Book Buying Addicts Anonymous discussion
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What is the strangest, most bizarre thing you do with your books?
Veronika wrote: "The strangest things I do with my books:1. When I go clothes shopping I always have to look at the clothing tags. I got this really pretty lighting bolt tag on one of my shirts when I first bough..."
Veronika wrote: "The strangest things I do with my books:
1. When I go clothes shopping I always have to look at the clothing tags. I got this really pretty lighting bolt tag on one of my shirts when I first bough..."
Veronika... love your point #7!
I agree with not wanting books with the movie cover. That drives me nuts. I look for a different edition. I love the series on the bookmark idea. I may have to steal that one as well. :)
Okay I was just sitting here reading and I realized I do something wacky.I HAVE to have TWO (2) bookmarks in one book! I put the 1st bookmark in the spot I start reading at for the day. And the 2nd bookmark goes to the page I left off on. And the page MUST end in a period, IF I can't read til the end of the chapter. And if I can't read the right page of the book and have to start on that page, the book mark HAS to face the side I need to start on. Now when I pick up my book the next day. I look at it to see how much I read the day before. (Unless I finish it) Then when I start that day I keep the 1st bookmark in the spot I start reading at and move the 2nd one throughtout the books as I read through out the day.
Screwy huh?! lol
As soon as I buy a book, I immediately scrape off any stickers on it. The stickers that leave residue everywhere drive me absolutely crazy! (Although I've learned that a little rubbing alcohol can help on glossy paperbacks.) It doesn't feel like the book is mine until all of the stickers are off. Also, if I bought the book from Goodwill, I erase the upper right corner of the first page, where the employees write the price and the month the book came in (in pencil). I also smell my books. And always carry at least one around with me, for times when I'm waiting. And, like others said, I try to finish a chapter before I put the book down. But if it's one of those books with really long chapters, I just read until there's some kind of division. :)
When I saw the title of this thread, my thoughts went in a totally different direction than all of yours did! The strangest thing I've ever done with my books is, I made a bedside lamp from some old books. I chose some books I didn't like, (those ones you are afraid might infect your good books), drilled a hole through them, put the electrical parts through that, put a lampshade on it and voila, a lamp. Now THAT's the strangest thing I've ever done to my books!
I think that would have to be... actually reading them.
Patricia wrote: "When I saw the title of this thread, my thoughts went in a totally different direction than all of yours did! The strangest thing I've ever done with my books is, I made a bedside lamp from some o..."Don't suppose you have any pictures of one, do you?
I think that's a neat idea. I have some that my beagle found and decided to chew on. I can't read (or trade) them like that but with the chewed edges turned to the back, it might work as a lamp.
Beth wrote: "What a cool idea, Kurt! I have card stock that I cut into strips for a bookmark, and I have the name of the author on it along with the name of the series and all the books listed in that series. ..."that is a brilliant idea esp as tend to buy the whole serious before even knowing if like and then have to keep looking on fantastic fiction to see what order should be read
Melanie wrote: "o all so i have a couple of books that i love that i take with me every where when i go away..(no just shopping trips) but when im away from home from any amount of time from one night to months i ..."what books are they? out of curiosity
Louise wrote: "I takes me ages to decide which books to take, when I'm going on vacation. I can move around piles, put them in and take them out (while my husband shouts that we'll only be gone for 1 or 2 weeks)."even if I am going for one night I take a book incase I get a chance to read it
Veronika wrote: "The strangest things I do with my books:1. When I go clothes shopping I always have to look at the clothing tags. I got this really pretty lighting bolt tag on one of my shirts when I first bough..."
I love the date thing. That is a fabulous idea!
I hide my books in a bag in my car. I know that sounds so weird but I hide them until I can sneak them in my house without my husband seeing. Am I the only one? I also do it with shoes.
1. I have a 'shelf of shame', with books that I disliked on it. The books that are on this are the Twilight Series and the first few books of the Maximum Ride series.2.I also have a shelf of books that I loved, which has all of Ellen Hopkin's books, Ned Vizzini's books, and a few others. Although it is about out of room...I need to build a new shelf :S
3.If I buy the first book in the series, and I like the book even a little, I HAVE to buy the rest of them. I can't just get them from the library.
4.I organie my books in order of series, then order of what I liked them...weird.
I saw a strange thing in a decorating book......tear out the pages of old books and paper your wall with them. Now how many of us could destroy a book to use it as wallpaper? It really looked good but I don't think I could desecrate books.
Nope! I would never be able to do that. If I had duplicate books I could...but only then.
Afsana wrote: "Melanie wrote: "o all so i have a couple of books that i love that i take with me every where when i go away..(no just shopping trips) but when im away from home from any amount of time from one ni..."
sorry for late reply didnt see this haha
well i take my father The Hobbit its very old my very very old tales from shakespear..which is all his plays put into short story form i think its from 1908, The BFG and occasionally i swap between Pride and Prejudice or
sorry for late reply didnt see this haha
well i take my father The Hobbit its very old my very very old tales from shakespear..which is all his plays put into short story form i think its from 1908, The BFG and occasionally i swap between Pride and Prejudice or
Cristina wrote: "Patricia wrote: "When I saw the title of this thread, my thoughts went in a totally different direction than all of yours did! The strangest thing I've ever done with my books is, I made a bedside..."Here's a picture. I never have found a shade that I really like with it. And I need to get something for "feet", right now I have Legos as feet! I love doing stuff like this, I also made a lamp from an old Singer sewing machine, it turned out better than this.
That's awesome, so is there like a hole through the books?
Mine is odd. I used to really like to keep mine in near mint/new condition. I am starting to like the idea of a used books that has a somewhat creased spine. So near the middle of the book I kinda bend it a bit to give the spine a creased, read look. I dunno why I now do this.
Colberto wrote: "That's awesome, so is there like a hole through the books?"Yes I drilled a hole through the books. The biggest problem is that when you drill through all that paper, it doesn't create a nice, neat, little round hole. You have all the "shavings" flying around and then the pages in the book aren't lying flat, they are sort of poufy (don't know if that's a word!) and they don't lie flat. It's a pain in the neck then working with them to get them to lie flat. You then can go to Lowe's or somewhere similar and buy the hardware to use in it, that was pretty simple.
McKenzie wrote: "Mine is odd. I used to really like to keep mine in near mint/new condition. I am starting to like the idea of a used books that has a somewhat creased spine. So near the middle of the book I kinda ..."I think the creases and crinkles in the spine say "somebody loves me" because it's been read a lot!
Patricia wrote: "Cristina wrote: "Patricia wrote: "When I saw the title of this thread, my thoughts went in a totally different direction than all of yours did! The strangest thing I've ever done with my books is,..."
can i ask which books they are?
can i ask which books they are?
I hide new books so that my husband can't see them. I buy too many!
Jill wrote: "I saw a strange thing in a decorating book......tear out the pages of old books and paper your wall with them. Now how many of us could destroy a book to use it as wallpaper? It really looked good..."That makes me think of a house improvement program I saw a while back, the designer guy wanted to cut up all the teenagedaughter's stuffed animals and make them into a rug...
ACK!! Destroying stuffed animals is on the same level as destroying books to me. I keep having flashbacks of the Toy Story movies and the toys coming to life after I leave the room. If they were made into a rug, it'd be something out of a horror movie....
McKenzie wrote: "Mine is odd. I used to really like to keep mine in near mint/new condition. I am starting to like the idea of a used books that has a somewhat creased spine. So near the middle of the book I kinda ..."I was the same my book always had to look new but when I discovered my local book shop and seen all the second hand books that looked so well read and loved I came home and started giving mine a make over lol and now I find myself looking to buy my books second hand :-)
Suzanne wrote: "ACK!! Destroying stuffed animals is on the same level as destroying books to me. I keep having flashbacks of the Toy Story movies and the toys coming to life after I leave the room. If they were..."The parents fortunately said NO, but he was very annoyed.
Mean man!
Kurt wrote: "For some reason, I just cannot seem to read any book without printing a full color 2.5"x5" bookmark of the cover of the book I want to read. I find the cover over the internet, download it and pri..."That is hilarious! I can't stop laughing. I haven't laughed so much in I don't know how long.
I suppose the most bizarre thing I do is carry them around with me until I've read them so often I know them by heart. To the supermarket, the kids school, wine with my friends, etc. Not so bizarre but it's what I do.
Robin wrote: "I'm loving the idea of the bookmark with the series listed on it. So gonna have to borrow that one. I loved reading your strange, bizarre things, and I feel as if I don't really have any. I use ..."Totally with you this...my husband bought me the next book in a series I was reading and he bought the hardcover, yet all the others were in paperback!!! I have since bought it in paerback and donated the hardcover!!
And the movie cover......can't stand it!!! Have to have the original cover. LOL;)
I write down the date and time when I start a book and keep of all the books I've read since May 15th 2010 at 12:28 a.m. I freak if I lose the paper where I write the info down.
I bought one on Ebay once. It came in a protective bag. I still have it in the protective bag. It's Prairy Erth by William Least Heat-Moon. It's pretty good.
Mod
I am crazy protective over my books. I hate when they get bent edges or anything like that. I can't even lend them out to people, because I've tried that before, and the books came back ruined. So, now I have to buy the whole series again, because I have to keep my books in mint condition. I can't stand having two different formats in one series, so if one is only in hardcover and the other is only in paperback, it drives me nuts.
I wish I could print and laminate my own bookmarks.
Sonya wrote: "I wish I could print and laminate my own bookmarks."Sonya, that shouldn't be too hard to do. I think you can buy something to use at home that laminates. Seems like I've seen that.
OK, I looked, you can buy laminating pouches at places like Office Depot. That would be fun designing your own!
Kristin wrote: "As soon as I buy a book, I immediately scrape off any stickers on it. The stickers that leave residue everywhere drive me absolutely crazy! (Although I've learned that a little rubbing alcohol can help on glossy paperbacks.) It doesn't feel like the book is mine until all of the stickers are off"Yeah, I do that too. Plus:
1) I also sleep with books.
2) If I'm really enjoying the book I'm reading I have to maintain physical contact with it, until it's finished, even at times when I'm not reading it.Which believe me can earn you some odd looks from people at work, and it makes typing, answering phone calls, carrying coffee cups or any other activity pretty challenging. Oh ok, I don't shower with the books. But I do take a bath while reading!
3) I stroke and cuddle books I really like...
I recently discovered that my eight year old daughter Lydia has already developed a few of her own reading quirks. She is currently reading a free discarded library book she happily received from her school (The Midnight Fox by Betsy Byars). The other evening she asked if I would read a chapter to her, which, of course, I was happy to do. I opened the book to the place where she had placed her highly decorated hand-made book mark (I want one) and read the chapter. As I started to close the book she stopped me and made me turn the book mark over before I closed the book. It seems that she has to have the front of the book mark facing the page she is going to begin reading next. I was (and am) both greatly amused and delighted at having a sweet little quirky book lover for a daughter!By the way, I LOVE that book lamp! I've got to make one of those!
I think the only strange thing I do is smell books.. but a lot of people do that! Even friends who do not read so much smell their books.
Oh my, I am so moved by these expressions posted here. Every one of these "reverences" honors books more richly than the most cleverly worded review.
Bob wrote: "I recently discovered that my eight year old daughter Lydia has already developed a few of her own reading quirks. She is currently reading a free discarded library book she happily received from ..."That is such a touching, sweet story!
Mod
if you make another book lamp you could try maybe gluing or somehow adhering the pages together before you drill the hole and maybe it will get a better hole in it that way :)
If I'm buying a new book at a bookstore, and if there's a bunch of the title I'm buying, I will look through all of them to make sure I get the "perfect-est" one. For hardcovers, I will select one that still has a stiff front cover (i.e., hasn't been cracked open yet). I test this by slightly opening the book. For paper, I look for ones that obviously haven't been opened, dented, frayed. Even the tippy corners of the books have to be perfect. My friends look at me funny when they're with me in a store. I think it's perfectly rational. Oh, and I get upset if I accidentally nick or crumple a page while the book is in my bag. makes me sad.
My daughter does exactly the same thing.
Irene wrote: "If I'm buying a new book at a bookstore, and if there's a bunch of the title I'm buying, I will look through all of them to make sure I get the "perfect-est" one. For hardcovers, I will select one..."om my god I have found my twin!! lol
I do the same thing! :) I usually grab one of the books from the back of the shelf or the bottom of the stack. I want one that looks perfect. :)
Irene wrote: "If I'm buying a new book at a bookstore, and if there's a bunch of the title I'm buying, I will look through all of them to make sure I get the "perfect-est" one. For hardcovers, I will select one..."I do the same thing! Also, if there is only one copy of the book and it looks kind of beat then I will wait to buy that title until more copies come in or until I get a really good deal on it.
Oh! Like lots of other people on here I like to smell my books.
I do the exact same as well. If the copy the bookstore has is not perfect I will wait for more copies to come in before I buy the book.
Book Buying Addicts Anonymous
Books mentioned in this topic
The Canterbury Tales (other topics)Jane Eyre (other topics)
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (other topics)
Pride and Prejudice (other topics)
The BFG (other topics)
That is a fantastic idea.