• Let's say you have run across a book you have been looking for forever. It's half priced...some pages are bent...and the cover is slightly torn. There's an odd smell wafting from it. Does this stop you from purchasing it?
  
  I love shopping for books at Half Price Books. As much as I would like to be the one and only owner of a book, the prices win me over. But I am so ANAL about the quality of the books I own. So I go through great lengths to check the binding, pages, paper tinting, cover, and smell of the books before I purchase one.
  
  Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Actually I tend to prefer used books. I don't like them to smell like mold or smoke or anything, but I love the feel of worn covers and the smell of a much-loved book. There's just something about a book that's been shared that attracts me. I'm totally into the whole second-hand bookstore type of thing. I'd run one if I didn't hate retail so much. And thus my career as librarian.

New books... there are a few books that I will buy new. But for the most part, if I can get it old, that's better for me.

As for picky... ha ha! There are some books that I won't read in hardcover and some books that I won't read in softcover. For example, I only read Lord of the Rings in softcover, while I only read The Hobbit in hardcover. Harry Potter is hardcover only. Weird, but true.

Yes! It's okay in that sense. XP Even if it was a book I loved I wouldn't buy it if it smelled awful. I hate books that smell like curry or cigarettes. It just drives me crazy. XP Not that I don't like curry, I just don't like the smell it leaves behind. Good binding is especially important, because it's a pain to duck-tape books back up. I understand you completely. I do sometimes buy books with stains on the covers or rips on the pages, though, because they remind me of ugly puppies. I always feel bad for ugly puppies because no one will adopt them, and I end up getting them myself <_<; Aaaand that's the way it is with books.

• @Morien: That's interesting about the hard and soft cover! The larger the book, the more I want it as a hardback. So the last few books of Harry Potter, for example, I definitely don't want as a soft cover. (and I own them as hardbacks) XD
  
  @elanifave: Cigarette smoke scents is the number one type of smell I can't stand on a book. X_X One of my textbooks - a physics one - smelt like smoke...but I and everyone else agreed it wasn't cigarette. I actually haven't smelled a book that smelt like curry.
  I tend to do what you do with stuffed animals. T_T

i'm a huge freak when it comes to books- sometimes i get on a natural "high" when i'm surrounded by discount prices and as long as the book is in one piece (with one exception) i buy for having so many new stories. but not gonna lie i love new books- those are actually the ones i smell lol

yeah i check for grossness on old ones- but with new books i love the smell of the ink and paper- unless it smells off then i get irratated and have to spray it with perfume or something lol

as for hard or soft cover- unless i really love (like HP or twilight love) the book it doesn't matter to me, but if i do LOVE the book then i actualyl become obsessed with owning both lol (yes i'm broke constantly) (but i can't resist speaking of which - have u SEEN the HP book box set that comes out in a few months! - i will have it lol)

sidenote- a book that smells like curry- that seems reall y gross lol

Actually I think if the books bindings and pages are worn it just means it was a really good book, or someone didnt take care of it. Although I don't go to used book shops, if I happen to run across an old book I'll tend to look at it and most likely buy it.
For example: Thrift stores sell used books, I tend to stroll by the isle and check them out (usually though there arent any good books).

Ugh I can't stand used books. Always gotta be new for me or else I don't really like to read it. That's the spoiled me talking there. >w>

I have never judged a book by ...well its cover. Even if its in rough shape, or there are stains on some of the pages, I'll buy it if it seems like an interesting book or if it had been recommended to me. I can't say i'm really prejudiced against those kind of books, although it could just be because my mom used to buy books from used book stores quite a lot, and they've always been fine. New books are great, and I will spend the coin on a book I have been wanting forever to get it new.. but used is usually a good choice as well and i'd encourage it for anyone who wants to buy a book that someone recommended to them and they are unsure of.

As long as the book is readable and the price is low enough and I really want it I'm cool.

I have recently started heavily using the library again - it saves me massive amounts of money and I can get almost any book I want. If the local branch doesn't have it I can go online and reserve a copy and have it shipped to my local branch - super convenient.

I do really dislike books that stink of cigarette smoke- and if a book stinks like that I have to really want the book to actually buy it - if it's something I'm only vaguely interested in then I'll pass by the stinky book.

for me again it kinda depends on the book.
i collect (at a slow rate) Terry Pratchett Discworld Novels, but i only want them in Hardback. but most things i'm not bothered what they come in.
the Harry Potter books we are getting in hardback... i guess tis books that i want to last the distance i prefer in hardback, because they tend to last longer. the trouble with paperback, or softback as i think you guys call them, is that you have to break the spin in order to read them, and once you've been through the whole book it is never the same, where as harback they have a spide thats designed to bend and move, so you can open the book wide without it spoiling.

as for the smell of books, i love the smell of a new book but sometimes old books arent so nice, especially if they are musty... i disslike the smell in old used book stores when thats all you can smell, musty books.

what else...

oh yes, theres a cool bookstore i know and sometimes get to go to, its not a second hand book story but it sells books extreamly cheaply because they are rejects... there will be a slight damage to the cover, spine or a page, sometimes the damage is impossible to find but it obviously didnt pass quality assurance and so this book stor gets it and sells it cheep, its kinda the best of both worlds, new books and second hand prices ^.^

I love the smell of old books, cloth covered hard backs in particular, i like them to look like they've lived too. Not completely battered with the cover hanging on by a thread, but they don't need to be pristine.

My dream one day is to have my own little library room full of pre-loved books, where i can sit in a squashy chair by the window and read and enjoy the frangrance of them

I'll only buy a hardback copy of a book if it's an old book, and by old i mean at least 30 years old. Hardbacks take up too much room on the shelf and are awkward to hold, i'd never buy a new edition of anything in hardback, unless it was a reference book.

I don't like to judge a book by its cover... But I do smell books... I like new book smell... I smelled my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when I got it (as I did with Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince)

Oh, I adore battered old books. My mum works in a bookshop, and she frequently got books with the covers missing for free. I didn't mind - free books, man! Oh, and the smell of a mid-twentieth-century Puffin book with yellowing paper and a slightly gnawed plastic library cover - that's the smell of my childhood, that is.

I judge books by their covers in that the cover blurb has to make the book sound like it's worth reading, and the design interesting enough to grab my attention when browsing bookshelves in the first place, but I don't mind the condition all that much.

• I like for my books to have a unique smell. Interestingly, I've found that certain publishers have different smelling books-- new ones, I mean. So, yeah, I sniff books. Of course, the fact that my favorite book character does the same gives me all the more reason. xD
  
  I don't mind if a book is a bit battered. It's actually kind of better, because when I get a nice new book I'm always so nervous about breaking the spine or messing up the cover, even if that means it's harder to read. Plus, with slightly worn books, I get the nice bonus of it seeming like I've read said book a lot. *total poser* xD
  
  When it comes to hardcover vs. paperback, I usually prefer paper. You see, I've got spindly little stick arms, so I can barely hold up the larger hardcover books. Harry Potter, I'm looking at you! With paperbacks, when you get into the smaller ones, they can be hard to read because they-don't-stay-open! Harry Potter, I'm still looking at you! But generally, they're a lot easier. I like the larger Tor paperbacks; they actually stay open and they smell good. Plus, they publish the books that contain said book-sniffing character-- it's a vicious cycle. xP
  
  But I do judge a book by its cover when it comes to the illustration-- to a point. If it has an interesting cover, I'm far more likely to pick it up and flip through it. It even works occasionally; Operation Red Jericho, Gideon the Cutpurse, the Big Over Easy-- all good books, all swanky covers.
  
  I like books with eggs on the front. :D

• Not really XD I like the smell of nice fresh books, I'm not so keen on strange smelling books, but unless it smells like fish or something disgusting, I'm not too bothered ^^ So long as i want the book that is. XD

I'm anal about how I look at books too. The cover has to be in perfect condition -- not necessarily appealing in design or what not. I like the outsides of my books to look new when I buy them, you know?

However, I LOVE THE SMELL OF NEW BOOKS. It just smells clean and fresh and untampered with, like it's almost virgin and ready to be deciphered.

Sorry if that freaked anyone out. >_>

ANYWAY. Books smell good, and yeah, I judge it by the cover sometimes. Literally. Shouldn't do it, but I mean, looks do mean something, yanno.

• 
  I actually have the opposite problem, I think new books stink. D: Usually it's worst with text books, but some of my regular books have had the problem as well. The chemical smell from printing is so strong it gives me a headache and makes my stomach turn.
  
  I love used books, if they don't have weird crumbs or a heavy strange smell, I'm perfectly happy with a pre-owned edition. Cover condition plays a small part in my choice, I've had many books who's covers are falling off, but cover art does make a big difference. Good cover art can win me over for almost any book. But lack of good cover art is not a negative... *shrugs* I just like discount books, the more the merrier!
  
  

Books smell really good! Especially old ones. I have one that smells like frosting. Used books are okay with me as long as its not all ripped up and there's no stains. Although I'm not too picky about water damage, when the page turns purple, its just nasty.[/code]

As long as I can't smell the book when I'm reading it I'm fine. The musty dusty smell of older books give me headaches and the synthetic smell of the new ones also give me headaches. XD
Otherwise as long as it's not missing pages and is legible then I will read it.

im not so anal about my books. books should be loved and read, not kept in mint condition

I would buy it if it's torn. I would buy it if it's aged. But I would not buy it if it smelled bad. Who knows where the book has been, even if it is half price. I normally try to buy used books though. It's not worth a few extra dollars for straight pages and a shiny cover.

Lol Honestly, I looove old books.
I don't know what it is about them.
The smell doesn't bother me, I actually like it ^^'
The only thing that would bother me would be major rips like the corner of it missing. I don't mind dog-earring the pages though.

And yes, I do judge a book by the cover on most occasions cause I'm a visual person. So what attracts my eyes, I go to. So sometimes oldness attracts me XD

I always judge a book by its cover, when it comes to books XD I like purty covers. But I also judge by the title, if the title is interesting I will usually pick it up.

As for smelling books, I love old book smell~! Not smoky ucky book smell, but old old pages smell.I've never sniffed a book in public before or something like that but I defidently don't hate the smell.

Yeah...I don't really judge books by their condition. I love crisp, new books but old worn books are just as good. Hehe, I especially love that musty, library smell. xD
Buuut, I /do/ judge a book by its illustration. Hahah...pretty books always get me. If I'm looking for something to read, I'll be like, 'oh look! fancy coverrrr. Let's go that way.' :3

I don't care what the book looks like, and there are some old book smells that are fine, but there's one specific variety of book smell that I've found in both new and used books, and I don't know what causes it, that makes me physically ill. I do smell books before I buy them, just to make sure they don't have that smell. Other than that, as long as the entire story is there without missing pages, I'm fine with well-loved books.