I've heard that ground coffee will get rid of smoke odor. Can you place them in a box and sprinkle cheap ground coffee all over them and leave them for a few days?

Maybe close them up in a plastic bag along with a box of baking soda?

I was a smoker for a lot of years...I am sure my books nor anything else doesn't smell now....but I know, it does linger, particularly in cheap paper. I have gotten gift boxes packed in news paper from a smoker's house that reeked!
I would suggest fresh air. Stand those books up and fan the pages and put them in the sunshine on a dry day.
Linda c

I don't know about airing them out. I moved into an apartment once that had been lived in by a smoker. When I went to rent the apartment I noticed it, but I figured just air it out . . . but after days and days of having the windows all open, it was still smoky. I found out that even though the apartment had been cleaned, there was a smoke film on the walls and cupboards and blinds. I had to scrub it off of all of them before the smell went away. I'd try the baking soda thing, but it may be that smoke has mixed with oils on the pages.

The coffee grounds solution was endorsed by several people on the cleaning tips forum for de-stinking a smoker's car.

Scroll down.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cleaning tips.

Cars and houses are different than books. Cigarette smoke leaves a yellow film on places where it settles. I got a desk that was in my father's den....he was a cigar smoker.
Because I was smoking when the desk came to my house I didn't notice a smell....but it was "smeary" looking. So I wiped it with mineral spirits on a soft cloth....and repeated and repeated until no more yellow came off. EWWW!!
But the pages in a cook book that likely didnt' sit on a table in the smokers room for years, it just absorbed the odor.
I was given a knitted piece...made by a smoking friend. actually she says she doesn't smoke any more....but a sniff of her coat will tell you different!
Anyhow I took the purse (it was wool!) and hung it outside in the wind and the sun for several days....I sprayed it with Fabreeze and hung it out another day....I sprayed it with Lysol and hung it out again....
And now it's fine! You can bury your nose in the fuzzy yarn and it smells fine.
Coffee masks the smell....as does fabreeze...to get the stink out of something that has had the oils in the smoke settle in, you need to wash!
Linda C

Never f-ing mind. I'm WRONG as f-ing usual. Just ask Linda, she knows everything.

Sorry you're having a bad day, barnmom. I guess we can all have our own experiences and opinions. Just to throw my 2c in, when we first moved into town here, I borrowed a library book which my cat promptly peed on =:-P. No idea why, it was the only time he did something like that in nearly 20 years of living with us. After I went into the library and profusely apologised and paid for the book, the librarian said, "Well, you might as well keep it." It was a good book so in desperation I held the book on its spine so the pages all opened slightly, then tipped most of a large container of baby powder into the pages. Left it for some time (days) then tipped the powder out again. You would never know a cat had peed on that book! So, I think the coffee grounds is a good idea, or even baby powder (I was reasoning that it would be absorptive).

Find a bag that you can securely close, put the books inside and use the charcoal that you can buy in pet stores for fish tanks. It will remove many set in smells.
Lisa

I have used Febreeze on stinky books, and also baking soda. Both take time.

With the Febreeze, I fanned the pages of the book and lightly misted them with Febreeze (it has to be a very light mist or the pages will warp), then stood the book on end for several days to dry. I had to repeat this twice before the smell was gone. Not recommended on coated paper, e.g. photo pages.

With the baking soda, you put the book in a box with an open container of soda, leaving the book standing open with fanned pages. It can take several weeks, but is probably safer for the book in the long run than using Febreeze.

I have had cat litter (has to contain baking soda) recommended as well, but haven't tried it. The method is the same as the baking soda one, but is supposed to work faster.

Stores like HD, LNT and BB&B sell charcoal in a bag. Perhaps storing the books in an airtight container with this charcoal would work. I keep a bag on top of the dog crate to minimize doggie smell.

Apparently coffee does absorb odors, just like charcoal or baking soda. It doesn't just mask the smell like air fresheners.

Ann

Colleen - for five points, on what book did your cat pee. This oughta be a good one!

I can't stand febreze. I think it stinks worse than whatever you're trying to get rid of. When I got my used car, it had been cleaned with febreze. I had to park with the windows open for days. Same for hotel rooms. To make it non-smoking, they "febreze" it. Yuck.

My ex-H was a smoker and always smoked while he drove. The inside of his windshield was covered with a brownish-yellow oily film. I bet his lungs are, too. Yes, the idiot still smokes, and he is a dentist!

I used to work in a library. It's amazing what happens to books, but the most common were dropped in the tub or lake, or hit by a wave on the beach. Funny.

Coffee. It's fabulous! Used it in old musty linen closets, chest of drawers, and even in cars that smelled like cigarettes. Just make sure to put in, close whatever (I bet a plastic bag around the book and the coffee would work), and voila! it's deodorized. Wonderful stuff.

Hey Jo I wonder what would happen if you put that book into a cedar chest for a while?

Unless the books are really rare or hard to find (Jane Brody's isn't in that category) I'd ditch them. I inherited my father's library and so much of the stuff just stunk. Not worth the trouble.

Jessy, it was "The Diary of a Provincial Lady" by E M Delafield. The adventures of an upper middle class woman who goes to London from her country house to do "war work" in WW2. It's quite entertaining.