reason.

I wouldnt mind to lose Garcia Marquez lol

Handred years' solitude by Garsia Marquez.
White Nights by F. Dostoevski

Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Notebook ....

and others all to the same person.. she is my best friend but I haven't seen her in 3 years because she lives on the other side of the country.. I forgot I lent them to her and was wondering where they were until she told me she finally read Beloved a few weeks ago!

I usually give away books rather than loan them. It seems like loaning is just added stress that gets in the way of enjoying a book. I have several people who loan me books and I am always very careful with them and try to return them in a timely fashion...except that my current stack of loaners is growing faster than I read.

Candide by Voltaire (still haven't rebought)

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (bought two different copies to replace... both from a library book sale)

The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman - still hoping to get back from my cousin who I loaned it to a year or so ago...)

The Godfather, The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Nighttime, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues... sigh, I need to set the book mafia on some vanguard ruffians.

OH JANETTE!!
That´s a HUGE lost.

We should go to this people house I get your book back, using any means necessary lol

Harry Potter 4,5, and 7-(Hardcover!)

My first copy of Good Omens (Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman) dissappeared mysteriously. I have since replaced it. I almost didn't get my copy of the 'Once and Future King' back from my high school boyfriend's little brother...a little threatening goes a long way. Though it came back a bit more dog eared than it had been *sigh*

I have hopes of getting mine back. I'm just not sure how to word it because I want her to read the book, but I don't want to give her enough time for us to fall so out of touch that I never get them back. I'm afraid she might be rather sensitive about it.

I don´t have any hope of getting my books back.
The Simarillion I loaned like, 6 years ago...
The Harry Potter was 5 yrs ago for a girl I never see lol
And the Vampire Armand was 4 yrs ago, for someone I don´t see anymore in another city lol

I'll give her time to finish them, of course.

I loaned 3 books to a friend and it appears we've sort of stopped talking. But I'm going to have to ask for them back.

My Silmarillion (Tolkien), my Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and my The Vampire Armand never came back :(

I read so fast that I love to read books a second time, I remember enough to not plow through for the plot and pick up things I missed the first time. For that reason it is always hard to lend a book, but I try to suck it up and let others enjoy. I did spend about an hour looking for a copy of One for the Money when I was sick recently only to realize that it had never been returned. I've honestly stopped keeping track, it makes me too sad!

Ha.. I got one of mine back. My friend wrapped it up and gave it to me as part of my bday gift.. a joke of course. Now I have to find a place to put it...

Lori, maybe just ask what she thought of the books you lent her. If she didn't read them yet, then just say oh well I'd love to hear what you think when you do.

I lent a friend The Best American Short Stories and another short story collection and The History of Love A Novel. It's not that I want them back to read right now, but I do want to make sure she remembers that they're mine and I'd like them back sometime. I know she doesn't have a tremendous amount of time to read (she's in college like me) so I feel bad asking her about them. Anyone think of a subtle way of reminding her that they're mine?

my mom still has my whole freaking twilight series!!! grrr!
some parenting books i lent to my friend she never returned.

my biggest not return thing is movies though. my hubs lent out so meny movies and never got them back to the point i just started re buying them! he never remembers who he gave them too!

I just received a box full of books from a friend. I lent her those books ages ago but we both obviously forgot about them. She found them when she was moving last month. Too be honest I wasn't even missing those books and didn't even know that I own them. Most of the books had my name and the years 1982 to1984 in it :-) Sometimes books just need a little longer to return. Just don't give up on them.

Fare thee well, "Thank You For Smoking." Alas, I only got to read thy perfect pages but once, and then thou left me, never to return...(guess I need to get a new copy, huh?)