Marking and defacing of books

It can be quite funny, I suppose.
I bought an old western for someone and the main character kept thinning his lips - on each and every page.
The last owner had crossed out the title and written 'The man who thins his lips'.
Fair comment, I felt.

If it's a paperback novel and belongs to me, I'm a spine bending, scribbling, corner-turning horror, and not in the least bit ashamed. It's only a book.

If it's a cookery book, I write improvements or other modifications to the recipe, what works and what doesn't, especially if it's a recipe I use a lot.

If it's a flower or tree or fungus or grass or moss or lichen book, I write where and when I've seen each species. Birds too.

If it's a coffee table book, I don't do any of that. I just look at it.

Silverfish, they are only insects, and fly spray would do the trick - or just squash them (in gloves if you feel better that way).

I've got cluster flies in the roof now that come through the door upstairs. Hate them, but when I was little we used to race cockroaches in the back room. Silverfish at least are quiet and small.

I'm another that can't dog-ear a page in a book; neither can I write in one (unless it's a text book).

I can't throw them away either - all books I don't want to keep are trundled around charity shops or car boot sales; hard backs are welcomed by our local library (which isn't government funded).

I am absolutely incapable of turning over the page in a book. After all you still have to scrabble through the book to find the turned back corner.

I think writing in cookery books is perfectly fine. There are all sorts of odds and ends you might want to make a note of - and once you've used a cookery book for a while it's going to have so many splashes and stains in it that you're hardly likely to be passing it on.

Irony is not dead silverfish

can anyone tell me what to put in the books to kill the silverfish as I have a phobia and scream loudly if I see one. I normally wash everything with neat bleach but obviously cant do that to my books.

My Mother wrote in cookery books because I think she felt she could improve on the recipes,which was typical of her. It irritated me when I was younger but now I treasure these memories of her. Iwould not put them up for sale though.

I'm with you all the way Tegan. I could never bring myself to write in a book either, not even a cookery book! There something in me that just won't allow it, I think I regard books as a little bit sacred

Inscriptions on the fly leaf are different, and very precious I think.

{smile]

I couldn't actually turn the corner of a page over even if someone told me to do it; I would have a sort of Dr Strangelove moment.

I think my greatest bugbear is pages being turned over as a place saver .
For goodness sake use a bookmark they are cheap enough , if not , a scrap of paper will do !
Hmmmm

I often come across scribbles in the library books I take it out. I get very angry and then loose my concentration on what I am reading. I think its unconscionable to deface a library book. I don't care for other peoples editing or what they think of a sentence. If you own the book it's up to you - but a library book definitely NOT!

That's what saddens me about the thought of using Kindle to read books, because I think old books 'absorb' something from the people that read them and it's nice to feel how treasured that book was to someone. I have one with an inscription inside that says 'Sweet is the memory of a distant friend, like the mellow rays of the departing sun it falls tenderly yet sadly on my heart'; Sept 1893. I am it's custodian.

Yes, It's surprising, we have some really old books inherited from DH's family, probably not worth more than a few pounds each as they are not first editions.

I have three old books, childrens` books, given as Sunday school prizes, in 1911, very moralistic and religious stories, and they`re in brilliant condition, given to me about 40 years ago by an elderly lady I always called auntie, although she wasn`t a relative. I took them to the Antiq2ues Roadshow when they were in our area, and the expert told me they were worth about £5 each, I don`t want to sell them, but expected them to be worth more.

Silverfish and Adlestrop. I agree roses.

I'm another silverfish lover roses although I don't think I've ever seen any in our current house. I love the fact that such prehistoric creatures are still running around.

I like silverfish, they sometimes come out in the bathroom at night and 'swim' about [only 2 or 3 not zillions.] They are rather beautiful.
I also like the poem Adlestrop , it's often requested on Poetry Please on radio 4.
I like old books too, but only in very good condition. Oxford has some good bookshops.

I`ve just given about 200 paperbacks to the British Heart Foundation shop in town, but only because they collect, couldn`t have got them there otherwise. I very rarely buy books from charity shops, but only because I find that I`ve read most of them already.

Must depend on the individual shops then. Will make some enquiries.

Our Oxfam bookshop takes, and sells, old paperbacks. And then they've got a table with some very old books (collectors)

Thatbags, it looks as if they may be going back on the shelf then, or in a box in the attic (another one). I know you're right but .... .

It's not too much trouble to take them to a charity shop but having been told by a volunteer in our local oxfam shop they only want the most recent paperbacks, thankyou, I am reluctant. And i thi k i read on another post somewhere that a charity shop just binned some old books she had taken in. I would have thought they could send them to their shop in Oxford, don't they have a shop there selling old books? Too far for me to go unfortunately.

Just had a glance at one poem (Adlestrop) which is surrounded by tiny pencilled notes - more notes than poem in fact. It's quite interesting to look back. But I would never dream of selling it in that condition!

A friend of mine told me that his father, who was a lawyer in Ecuador, told him and his siblings that writing notes in books, underlining and so forth, was a sign that you were really appreciating them. I think my teacher, mentioned above, would have agreed.

roseq, the suggestion to recycle books you don't want any more was just that. They are made of paper. If it's too much trouble to take them to a charity shop (it is for me too), or to sell them on ebay, or whatever, that's another option.