Book Buying Addicts Anonymous discussion
Just for Fun
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What are some of your book quirks?
I really prefer the trade paperbacks. I like the larger size, and the fact that the lines of type aren't all smushed together. It just seems like I can read them faster than the MMPB.
I do somthing very similar - because I lack the storage space I will wait until the mass market paperback version of a book comes out before I buy it (or if I can't wait I will eventually replace my hardback or trade paperback version). I do this so I can fit more books on my shelves! I will also go out of my way to buy the same country edition of book when it is part of a series. For example if I have all US editions that is what I will continue to buy, not the AUS or UK editions even if they are cheaper and easier to find.
I like old books, with pressed flowers, marginalia, odd bookmarks, something personal left within.
Inspect the paper, smell the book, read the very last line in the book, remove the cover (I love hardbacks)... I know, I'm sick :O
Joanne wrote: "I like old books, with pressed flowers, marginalia, odd bookmarks, something personal left within."Me too :)
Alondra wrote: "Inspect the paper, smell the book, read the very last line in the book, remove the cover (I love hardbacks)... I know, I'm sick :O"I love hard covers too. I have a couple hundred of them :)
I love finding autographed books at the used bookstores. I feel like it's a book I was supposed to have!I hate when a publisher changes the format of a book in mid-series. I also like to have all the same size of book for an entire series.
Cindy (eclecticfirefly) wrote: "I love finding autographed books at the used bookstores. I feel like it's a book I was supposed to have!I hate when a publisher changes the format of a book in mid-series. I also like to have a..."
When I worked at a used bookstore I went through all the books looking for autographs and brought them home I couldn't let anyone else buy them.
I love small, nicely made up hardbacks with dustjackets like
or
.I also love my ritual with registering new books here, and in my file at home and adding an ex-libris label with my name and purchase month.
I have to smell a used book before I buy it. Musty smelling books give me headaches. Always read a paragraph or two from the middle of the book before deciding if I want to buy it.
I am absolutely anal about shelving my books. Genre -> topic -> author -> publication date. If something is out of place, I notice it right away so I generally don't let other people 'mess' with my books.
There are probably others but it's hard to define my own quirks.
One thing I don't care about is editions/formats. I think it gives my bookshelves more character to have books of different heights and paperbacks or hardcover, even within the same series.
Teawennch: You would have loved the poetry book my son found while helping a bookstore relocate; "1000 Years of Irish Poetry" ~Kathleen Hoagland. Inside was a script from the giver to someone named Bob, as a present for his 50th birthday. The giver was obviously inimately close to Bob and it was a very touching, loving script she wrote for him. We think that's part of why we love this new addition to our collection of books.
I suppose my most quirky things are that i'm anal about not bending the spine of a book, particularly paperbacks and bc of that, i have to overcome an almost compulsive protectiveness of my books in order to lend them out (which in a rare occurrence), and that i can walk into a bookstore and bizarre titles of books seem to summons me to them, like "Fingerprints of Armless Mike", or now favorite books, "Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch: Tales from a Bad Neighborhood" by Hollis Gillispie, "The Enclyopedia of Death" (a library book sale find)...those odd books just seem to call to me
Alondra: You made me laugh out loud! But read the very last line. . .? I discovered one of my quirks last night. I was sitting in a class thinking about my love/hate relationship with One Day instead of paying attention, and I realized that I take books personally.
And I get really attached to books that I like. This is good if I own them, bad if they are library books because I have a difficult time returning them. Then I end up with overdue fines sometimes large enough that I would have been able to purchase the book had I just been willing to let go of it.
Jeannie wrote: "Alondra: You made me laugh out loud! But read the very last line. . .? I discovered one of my quirks last night. I was sitting in a class thinking about my love/hate relationship with One D..."</i>
I totally do both of those! I am pissed off at the books [bookcover:Deadline
for not being as good as I thought they would be.And I got extremely attached to an Ellen Hopkins book that I borrowed from a friend, and I later bought it.
My main thing is that if I even think I'm going to like a book, I can't just read it, I have to HAVE it.
I really dislike dog earred pages or pages that curl up the side, spine damage.....But I try and ignore these little things when purchasing 2nd hand books.I learnt long ago to actually ignore what people say about the condition of their books especially when buying off eBay (which I no longer do).
I'm more anal (i guess) about my comic books >_<;;
Laura wrote: "I really dislike dog earred pages or pages that curl up the side, spine damage.....But I try and ignore these little things when purchasing 2nd hand books.I learnt long ago to actually ignore wha..."
I hate when people dog ear pages or crack the spine. Unless I really really really REALLY want the book, I won't by books with those used. I like my books to look at least halfway decent or know that I was the one that ruined it.
I agree with Laura and Teawench; I hate dog earred pages. I also hate highlighting. I've never highlighted a book EVER, including textbooks. Just don't get it. I've been buying lots of used books off Amazon lately, but I only buy ones marked as "Very Good" or "Like New". I also check the reviews of the seller to see if they're actually trustworthy with their descriptions.
Jeannie wrote: "Alondra: You made me laugh out loud! But read the very last line. . .? I discovered one of my quirks last night. I was sitting in a class thinking about my love/hate relationship with [book:One D..."
Hey! It's a quirk right??..hehehe; I also don't dog-ear, write or hi-lite books.
Chrissy wrote: "I agree with Laura and Teawench; I hate dog earred pages. I also hate highlighting. I've never highlighted a book EVER, including textbooks. Just don't get it. I've been buying lots of used books o..."oh, yes. No highlighting, writing or otherwise defacing my books. I don't mind an autographed book as long as it's done by the author, but otherwise I like my books to be in pristine condition or as near as possible.
I do write in and highlight some of my books, but I hate yellow highlighters. I use colored pencils that are made especially for this purpose. But I do not want to buy a book with someone else's writing and highlighting. I have to do it all myself. I used to like to keep them in pristine condition like Teawench, but that all changed somewhere through the years. Excepting my antique books, now I see my books as sort of printed and bound Velveteen Rabbits.
By the way--you guys are great! I am completely enjoying this discussion.
Jeannie--I like the idea of colored pencil, I'll have to try those. I prefer yellow highlighting color because it's easier to read than the darker ones (blue, purple, red, pink). I had a textbook with red and blue highlights that was a nightmare to read.As for my quirks, I'm not crazy about even buying used paperbacks because of broken spines. I rarely lend my books for the same reason. I wrap my books in clear contact paper to protect and reinforce the cover (it seems like the covers are flimsier).
I also use colored pencils. And I don't like someone else's marks-it's like it's my personal dialogue with the book; I'm not interested in someone else's conversation(except sometimes the annotations of writers-those can be fascinating).With textbooks, I use different colored highlighters because pencils don't usually work on glossy paper. But like Deb, I use light-colored highlighters so I can read. If it's a really complex (and glossy) textbook, I have been known to use different colored pens to underline & take notes.
Deb and Ellie: The colored pencils I use are really light no matter what the color. I get them at a Church bookstore. They don't hurt books because they are specifically made to mark the thin, delicate pages of scriptures.And you are right about books with glossy pages. At that point I do resort to highlighters, regular pencil, and/or ink pens. I will use yellow if it is all that is available, but I prefer pink--we're talking quirks here. . . And I can't help it , but I love the way a page looks with all of my marks and notes on it. I think other people's books look great that way,too. Even though I wouldn't want to purchase a book marked by someone else, I love looking at the markings and notes that my friends make in their books.
And I will lend books only rarely to the most trusted of friends because the books that I have let go in the past never found their way home.
I actually use pink and yellow - and then for major points I combine the 2 to make this cool melon-orange.Yeah, a quirk.
Ellie: I am laughing. Yep, it's a quirk, but I'm going to give it a try! Sounds fun!
This is a great thread-I never really even thought of it as a quirk before. :/
I bought a Lord of the Rings trilogy set from the 70's and it had $60 Canadian cash in it and a picture of a little girl on her birthday.
When I buy a used book I look for traces of the previous owner(s). I'm disappointed if I don't find a name or initial or comment. The ones I treasure the most have had comments written on them.
I will not buy a book if it has recently been made into a movie and has a movie cover on it. I think it cheapens the book somehow.
I adore this cover
I hate this cover. I know it's the same book, but the cover annoys me. (Plus I thought the movie sucked)
First off, I love this group! Thank goodness for all of you. I am completely a book addict, and this is like group therapy considering my husband thinks my books are using up too much space.My biggest quirk? I NEVER, EVER, EVER break the spines on my paperback books. I hold my hand just-so to read, and consider it as a cardinal sin if someone were to borrow a book from me and return it with a crease in the spine.
I also remove the dustcover from my hardcovers, but I think that's more common.
Kaput wrote: "I mentally tut people who fold the top of the pages instead of using a bookmark."I am so with you on this one!
I will actually spend time unfolding and smoothing corners that have bent through normal wear and tear.
Yellowed pages make me sick to my stomach. I went to the library once because they were holding a book for me. The pages were so yellow that I couldn't touch it and told the librarian I changed my mind. She looked at me like I was a lunatic.
Makeda wrote: "I will not buy a book if it has recently been made into a movie and has a movie cover on it. I think it cheapens the book somehow. I adore this cover[bo..."
I agree; i try not to get the movie cover, unless i am desperate to read it. i usually will end up buying the hardcover and giving away the movie cover book.
Ok, this is just weird, but my quirk is I love the sounds of the plastic covers on library books! I don't know why! And I hate that people who don't read get to enjoy books on film when they are made into movies! I feel like they are stealing something special, if they want to know the story, read the book! LOL...I feel weird admitting these!
1. I always buy books I care about and keep author collections intact.2. I don't mind my books turning yellow due to age since the environment will do so but when I buy, I want them to be white.
3. I like original covers, not movie covers though I'll let some of them slide if that is all they have.
4. Everything I buy must be new. I don't buy used copies at all.
For new books I won't buy a hardback if the dust wrapper is damaged in any way. For paperbacks the spine must not be cracked and the covers not bent. I love the smell of new books.For second hand I'll only buy hardbacks with a dustwrapper - most of the secondhand stuff I buy dates between mid 40s to late 60s so this can be a challenge at times.
As for people who write in library books can we send them to a planet far far away please?
I prefer hardcover books and will go out of my way to buy them, unless its a book I plan on posting to a swap site then I will go out of my way to look for paperback because the shipping is cheaper.Another one of my quirks is that I refuse to read the synopsis on the back cover because I have been tricked into too many terrible books that sounded good that way. Instead I read the first paragraph and the last paragraph, if I am still interested to know what happened in between the two I will buy it.
I love buying used books. I think that it is insane how some people on here are so particular about their books. The story doesnt change, its still amazing no matter what.
Karian wrote: "I love buying used books. I think that it is insane how some people on here are so particular about their books. The story doesnt change, its still amazing no matter what."Oh, but when you love books the way we all do, that's when the insanity begins...
Samantha wrote: "I won't let my christian fiction books and my erotic fiction books sit anywhere near each other on my shelves. Silly I know."LOL Thanks for the laugh, I really needed it today!
Samantha wrote: "I won't let my christian fiction books and my erotic fiction books sit anywhere near each other on my shelves. Silly I know."Lol. I don't even keep mine on my shelves. They stay in a drawer in my desk.
1. I too hate the movie covers because it does cheapen the book. Its only a marketing tactic. My mother bought me One Day and I specifically told her it needed to be the non-movie version since those were starting to be released.2. This is less about books, but I absolutely have to read a book before seeing the movie version. My theory is that if you read the book first you will prefer that version, but if you see the movie version first you will hate the book. Hence why I refuse to read The Notebook.
3. I hate to buy hardcovers, even if it means I have to wait a few months to read the book. They're so bulky and I don't like to hurt the dust-jackets. I only have a few of them, and those were gifts/ARCs. This is why I still haven't read the next two books in The Hunger Games series, I'm waiting to get my Nook to read those (And the new Stephen King book.)
4. I hate when I loan a book to a friend and they ruin it. Its fine if I destroy the book because I carry them around in my bag all the time, but If I loan you my book be nice. Because of that, I get strict and mean when loaning them out. I once had a friend borrow the Advanced Reader of The Host, and she destroyed it by leaving it in the back seat of her car where people stepped on it and ruined it.
I don't think I have any other quirks. I hate books that have highlighting and notes in them, it makes me mad and is terribly distracting.
I sell books on Half.com, I used to only keep books that really wowed me, but then I decided to keep more of them. When there is something wrong with a book I'm selling (Shelf wear ect, any markings, stickers, ect.) so people know exactly what they're buying. I also won't sell books for .75 cents, I donate them to my sisters school that she teaches at.
I guess I have more quirks than I thought. lol
Chrissy wrote: "Samantha wrote: "I won't let my christian fiction books and my erotic fiction books sit anywhere near each other on my shelves. Silly I know."Lol. I don't even keep mine on my shelves. They stay ..."
Which ones? The Christian, the erotic or both?
I can't have the spines bent. My mother asked to borrow Water for Elephants from me, and I told her not to throw it around or bend back the spine, and guess what? When I got it back, the spine was bent back in six different places and there was lots of wear on the cover. She asked to borrow The Help last week and I told her no because that is one of my absolute favorite books and I won't have her ruining it like she did Water for Elephants.Yes, I know, this is really odd coming from the mouth...err...mind...of a seventeen-year-old boy.
Huw wrote: "Chrissy wrote: "Samantha wrote: "I won't let my christian fiction books and my erotic fiction books sit anywhere near each other on my shelves. Silly I know."Lol. I don't even keep mine on my she..."
My erotic fiction books. I'm not a Christian so don't have any of those books
The best sensory experience with a book comes from leather binding with blocked pages. Hardbacks come next, provided the dust covers are on and intact - it really irritates me when my kids damage or remove them. I grudgungly accept that the thicker a paperback is, the more likely it is to end up with a damaged spine but heaven help anybody who bends the corners down or uses a table edge (or top) as a bookmark or marks it. My books are shelved in size order and, within that, by author.Apart from one shelf which is a higgledy mess of books at all angles and size. These are my comfort reads and defy ordering. They love each other too much to be separated.
unfortunatly my biggest quirk, to the horror of most of you lovely people, is bending the spine on a paper back. I love the sound of it. Obviously if borrowing anybody elses books I keep the book in the condition they want it in, its their baby not mine... I struggle to read a book and not bend it but i can do it (but ususally just buy my own copy anyways, as i like to keep books ive read)...
But page corners cannot be bent in my books to mark pages and cups cannot be put on pages or I actually die a little inside.
I can't read books out of season. So if a story is set in fall or winter I can only read it during those seasons. : ( I also wrap my paperbacks and dust jackets in clear self adhesive book film before I start reading it. This is good because it stops them from getting knicked when I carry them around in my purse.
Book Buying Addicts Anonymous
Books mentioned in this topic
One Day (other topics)One Day (other topics)
The Notebook (other topics)
Something Borrowed (other topics)
Something Borrowed (other topics)
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What are some of y'alls book quirks?