Book Buying Addicts Anonymous discussion
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What is the strangest, most bizarre thing you do with your books?
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Crystal - I never leave the house without a book. If I'm 3/4 of the way done, I'll make sure to take a second one for backup. Im the type of person that has to be reading something...all the time. Nutritional labels on cereal boxes, product packaging labels, user manuals. I would never consider putting something together without reading the instructions first!
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..."Sounds like you need a Kindle or Nook or some time of ereader.
Amber, I have a Kobo from borders and I have used it twice...on an airplane. Not my fave but I bought it because it was on sale and I travel a lot for work (and refuse to carry like 7 books with me to far off lands).edited to add that I do not purchase any e-books for the Kobo...I just download the (free) public domain classics...If I spend the money on a book, I want the physical thing. I don't know about other booklovers, but the tactile pleasure from handling the smooth pages of a well-made book beats out modern convenience most of the time (except, as said above, when I travel).
I see. I love my kindle because as much as love books my hands and wrist were becoming very sore from holding them. Then the black ink stain on my fingers, and now I can share my books from my kindle so it all works out for me. At least you have the convenience for your times of travel. :)
It's funny, I have an Iphone and have been reading Jane Eyre thru Ibooks app. tiny font tho...The kobo is a very basic e-reader and easy to use...I wish the battery lasted longer but, you get what u pay for, I guess...I really like the convenience of having it for travel. When it comes to books-books, I try to avoid any that are printed cheaply with that newspaper print-feeling paper. I prefer the high quality, acid free paper that doesn't brown over time. But those are rare because the newspaper-print books are obviously cheaper to mass produce. The NYRB editions, which I collect, are made with lovely paper and the ink doesn't smear at all.
Nice. I used to library my books, but I am happy with the loss of clutter now and so is my husband! LOL Happy reading to you.FYI if you choose to go ereader even if just for travel. You can go almost a month on one charge without the wireless on with the kindld. :)
ok dont laugh but sometimes when i read in bed instead of snuggling with a stuffed animal i snuggle with my book and have dreams about what i read i think a book is the warmest fuzziest friend that u can snuggle up with
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..."
Bluemoon wrote: "hahahaha...I smell my books too! Especially during a stressing/annoying day. I just take the current book I'm reading and smell. I don't know it just calms me down and makes me smile. Also, I never..."
i love the thing with the name and date that would really help me
But there is a chance that brand new books you order online will arrive damaged...I ordered a hardcover memoir from Amazon the other week, and the dust jacket was torn when it arrived. That drove me crazy. :)
Kristin wrote: "But there is a chance that brand new books you order online will arrive damaged...I ordered a hardcover memoir from Amazon the other week, and the dust jacket was torn when it arrived. That drove m..."I agree eergghhh
but risks you hae to take -did you omplain?
No, I didn't complain...I've been ordering from Amazon for years, and this was the first new, non-bargain book that was a little damaged. So I guess that's not too bad. It wasn't a big tear- just a small one on the back, but enough to make the book seem not brand new somehow. :)
Ellie wrote: "It's the one thing the Kindle really doesn't have.Maybe they could come up with a special spray, "eau d'ink et papier" or something? :)"
Love it!
I've talked about how they need to bottle the sent of books so many times, my family groans when I mention it! I would spray it on myself everyday of my life. The smell reminds me of so many happy book memories!
Weird, but every time I finish a book, I have to toss it off my bed (where I always am when I read) onto the ground and leave it there for at least two days. Why? Absolutely no idea. It's just tradition now.
i love your idea of the cardstock bookmark, Beth. Will try that.
i just had to add that I sleep with my books on a night table, at least three. I'm now reading Dean Koontz's Frankenstein Prodigal Son. I stop at the end of a chapter before my bedtime, otherwise I keep reading.
Sonya wrote: "i love your idea of the cardstock bookmark, Beth. Will try that."Thanks! It really helps me to keep me organized and prevents me from buying duplicates. I looked back at my original post, and it seems that I forgot to add that I put a check next to the books on the bookmark that I already have. That way, if I'm missing any books in the series, I just grab the bookmark on my way out the door to the bookstore, and I have an instant list to go by on which ones I'm missing.
I, too, read in bed, Sonya. I read until I fall asleep and the book hits me in the nose, though!! I try not to read hardbacks in bed. . .it can be dangerous!
First off, I treat my books like a security blanket...I can't be without what I'm reading. If I were to leave it at home for the day, I would feel naked until it was back in my hands. My husband thinks this is strange(and even a bit unhealthy) but I don't think I'm alone in this one. Also, every time I finish a book, I snap it shut and start singing Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." I can't help it. It's like a reflex.
Amber, I think you need help. I love books and take one with me whenever I think I’ll have an opportunity to crack it open and read. If one of these occasions arises and I don’t have a book with me, I think of a few choice words for my oversight and look for something else to do. If I misplace a book I’m reading, I will methodically tear apart my house in a high state of agitation. I have even been known to drive to the nearest bookstore and buy a new copy, later to find that the book I missed slid under my back seat. When I finish a book I don’t sing but make a b-line to my library with one thought in mind …..What’s next?
Thom wrote: "Amber, I think you need help. I love books and take one with me whenever I think I’ll have an opportunity to crack it open and read. If one of these occasions arises and I don’t have a book with me..."Yeah, that's generally the thought that comes right after the singing. :)
I think the weirdest thing I do would send people into shock. Sometimes I skip sections of a book and come back to it later. I'll read the whole book, just not in the right order. I'll have about 5 bookmarks in the book, but than I don't have a bookmark on the actual page I'm on, I just remember the page number. I don't always do this, if the writer is an amazing writer, as in forming sentences not just story talented I won't do this, but if their style isn't up to par I will probably skip around...I know this is very weird...
Mindy wrote: "I think the weirdest thing I do would send people into shock. Sometimes I skip sections of a book and come back to it later. I'll read the whole book, just not in the right order. I'll have about 5..."I have a friend that sort of does this. When she first gets a book, she reads the last couple of pages. Then she starts at the beginning and skips 4 or 5 pages at a time. When she gets through the whole book that way, then she goes back and reads the whole book word for word. Drives me crazy!
My friends thought it was weird when they'd walk into my room and see like twelve books in my bed, like how do you sleep like that? But my bed just feels to empty without them..:) I like my books to look a little worn in, it shows love and that i can read them in an obstacles like reading while eating at the dinner table,the spine gets bent by holding it with one hand,or i take books with me everywhere i go, so they usually have like little nicks where the bend in my bags!
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)."I'm trying to decide for this summer :) seriously sooo hard!
wow that's almost worst than me! i usually leave the end alone... usually...
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)."It would take me hours to find a book to read when I'd look at the whole 400+ on my shelves, so my boyfriend came up with the idea that since my books are organized alphabetically by authors, I should just look at the "A"s and pick a book from those. Next time, I'd look at the "B"s to pick from, and so on. It helps when I only have a handful to pick from instead of hundreds!
Another really anal thing I do. . . when I buy even just one book, I have to take ALL my books off the shelves to reorganize them! I can't just try and fit it in where it belongs (alphabetically),and I can't just set it somewhere close by; I HAVE to remove all the books, put it where it belongs, and THEN I can put the books back on the shelves.
Beth wrote: "It would take me hours to find a book to read when I'd look at the whole 400+ on my shelves, so my boyfriend came up with the idea that since my books are organized alphabetically by authors, I should just look at the "A"s and pick a book from those. Next time, I'd look at the "B"s to pick from, and so on. It helps when I only have a handful to pick from instead of hundreds! "Did you see that guy on youtube who has over 35,000 books?
Sometimes I read the last sentence of a book first. It's not enough to give away the ending, but when I finally read it at the end, it's like coming home.
Only strange thing I do, which probably isn't that odd, is their must be a fullstop at then end of the page otherwise I keep reading until I find one..Usually it makes me read until the end of a chapter.
I don't think that's strange at all! I think that's normal!!
Beth wrote: "Another really anal thing I do. . . when I buy even just one book, I have to take ALL my books off the shelves to reorganize them! I can't just try and fit it in where it belongs (alphabetically),..."How long does rearranging all your books take?
I would go mad if I took all my books of the shelves every time I bought a new one, lol! Too many books, too often that I buy new ones. I'd never have time for anything else. =]
Batsap wrote: "Beth wrote: "Another really anal thing I do. . . when I buy even just one book, I have to take ALL my books off the shelves to reorganize them! I can't just try and fit it in where it belongs (alp..."I just reorganized them again today; I'd gotten a handful of books from a friend Friday, so I had to get them on the shelves! It took be about 40 minutes. I love touching my books as much as I love buying them and reading them, so reorganizing them is fun for me.
Amber wrote: Also, every time I finish a book, I snap it shut and start singing Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust."I love this!!!
That's very funny! What's even funnier is I've been known to do the same with books I found difficult to finish. I never would have guessed anyone else did the same with all their books! :D
probably the strangest thing i do is i smell my books sometimes if they are newer and when i close my book for the night i always look at the top of the book and see how much more i have left. i don't know why i just always do that haha
That's creative!I usually smell my books when i buy them. I just loooove the smell!
I show them around in my house. As in, I show it every room there is. It may sound crazy, but I think of my books as my friends, so it just makes sense to me, to show them around.
1. I smell my books2. Every time I start a book I have to get a standard 3x5 index card and write the title on the top line and underline it. I use the index card as my bookmark, and every time there is a really good quote or passage that I want to remember I write the page down on the index card. When I finish the book, I leave the index card in the very front. Then I grab a new book, a new index card, and start all over again
Chrissy, I may have to add quotes to the bookmarks I make for MY books!!! Great idea!
I would certainly prefer smelling books (especially new ones) to many other life’s treasures (like babies diapers and cooking cauliflower) but it isn’t at the top of my “to do” list. Your number two action is much more interesting and, in the end, infinitely more rewarding.
Chrissy wrote: "1. I smell my books2. Every time I start a book I have to get a standard 3x5 index card and write the title on the top line and underline it. I use the index card as my bookmark, and every time t..."
I think that's a great idea, i've read so many great quotes from books that by the time i'm finished i forget what page its on.
Alright:1. I always have to have a book on me or next to me. And the more the better!
2. Sometimes I just stare at my bookshelf for a while, i touch the covers and smell the books! Hahaha
3.I'll be sitting on my couch facing my bookshelf and start reciting the titles I see...
4.I woke up a few times clutching a book.
i document in a journal dedicated to my books.
Ok so I do I few things that are rather odd with my books.1. I have to have one on me at all times because I have found whenever I don’t I end up needing it for one reason or another.
2. If the cover of a book creeps me out I will make a new one. I once put a cartoon character on the cover of The Shinning.
3. I crush flowers in the books I love. Then I refuse to move them and will place then on the same page in another book while I read the book.
4. I refuse to remove anything randomly placed in a book, such as my flowers or papers left by someone else. I think that there is a preordained reason for them being placed on that exact page. I have convinced myself that one day I might come across it and something on that page will hold significant meaning for my life at that point. This one is very strange I know, no one I know understands this.
5. I keep a quote book filled quotes I liked in the books I have read.
Holly wrote: "Ellie wrote: "It's the one thing the Kindle really doesn't have.Maybe they could come up with a special spray, "eau d'ink et papier" or something? :)"
Love it!
I've talked about how they need t..."
They've done it! Not sure if it's been mentioned elsewhere but it now exists:
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/06/25...
I do quite a few things mentioned in this thread - I like the smell of old books and must admit I have been known from time to time to stroke books I particularly love, especially if they are made of especially tactile materials. If there are multiple copies in a bookshop I have to look through them to find the best condition copy and am quite anal about getting new books in good condition but if I buy an old second-hand book though I like it to be in fair condition I love old books that really show their age and wear.
I also spend a lot of time moving books around in my bookcase, especially if I add a new book I tend to move books around repeatedly to try to get them in the 'best' places, which never works out!
I have a confession to make though, I am one of life's paperback spine-breakers. :-( I'd rather not wreck paperbacks but I do tend to put a lot of creases into them... one reason why I'm starting to prefer hardbacks.
I love the written word! If you add that to my natural compulsion to collect, the result is obvious. I collect books (among other things) indiscriminately. Bound books, paperbacks (both new and secondhand) and digital books find their way into my life. Once they’re in, like good friends, they never really leave me. I can’t really say that I do anything strange with either my books or my friends but just hold them dear and give them the respect they deserve.
Kurt wrote: "When I read, I always have to at least finish the chapter I am on before I put the book down. If I can't get to the end of that chapter, I have to at least finish a page that ends in a period, and ..."I know what you mean. I feel lost if I have to go back to an unfinshed chapter.
Char wrote: "Ok so I do I few things that are rather odd with my books.1. I have to have one on me at all times because I have found whenever I don’t I end up needing it for one reason or another.
2. If the c..."
I really like #5. I love quotes!
Suzanne wrote: "1) I have ritual when I finish a book. I have 3 different apps on facebook and this website that I like to update when I finish a book. Why don't I just stick this site? I have no idea...
2) Every book I finish has to have a book plate in it with my full name in it. I buy bookplates at Barnes and Nobles and have a stack of them sitting on my "Read" bookshelf downstairs.
3) Then I have to shelve the finished book by author on my read bookshelf so that it's alphabatized with the rest of the books that I've read. I get great satisfaction from my bookshelf of all the books I've read.
I don't make my own bookmarks but I do collect them. I have a Barnes and Nobles Teddy Bear that I bought a couple of years ago and he has a back pack. I have all of my bookmarks in the back of my teddy bear and he's right next to my bed, so when I start a new book Teddy has my bookmark covered ;)
"
First, that Teddy Bear idea is brilliant. Must be a decent sized backpack on the bear? Our B&N closed down and unfortunately I rarely got to go there when it was open. Instead I went to the closer new and used bookstores.
What other facebook apps do you use?
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)
the same here too..haha.but sometimes i wait for them to be publish in our bookstore before buying it..:)