How particular are you about your books?

[Tintin]

I mostly buy my books, and recently I noticed that I'm very particular about their physical appearance. Here are my quirks:

1. Font and spacing should be comfortable to the eyes. Densely packed text makes me dizzy just by looking at it.
2. My dream book has good-sized font in cream-colored paper.
3. Hardbacks often fulfill this requirement but are more expensive, take up more space, and are harder to carry around in my handbag.
4. Due to the above, trade paperbacks are my choice over mass market paperbacks. However, trade paperbacks usually carry a premium,which is why I like YA books because they're cheaper *and* usually come in trade paperback by default.
5. I always cover my books in a sheet of plastic before reading -- it's like a ritual, and I'm not comfortable reading a book without the protective covering.
6. Except for school textbooks, I never fold or write on the pages of any book.
7. I try to make the spine as crease-free as possible.

Does anyone else share my peculiarities?

[Ottilie]

For me its taking care of my books and keeping them in a condition more then size and what not

[Rach (pagesofpiper)]

I have strict rules when buying books (to limit me from spending money!) Plus then I support my local library.

I hate creasey spines.

I always have to read a series in order.

I think that's everything :)

[Tintin]

Piper wrote: I always have to read a series in order.


Oh! That's one quirk I have too!

Ah, I'm envious of you people who can borrow books from the local library. A decent public library is like a luxury here where I live (I don't think they even exist here, except in schools or on a small scale i.e. they mostly have encyclopedias and hardly any novels).

[Terry (Ter05 TwiMoms/ MundieMoms)]

I have to buy my books as no library here. I avoid books with really small print unless it is a "must read". I want hardbacks if I really love the book so at times I have bought a hardback when I already have the soft cover and use the soft cover ones to loan out. (my family shares books) I have my favorites displayed in my living room, some with pretty bookmarks and my "second favorite group" displayed in my office off my living room. I like just looking at them and remembering!

[Mary JL]

I try for the following:

1. Tight bindings on a used book are a must. A cracked spine and then a page falls out, then another...Big books are notoriously bad on that.

2. Musty, moldy or dirty--I will not buy!

3. I usually have no problems with new books--prefer a alrger typeface as I am getting older. (Ooops! I meant to say the print is getting smaller.....)

4. I prefer to read a series in order; thought I do make exceptions. If it is a trilogy, I make sure I have all three volumes before beginning. (Currently searching for several lost trilogy books where I have found books and and 3--but am missing the linking copy of number two!

5. If money and space were of no concern, I would prefer hardcovers. However, paperbacks are cheaper, lighter and take up less room. However, of my four bookcases, one holds my hardcover treasures.

[Terry (Ter05 TwiMoms/ MundieMoms)]

The trilogy thing is kind of hard. I don't want to buy three books and then not like them. Since I do most of my buying from Amazon (I live in the sticks) it is irritating when I go back for #2 and #3 and they give a "deal" for all three together and I already have #1!

Yes, the darn print is getting smaller. :-) I also ponder over why the YA books tend to have larger print than the "adult" ones when the YA's generally can see better up close.

[Tintin]

Terry (Ter05 TwiMoms/ MundieMoms) wrote: "I also ponder over why the YA books tend to have larger print than the "adult" ones when the YA's generally can see better up close."

Ahahah that's a thought. Have you seen the print in Clockwork Angel? It's GINORMOUS. I actually had to pull away, the text loomed over my field of vision. I haven't read any book with print that big since 4th grade.

I had two theories: 1) Reluctant young readers are less likely to be overwhelmed if the text is big; 2) It's a padding trick to make the book more substantial than it really is.

[Gwennie]

Terry (Ter05 TwiMoms/ MundieMoms) wrote: "I have to buy my books as no library here. I avoid books with really small print unless it is a "must read". I want hardbacks if I really love the book so at times I have bought a hardback when I..."

This sounds just like me, lol.

I try not to crease the spine and I get irritated when I get a book back that I've loaned and people have cracked the spine. It's fine if they do it to their own book but I know from experience that once the spine is cracked the book is going to fall apart (in paperback).

I also read a whole series in order. I can't start in the middle, and unless the book is horrible, if I've started a series I want to continue reading the whole thing so I buy all I can get in the series as fast as I can.

When I was younger I preferred paperback but now that I'm older I'm finding I like hardbacks. When I was younger if I started a series in paperback then I had to have the whole thing in paperback but now I don't want to wait those extra month so alot of my series are mixed now (which I'll admit still drives me a bit crazy).

My favorite books I have both hardcover and softcover, one are my treasures and the other I loan out (in case i don't get them back).

My bookshelf is organized. All series together, all author together, I try to get genre together too, unless a whole series or all the authors takes up the whole shelf... same with alphabetizing... I do this if I can. I am limited on shelf space since we have a smaller house. I have two shelves so I have to finangle my books to find room for all of them. One shelf is for my best/favorite books the other shelf is for other books... I regularly donate books I dont' want to keep.

I dont' use a library because I'm terrible at returning. This may change though because my daughter and I have been going to the bookmobile that parks down the street from my house.

[Hillary]

I am OCD when it comes to my books...

If I am going to buy a dead-tree book I want it in hardcover.

I want the book to be PRISTINE. No scuff, no rip in the dustcover, no dent in the book itself, PRISTINE.
I keep my books this way.

Creased spines? NEVER

Dog-ear my book? NEVER

If it is a series I have to read it in order, there are no questions about "HEY WHERE DID THEY COME FROM and HEY WHERE DID THEY GO!?"

If I am buying a series and its in dead-tree book form, I want them to match. Not one large print the rest normal print, no no!

If I am buying a series, I have to stick with the original format I purchased the book in. If I buy one in ebook, all shall be ebook.

I think that is about all...lol

[Heidi]

I get all my books from the library so beggars can't be choosers. I also get a lot of used books from my library book sales. If I love a book I will then buy it, but I have to really love it.

[S.S.]

Trade paperbacks (the large size) definitely.
They're easier to read, type is better spaced, etc. Also, bargain hardbacks are preferable to the squat paperbacks.

[Gwennie]

Tintin wrote: "5. I always cover my books in a sheet of plastic before reading -- it's like a ritual, and I'm not comfortable reading a book without the protective covering..."

What kind of plastic covering do you use?

[Becca]

I love hardcover and I have a dream that someday all my book covers will be replaced with leather. I'm sure there is someone somewhere who can re-bind all my books in leather and if there isn't, I'll learn how to do it myself. I currently have a collection of leather-bound classics, several leather-bound journals, and a collection of fairytales printed in the early nineteen hundreds (which are falling apart they are so old), and they are my pride and joy.

I hate owning paperbacks, but I'm also cheap (can't afford not to be) so I get quite a few paperbacks every year mixed in with my hardcovers. It really really bugs me when part of my series is in paperback and part in hardcover, but I do have a few series that are like that. And I don't do the creased/cracked paperback spine at all.

I don't normally loan out my books unless it's to someone who takes care of their books as seriously as I take care of mine.

I love the library (and I have a great library system around here). I don't buy books unless I love them, so the library is a great way to screen books to purchase for my personal library. And I have another dream. When I build my dream house, I will have a "Beauty and the Beast" type library in which I will spend endless amounts of time with my lovely leather-bound books and have endless rows of shelves to be filled by fore-mentioned books.

I never fold pages over EVER! I have beautiful bookmarks all over my house, so it doesn't matter which room I'm reading in, I'll have a book mark on hand so no pages get marred or spines bent out of shape.

I actually took all of my son's books away for over a year because he was ripping pages. I've doctored many of his books, but will one day replace all the torn ones. He has learned to respect his books for the most part, although I still catch him stepping on them from time to time for which he gets a stiff lecture and a time-out (he's almost four).

I also organize my bookshelves thoroughly by genre, author, series, etc.

I don't have a preference right now when it comes to type style or size, but I'm sure someday I will. My mother always told me I would ruin my eyesight reading in near darkness because I'm so caught up in a book I forget to turn on a light when the sun goes down. Ya, I would say I have my eccentricities.

[Tintin]

Wendy wrote: "What kind of plastic covering do you use? "

It's this sheet of plastic that we call 'plastic cover' here in my country and can be bought in any office supply store. It comes in a variety of thicknesses but is always flexible enough to cover a book with. We mostly use it here to cover school textbooks as the extra protection ensures the book stays intact for a long time, even with moderately rough handling.

[Gwennie]

Huh, I may have to look for that.

I am a fan of 'book thong's, which are ribbons with heavy beads at either end as a book mark. But I am actually a dog eared reader, if I can't find my bookmark. I like my books to stay in good condition but I don't mind bent corners... it gives them more of a comfy feel to me. On my favorites, I even write my name across the side of the pages (like where a library stamps).

I also loan out. I've gotten bitten a few times because of it but the way I see it is, if I have a book that I love, I want to spread the word. If it costs me a book loss then worst case scenerio is I'll have to buy a new one.

Becca - I'm totally with you on respect for books though. I was always raised not to step on, throw, or mishandle books. It's the one area of my daughters room where I'm a bit tough. Books belong ona book shelf, not strewn around a room. Actually, when I started working at my job (I work at a warehouse that stores and ships books for publishers around the world) I had instructions to destroy a pallet of books. I had to actually sit and rip the covers off and throw them in a bin to be recycled... I swear it broke my heart. Not to mention I kept looking around like I was going to get in trouble.

[Tintin]

@Wendy: Just to give you an idea, the plastic sheet is cut out to size and used much the same way as a book jacket but all edges are covered, not just the sides of the book cover. You can use tape to fix the plastic where you folded on the edges.

Re: What! Destroy a pallet of books?! The horror! Can't they have donated them instead??

[Gwennie]

Yeah, it was a nightmare! Unfortunately we can't donate them because we are just storing them for other publishers. They don't technically belong to us.

SOMETIMES publishers will donate. One of my biggest accounts, New Harbinger Publications, sends 1-2 pallets of damaged books to a used bookstore a month. Occasionally Critical Thinking (educational books) will donate to schools. But most of the time they are just destroyed.

[Brittany (finally graduated and can once again read for fun)]

Like Heidi I am also a fan of the library. Usually I will read a book from there first. Then if I love it I will buy it. However, if I buy a book I want it to last so I go for hardcover. Then, while I'm actually reading the hardcover book I take the pretty illustrated paper cover that covers the hardcover (aka sleeve or book jacket) off the book so that doesn't get damaged.

I also tend to write in my books. I love writing notes in them, especially silly fun books. I usually write down things certain references remind me of. Then when I loan them out my friends get to see my thoughts as they're reading. My copies of Bridget Jones have multiple notes and hand-writing samples in them because my friends also leave me notes. It makes for a great re-reading experience. But I ONLY do that for fun chick-lit type books.

Other than that I'm pretty picky about who or what touched my books because I if I buy them it's for a reason... I also must read series book in order. I can't imagine skipping around like that.

[Tracy T.]

If i'm buying a series:

1) The format has to be the same. If I start in hardcover, the rest have to be in hardcover and the same with paperbacks.

2) I rarely lend books out.

3) I prefer paperbacks. They're easier for me to hold right now. I don't mind creased spines or dog eared pages.

If I'm getting books off of a swap site:

All I want are books in good condition. I have no problem with throwing a book out if its reached the end of its life.

[Gwennie]

Brittany wrote: "Like Heidi I am also a fan of the library. Usually I will read a book from there first. Then if I love it I will buy it. However, if I buy a book I want it to last so I go for hardcover. Then, ..."

The note writing seems like a fun idea! I might try that one. My friend at work and I swap alot of books!