I'm a preserver, if I possibly can. Particularly at the moment - it happens that the book I'm reading is a softback-only first edition - so I'm reading with especial care!

I don't worry too much about paperback books in general - they may get a little bit bent - but I would NEVER fold a book flat or bend a spine back until the edges touch.

(Except text books, where the book has to lie flat so that you can take notes. And music - it's impossible to try to play a piece when the page tends to try to close.)

Break the spine?! Sacrilege!

That's why when I purchase books, I normally prefer the trade paperbacks. They stay open without having to have their helpless little spines cracked.

That's one reason I don't lend books. My father taught me about bending spines and dog-earing as wicked deeds when I was just a tot.

I never break the spine, and I try really hard to keep my books as new-looking as possible. The idea of bending one backwards cover to cover makes me cringe!

I do sometimes lay books face down when I'm falling asleep and can't find the bookmark! I don't dog ear pages but I'm not a real preserver, probably because most of the books I actually own are cookbooks. And a pristine cookbook is a cookbook that isn't used! LOL

I write notes in my cookbooks, put markers to show great recipes I'll want to find again, and don't cry if something spills on a page. I HATE cookbooks that are too bi to cook out of and that won't lie flat so you can follow the recipe. I do use a bookholder IF the recipe is actually on one page or facing pages.

I don't actually try to break the spine but for the really good books that get used over and over spines do break. I just had to buy a new edition of a book that originally was soft bound. Everyone I know had copies with pages floating all over! It's become such a favorite that the new edition is hardbound.

First thing I do with hardbacks is hold the book, spine down, drop the covers, press lightly, drop a few pages at the front, press down lightly, drop a few pages at the back, press lightly, and continue alternating until the entire book is pressed open. Keeps from breaking the spine while reading. While I wouldn't dream of dogearing, paperbacks are fair game for marginalia, reading in the pool, used as coasters.... Which is why I never, ever, borrow paperbacks. It never occured to me not to bend the spines for easier reading.

I try not to, but occasionally a stubborn book just will not stay open. I hate it when books are so stiff that you have to hold them open with both hands, and that's when I break the spine. I don't mind creases on the spines of paperbacks, but the problem with breaking a book's spine is that the pages tend to start falling out soon afterwards.

Never, ever, ever, ever.

Secret: we are allowed to borrow books from work if we return them in good condition - my boss says she has never seen anyone who can read a book like me and keep it in pristine condition. I'm not quite so fussy with books I have bought but I still never break a spine and dogearring is not permitted - that's why God made bookmarks *g*

No, I'm no spine-breaker, nor corner turner-downer. As I seldom buy books I always enjoy it when something I have ordered from the library arrives, more often than not, all new and shiny. I hate having to read books that exuded crumbs, fag-ash, hairs (human or animal) but can just tolerate 'book marks' of old shopping lists, post cards both received and written but not posted.

Martin, clothes pegs are good for keeping music open at the right page. :-)

I am much more careful with my hardbacks and I don't think I've ever creased the spine of a hardback. Paperbacks aren't generally made of the same quality (and let's face it, hardbacks aren't always made to hold up to many readings, either), so it is bound to happen after enough readings. I don't own that many hardcovers, though. I much prefer paperbacks because they are much more portable and easier to hold and lug around. I do most of my reading on the go, and it is difficult to keep books in pristine condition when you are lugging them around from place to place. Add children, swimming pools, and other factors into the mix... and well, you get my drift. If I waited to read until I was in an ideal place, I'd never get to read.

I also take the covers off hardbacks when I'm reading them so I don't sully the cover. I usually use a bookmark with nicer quality trade paperbacks (funny how the prettier the cover, the better quality the printing and binding, the more interested I am in protecting them). I'm probably quite brutal with my mass market paperbacks -- I will dog ear the pages of those, and they make up at least 60 to 70 percent of the books that I own. (feel free to shudder at that admission).

I rarely ever write in my books. I hate used books that have highlighting (can't think of anything more distracting than trying to read something that someone has taken a highlighter to). If I want to mark a passage, I sometimes use a pencil and put an asterisk next to it so I'll be able to find it later.

I work with people who travel a lot, and like to read on their flights, so we've created a library in our breakrooms with used books people aren't interested in keeping. I've left several of mine, and they almost always disappear. I don't know if people keep them or they just keep getting passed along.

Whenever I order used books from a 3rd party seller on Amazon, I usually find that good condition is really fair to good (a few creases, chipped covers, etc., but acceptable for a reading copy). The only pristine books, are really "new" (never been read). It reminds me of a house we once owned where we realized the former owner must never have cooked because of the pristine condition of the oven. No one who cooks has an oven that clean.

If the book is really stiff, I might manipulate it a bit to become more flexible. Book bindings are not what they used to be in the U.S., so I try not to break the spine. Now, paperbacks are another story. The ones with pages out get mended with tape.

I broke myself from the habit of dog-earring books by those little sticky pads, which I use constantly as bookmarks. I will occasionally write in light pencil in my own books, but only in paperbacks.

I am another one who loves pristine book jackets, so I ALWAYS remove them until I have finished reading the book.

And, as someone said, if you fall asleep reading, often the book ends up lying flat....

Astrokath, in another life I also worked in a bookstore -- several as it happens -- and in one well-known chain store which shall be nameless, we too were allowed to borrow and return, provided we kept the book immaculate. It was some time ago, and the chain has changed ownership several times, so I don't know if this is still the policy.

Before that time I did not take care of my books with respect. Since that time, I do.

Rosefolly

Never, ever. I'm a persnickety person to begin with, and books are at the top of my list of things to take care of.

Of course. I also rip out pages if I need to. And often splatter food all over the pages. And paint.
I got over the "books are sacred" thing a long time ago.
I will only do this to my own books and take good care of books belonging to others.
I also throw books on the floor.

But my house is quite neat and orderly!

Definitely. I absolutely loathe reading into the crease on the left page, and reading out of the crease on the right page. Gives me a headache. I want the book open and flat. Maybe it has something to do with my eyesight. I do respect other people's property so I rarely borrow books and if I do, I am very careful to return it in the same condition that I received it.

Highlighting, underlining, and writing in the margins isn't a problem for me. I did it in college all the time. Although I rarely make any marks in a novel, non-fiction books in the genre I tend to read are loaded with many colors, as is my Bible. But, that's just me, my personal preference.

Carol

lemonhead and all the others.
if you get so upset about marring books, you could try this technique;)
just kidding of course

grelobe

Here is a link that might be useful: read a book without opening it

I can give you a carbon copy answer-I would say the exact same thing as chris in the valley.

As with most of you, paperbacks are fair game. They go in the tub, boating, to the pool, shoved in tote bags and generally schlepped around until they either poof into nothingness or get passed on to someone else.

Hardcovers - this also varies. I find that if I really dislike a book, I tend to treat it less carefully than a book I like. My old books are of much better MUCH better quality than what is pumped out of the presses today and I am so careful with them its almost obsessive. I am a book hoarder. But if I was very very honest, I admit to few books I would re-read. But don't tell my husband - he might start suggesting a massive book culling.

As far as bookmarks are concerned, any ol' CLEAN piece of flat paper works for me, but for a paperback, I'll flip it and smash it down. Trade pbs follow much the same rules as hardcovers.

PAM

I think of books in the same way that some children think of teddy bears -- well-used and well-loved.

I do try to be better with hardcovers (except cookbooks -- which are considered cannon fodder for notes, dog-eared pages, bent spines) -- but paperbacks are fair game for nearly anything!

I am very grateful for sticky notes -- handy for marking spots to be re-read!

Same vein - I'm very careful with hardcovers and even QP's (and anything lent to me - but I try not to borrow). The mass markets do tend to get their little spines broken - however, I tend to buy the bulk of my books from the used bookstore (unless it is an author I really adore and then I buy new) so most of the spines of the PB's are already broken. I personally love highlighting and annotations in used books - doubles my reading pleasure - lol - although I have to admit it can be distracting at times. I hate annotations in library copies though - I find that rude. And I can't stand food stains - yuck!! I don't ever dog-ear, but I also don't use a bookmark. Does anyone else find they can just pick up the book and immediately find the spot they left off? I've been doing that since I was a child - going, not just to the page directly, but to the very line I stopped at - it is almost like greeting an old friend - I don't have to think about it. I never thought much about it until my daughter pointed it out and chastised me for never using one of the many (many - lol) bookmarks she is always making for me.

Brenda

When I am reading a book for work, I started using a teacher's red pencil to underline passages I want to remember or quote later. It shows up nicely, it doesn't bleed through, I can erase it later, and it does not fade.

PAM

Pam53, great minds and all that. ;-D

Yes, I do. Paperbacks are there to be read in the easiest way possible.

Dido

I try not to break the spines, but I really WANT to. Dog ears are just plain WRONG...I never do that.