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To get irritated at others writing comments in books?

(43 Posts)
Doodle Mon 25-Jun-18 13:56:01

I am currently reading a library book and keep coming across pencilled underling with ??? or !!! written next to it. Words have been crossed out and replaced with other words. It really spoils my pleasure when people feel the need to do this. If I find what I think is a mistake in a book, I ignore it. Does anyone else get irritated by this, or are you a book 'editor' too? ?

Nanny41 Tue 26-Jun-18 13:02:31

I would never write in books, one exception was recently when I bought a book to research while writing my own book,I underlined the important parts which were easy for me to find when needed.

Grandma70s Tue 26-Jun-18 13:49:21

+pollyperkins*, I was going to mention annotating musical scores, too. It is assumed you will do it, and you may well get into trouble for not having a pencil with you. I usually owned my scores, but if we were using borrowed ones, other people’s comments and instructions (if not rubbed out) could be quite enlightening! Sometimes funny, too.

Grandma70s Tue 26-Jun-18 13:52:23

Sorry, posted before I previewed. My poor eyesight prevented me from typing pollyperkins properly.

sodapop Tue 26-Jun-18 14:26:47

Definitely beyond the pale to write in or otherwise deface library books. I could not bring myself even to write in my own books of which there are many.
Exceptions would be musical scores as Grandma70 said or maybe your own textbooks other than that its a big no from me.
I have written to authors and publishing houses when there have been serious spelling and grammatical errors in books.

grandtanteJE65 Tue 26-Jun-18 14:37:45

I too detest people who write in library books! Even if they use a pencil, someone is still going to have to erase their jottings.

Once I borrowed a textbook from the library that someone had used when studying for an exam. They had highlighted everything that they needed to remember with a fluorescent marking pen! Sheer vandalism !

Overthehills Tue 26-Jun-18 14:50:40

As an ex-librarian it infuriates me when people deface library books, either by writing in them or turning over corners to keep their place or using them as coasters! I annotate and underline my own non-fiction books heavily because they belong to me and I’m unlikely to be lending them to anyone else.

Doodle Tue 26-Jun-18 15:37:04

Jaycee I think you have summed up my feelings. It does pull you out of the story. In the book I mention in my OP the reader had obviously thought they had a better grasp of English and grammar than the author. I found myself thinking, no you are wrong and the author is correct and getting cross about that instead of enjoying the book.

patd Tue 26-Jun-18 15:41:38

notice a lot of mistakes on kindle FREE books, but because they are free i just read through them. But i did find it annoying on library books with pencil marks and comments.

Sheilasue Tue 26-Jun-18 17:15:22

I have never come across that. I did write a message on fb and got corrected by a complete stranger ?

Billybob4491 Tue 26-Jun-18 17:44:29

Why do people turn a corner of the page to "save their place". USE A BOOKMARK that's why they were invented,

pollyperkins Tue 26-Jun-18 17:51:11

Yes but they disappear regullarly. I have about 10 - most of them lost somewhere in the house! But if its a library book I use any odd bit of paper.
A librarian once told me they find some very strange book marks from shopping lists to £5 notes and even a rasher of bacon once! shock

Billybob4491 Tue 26-Jun-18 18:00:06

A rasher of bacon! It must have been in a Peppa the Pig book. Excuse poor joke, its the heat getting to me!.

grumppa Tue 26-Jun-18 20:23:30

Or perhaps it was Animal Farm.

I occasionally annotate books of my own, either to save time on rereading, or where I strongly disagree with the author. I remember savagely pencilling the chapter on A Midsummer Night's Dream in Jan Kott's Shakespeare Our Contemporary, because I disagreed wirh himself strongly. I had recently played Quince, so felt entitled to my point of view.

Grandma70s Tue 26-Jun-18 20:49:37

That’s the sort of thing I would do, grumppa.

I didn't realise this thread was going to be mostly about library books. I haven’t used a library for a very long time, so I was just talking about my own books. I also have some that belonged to my mother, and I love finding her occasional comments and corrections in them.

grumppa Tue 26-Jun-18 22:35:11

"himself strongly"?????? "him so strongly".

sodapop Wed 27-Jun-18 08:59:11

I volunteer in a small library and get annoyed when books are returned damaged or defaced. We rely a lot on books being donated so it's a shame when people's kindness is not reciprocated.
I just could not bring myself to write in a book whether its mine or from a library.

Persistentdonor Wed 27-Jun-18 18:41:38

I do hate to see library books vandalised, though I have sometimes use pencil in my own property.

Sadly, as with everything, people who get a free service show no respect.

It seems a very long time since I borrowed a book from the library that has not been marked "discreetly" hmm by regular library users.

From what I notice, people choose to put a dot over a particular page number, or monogram somewhere, often on the front or back cover, and they always use biro.

I assume they do it so they can check if they have read the novel before, or not. confused Whatever the reason it still defaces library property!