Do you lend your books?

I would rather give my books away than lend them and get them returned all battered.

I am careful when I read new books. So much so that you can't tell they have been read. I have always been like this. So, lending them out and getting them back in a sorry state is not worth it to me.

They are usually paperbacks that I have bought 2 for £7 at Asda or Tesco though.

I seriously need to have a clear out and give some to charity as I still keep so many books.

I rarely read a book again but I do keep books by specific authors that I like.

Yes, I love Louise Penny's books. I was on her circulation list but that seems to have petered out. The only problem was that the books had different titles in North America from here, so I wasn't always sure which books I'd read before.

I lend books which are not really important to me. No one is going to have my 3 volume edition of War and Peace given to me when I was 13. No one is going to have my Little Women given to me when I was about 9. No one is going to have my Richard Harris trilogy based on Cicero’s life and written by his secretary. So there! Buy your own.☹️

I haven’t lent any for a long time, but dh lent a favourite hefty paperback to someone from his French conv. group over a year ago - it’s still not back. He also lent a DVD box set of a novel by the same author - that’s not back yet either!

I take paperbacks that aren’t ‘keepers’ to charity shops. I never buy hardback fiction - too heavy to read in bed. I don’t buy the oversized PBs that often proliferate around Christmas time, either - also heavy for bedtime* reading.
*or feet-up-on-the-sofa reading.

No. I give lots away but if there's one I want to keep then it stays with me.

I don't lend books now. I used to but either never saw the book again (amid denials of borrowing the book in the first place) or it came back with corners folded down or the cover ripped "it's how you gave it me" so I just say I only have it on kindle if I'm asked!

I read a lot, lend out a lot, frequently get them passed onto others by the person I lent them too and never see them again!

I do buy quite a lot of new books, I also pick some up in charity shops. I have lost quite a few by loaning them out to people who at the time assured me they would return them. I now only lend them to those who I trust will return them, that’s not many I’m afraid.

I’m more than happy to pass books on if I’ve finished with them as I read a lot and don’t want to get snowed under but there are always some books I like to keep, especially any signed copies. I wouldn’t lend them out.

Rarely and only to trustworthy friends, never otherwise.

I have been caught out lending people books which were never returned.
Nowadays, depending on the item, I give people what they want. Today I have received a thank you from a friend to whom I posted a reference book earlier this week.
kircubbin2000, I assume you mean “Still Life”. I hope you manage to find a copy.

I rarely re-read fiction, so I use the scheme in two local villages where the bus shelters are full of books (and jigsaws) to swap. I pass them between family and friends, putting our initials inside the cover to keep track, after which they go back to the bus shelter.

Only to family. In the past, I have loaned so many, some quite expensive that have been presents and never got them back. After asking once and being ignored or even asked why I wanted it back? I have stopped. When I know I no longer need a book it goes to the Charity Shop.DH has been caught out in the same way with some now out of print so he no longer has a set.

I borrowed a book and was asked for it back several months later.
Although I always intended to give it back, and did so immediately, I felt slightly miffed at being asked.
Completely illogical.

I do sometimes lend a book but not any I'd be sad to lose.

I have cookery and gardening books that are not for loan, but others are welcome to anything else as long as I've read it!
Mostly use library now though.

Our 'books to keep' are still in cardboard boxes waiting for us to find a bookcase we both like. I do wonder what we'll do with them when we finally get them out.

Love the idea of the book fairy.

Not anymore .

I've rebought a book by Madhur Jaffery three times .
It's my essential curry book .
And worse of all ,a signed copy of a botanical book .
I've bought it again , but it's unsigned .
The book meant a great deal to me .

I’ve just given away most of DH’s books - those bought as gifts were returned to the givers, those connected to his hobby passed on to his friends with the same hobby. The rest have gone to Charity Shop and most of mine have gone to a friend and she’ll donate them after she’s read them. I didn’t want to keep DH’s books out of sentimentality, to then have DDs to deal with them after I’m gone.

Callistemon21

My friend used to say that paperbacks were meant to be read and passed on.
I do that but put my initials in if I want the book back.

Hardbacks I tend to keep and also some paperbacks I might re-read.

However, there's a limit to just how many books we can house!
We still have books from our childhood, books from our parents, reference books, books about hobbies.
We'll never be able to downsize.

I only read novels in paperback, though - hardbacks are too heavy to hold in bed - for me, anyway. I do find it annoying when a new novel is available only for quite a while in hardback or the larger, heavier, PB format.
Happens a lot in the run up to Christmas!

Whether I keep or pass PBs on, will depend on whether I know I’ll want to read them again at some point.

Would have to think about it as I let a friend borrow a hardback and didnt get it back.

I’d happily give away a book from my ‘to be read’ pile, but once I’ve read it, it’s all mine.

I was disappointed because I thought my friend would love the series as we have similar tastes.She only read a few pages and didn't like it but when I asked for it back she denied ever having it. I can order it in the library anyway or buy a new one. I think she is getting forgetful.

I would say don't lend books you are attached to and really want back. Some books are precious to the owner, or rare maybe. Don't lend them. Sharing schemes are a different matter, the idea is to share them round. The two things are completely different.

I love my books and hate lending them out. I will, but only to trusted friends and even then I feel itchy until the book is returned to me.

Only to close friends from a non smoking household. I put a name plate inside the book as well.

Cheap paperbacks yes. Classics in hardback no.

I tell them now to use the library where if they lose them they will have to buy another as replacement