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Pretty, pretty books

February 24th, 2009 at 08:45pm me

I like books. No big shocker there. But I like my books pretty. If I am going to spend 27 bucks, or even 8 bucks, on a brand-new book, I want a smooth, clean, straight, even, shiny, unmolested cover. I don’t mind getting used books that are a little beat up, but I’ll be damned if I’m paying that much for a cover with a bent corner when the book was just released yesterday. If it is a book I know I am going to keep forever and reread at regular intervals, I want it to be in good shape in order to stand up to my loving. And even after I buy it, I keep it in good shape. I do not open the book the entire way, spread-eagle. That would crack the spine and make unsightly creases in the spine cover. (I have a hard time loaning out books because of this, worrying about how other people are holding my book or, Bob forbid, if they have it laying pressed open flat on a table so they can read it without the use of their hands. *shudder*) And I never never never dog-ear the pages to hold my place.

So, I went to a B&N near me to get Lani Diane Rich’s Wish You Were Here, because the bookstore in Dayton didn’t have it, and Beth Ciotta’s Evie Ever After, which is the last in the trilogy, the first two being All About Evie and Everybody Loves Evie, all three of which you should go out and read right now. I’ll wait.

… 

Oh good, you’re back. Anyway. I’ve been pining for Evie Ever After since last year after reading the second in the series. The B&N near me only had one copy. The middle top of the front cover was very slightly bent. Okay, maybe you wouldn’t have noticed it, but I did. And there was some black schmutz on the spine. I put it back and walked out of the store. No way was I going to spend $7 (well, OK, no way was I going to take $7 off my gift card…) for a damaged book. I drove 10 miles to the other B&N in my area. This store also only had one copy. And it was in worse condition than the first. The cover was not even applied correctly. The spine was all bunched up and creased right down the center, and the entire cover was pasted on haphazardly, so that part of the spine overlapped around into the front. Nope, not gonna buy it. So what did I do?

That’s right. I went back to the first B&N and got the book with the schmutz. Because while I need my books to be pretty, I also need my fix.

Do you have any habits with your books others might consider odd?

Entry Filed under: Books