I am cross

Wilma, our local practice stopped having magazines in the waiting room during the swine flu epidemic about 7 years ago and never re-started. I usually pick up a newspaper on the way to the surgery. The dentist has never had such qualms about shared Reader's Digests.

I've never thought about that before. I do try to remember not to read the magazines in the doctor's surgery or the hospital but sometimes I forget (I'm a sucker for the Reader's Digest ).

gmelon All those library books I and probably most other GNrs have read over the last 65 yrs and how many bugs have got one off them. I must be a miracle !

I'm not precious my books which are mainly paperbacks. I'm careful about lending books though simply because I have a lot of book series. I do reread books so I want the series kept complete. I don't borrow a book if the owner is fussy about their books. I did have a massive clear out about two years ago gave the books I knew I would never read again to charity.

I don't turn over corners, but I don't try to keep the spine pristine. I like the look of books having been read. It's what they are for after all.

I couldn't afford all the books I read 123kitty if I didn't use a library. It's such a good resource for many people, don't knock it.

I never want books returned so don't have to worry what happens to them. Library books with crumbs and cat hairs, smelling of cigarette smoke- yuk!

But why, Floradora9? I don’t mark library books (I hasten to add!), but I can understand that it’s helpful to some people and it doesn’t do any harm.

I hate the people who leave a mark at the back of a library book , some books have multiple marks , and I have been known to Tipex them out .

are its best part

"licks pages" ❓

I haven't come across that one before.

If someone lends me a book I will of course do my utmost to return it to them in the same condition as it was when it was lent.

But my own books are treated as 'tools'—useful objects, not just for their contents. If the contents are their best part I'll keep a book in the best possible condition that is commensurate with its being read comfortably (if that means cracking the spine so that I can hold the book without making my arthritic fingers hurt, so be it because that's a badly made book). I now have a couple of gadgets called "EasyRead" that hold books open. I've also used clothes pegs.

I stopped lending books awhile ago, people either took ages to read them or they just forget to return them altogether . I don't know why I use to feel so awkward asking if they had finished said book & could they please return it, even then I didn't always get them I back! And yet I still felt uncomfortable asking !They never seemed at all bothered or embarrassed ,guess if they were real bookworms they wouldn't be borrowing from others.

I agree with you. I value books and dislike any damage. Anyone who cracks the spine of a book, licks pages, turns corners, uses as a coaster or a fly swatter should lose the great privledge and happiness of owning books.

If you borrow a book you should not mark it and you should remember to return it. I sued to keep post it notes on my filing cabinet every time I lent a book and put a note in my diary for when the person said they would return it. It was not a fool proof system and I lost some.

I was brought up not to mark my own books. I now regret that as I have found it useful over a life time to know when I first read it. Now I mark my own books an highlight them if I wish.

Well, Janeayressister, you do sound bitter and fed up. I don't know why you are commenting here because this is not a discussion about the woes of hoarding, it is a booklover speaking to other booklovers about the etiquette of book lending and borrowing.
I am glad you have found a way to future proof yourself and your home. However I have many books AND STILL RE-READ THEM! This is what some people do. So thank you for your advice, but it seems inappropriate here.

1974cookie when we moved I found our childhood set of Arthur Mee's in the loft. I had forgotten they were there. My DS took them home for hisDDs. They love reading them as much as I did.

I saw that yesterday as well eazybee. I remarked on it to my daughter who informed me that it’s been fashionable for a while. I’m afraid in this digital world we’re in danger of creating future generations who don’t know what a book is

I am Very Cross.
Slightly different change of subject but still to do with books. In the latest edition of a home magazine, a photogenic but moronic 'editor of a lifestyle website' displays her Lovely Home, where she 'keeps the look neutral' (50 shades of grey) 'by stacking books back to front' on her bookshelves, spines against the back. For some time it has been fashionable to colour co ordinate books, ignoring authors, titles or subjects, but this is even worse.
Books are not lifestyle accessories!

I cannot use a library. Too many germs on grubby books. All those unwashed hands touching the pages. People read those books in the toilet at their homes. In their beds too. Yuk.

Send a bookmark inside the next book you lend to her. Write on the bookmark ..."use me please". Draw a smiley face after the words showing her you are being friendly. Use a black "sharpie" pen.

I've got a charity shop book with a huge spider squashed between the pages.

I once bought a book from a charity shop, and found someone had used a piece of fried bacon as a bookmark. At least I think that's why it was there.

I agree with all of that except if its my own book I can do what I like with it! I always take care of borrowed or library books.

Like the OP , I feel very annoyed if borrowed books are returned to me in a battered state, with spines broken or with pages turned down etc.. , but even worse for me is when people who don’t return books feel insulted if they are politely reminded! From bitter experience I agree with the poster who said they never lend books they are not prepared to lose.

Goodness me, janeayressister, have you ever felt that perhaps you should take your own advice and chill? Some people do re-read much-loved books, and indeed the OP has already answered your first post and said that she does.

Sacrilege! There are two types of people in this world - those who use a bookmark, and monsters.

I have had a life-long love affair with books and I develop a tic in my eyelid (okay, not literally, but I do have to bite my lip) when I see that others don't worship the written word as I do. In my defence, I'm all things bookish - apart from being an avid reader, I'm also an author, editor, and proof reader. I stopped lending books out a few years ago (I have, um, quite a few...) because I either didn't get them back, or they came back as others have said - dirty and dog-eared. I love seeing that books have been read, but there's a difference between well-thumbed and not looked after.

If you lend clothes to someone, you'd expect them back having at least been washed - why is the same respect not given when a book is borrowed?

Bookish, run like the wind when she asks to borrow another