So at college, one of my friends has a mass irritant in the form of broken book spines. Especially concerning paperbacks. You know, where the spine becomes creased and all?
Personally, i find her argument for preserving them in their near untouched state a little silly. I like to see a book's been read. Tattyness connotes a certain degree of love towards the book to me. That it's been used. And that's what a books there for no?
So what do you all think?
Do you mind broken spines, tatty books?

I'm with you; books exist to be read, not to make your shelves look pretty.
I bend the spines of paperbacks, leave hardbacks lying face-down, even mark pages by folding them over. I'm constantly falling asleep with my books and rolling onto them in the night, and bashing them around in my handbag.
But as long as it's still legible, who cares if it's scruffy?
A pristine book is an unloved book.

I agree ... I actually feel guilty that I have some books on my shelf with their still perfect spines because I haven't read them yet. xD
I love that first crease in the book as well. ^^

My books get so much loving abuse from me. xD I agree that a well-loved book is the best book. I'm guilty of folding over pages, leaving them upside-down on my desk and even writing in them when it's a book I really like!

My books are my treasure and I like to take good care of them. I either try to memorize what page I was reading or use bookmarks - I would never think of folding pages on purpose o_O

I don't mind if my books don't look shiny and new after they've been read a few times. But I don't want to have them look as if they've been abused either.

I'd like my books to stay in good enough condition so I can reread them later on. But other than that, a few creases in the spine is no problem at all.

Gross things like torn pages and junk all over the pages, now that's a whole other story. <_<

My books I buy new I try and keep in good condition, I feel I spent a good amount of money on them and should try and keep them nice. My second handbooks tend to take some abuse, I don't mind folding a page here and there and most of them are all ready to some state of worn so aside form destroying it completely there isn't much I can do to them.

Many of my textbooks, also have broken spines due to use >>; not a good thing when they are books I use often.

If I put the crease in it is by accident so I never really get that upset, but when I lend a book out and there is a crease...whoa, not good man not good. I can never bring my self to buy a broken spine over a clean spine if I have a choice. If the broken spine is the only thing I can get, then I get it. I rarely keep books anymore, but broken spines are the first given away.

I really like my e reader, no spine to think of. It is great when reading a nice thick book.

I don't mind so much if the cover is a bit tatty if its an
old book but I can't stand it if its a new book, also I can't
stand broken spines, it so annoys me

I like to keep hard back books nice or books that I have had signed. I generally read them once and then place them on the shelf. If I plan on reading something more than once or it isn't a book that I particularly care about then I buy it in paperback. I never mind if a paperback looks tattered. If a spine does break (which has happened to me) then it is easily replaced for about seven dollars.

I'm glad some other people agree with me! I was beginning to think myself terribly cruel to my books. Hehe.

Spring: I'm very like that. I can't rest, or take a week or so break from reading anything if there's a stack of books, or even just one, in near perfect condition.

fiarra: I'm also guilty of page folding. I try to make them as small as possible though.

kerryfox: I don't think i could ever buy another book of one i have already. To me that's implying the other one will eventually get thrown out, and i don't like to consider throwing any of my books out.

amyrex2: I'm like that too, for some reason. I don't mind if it's self inflicted damage, so much as when other people manhandle my books. Thankfully i don't often lend them out.

I try not to have dressy books around because I'll worry too much over them. It has to be something very special. This is not necessarily a spine issue though.

I try to get the smaller sized paperback editions of books when I can, I just like how they feel in the hand, and they're lighter to carry. Their spines really crease, but it's no big deal.

I personally try not to hurt my book too much, but I agree with the whole thing that tattyness says it's been loved. But, when I get a brand new book, I freak out when I bend the spine or the corners of teh cover. I don't know why.

Guivre: I prefer smaller paperbacks to. In general i prefer paperbacks.

Tut'ankhamun: Thinking about it, i'm the same with new books. It can't be allowed to attain a single crease or fold anywhere until i've started actually reading it.

My grandmother has a book that has been dated back to the end of the 17th century (1691 I believe). It was once a children's tuition book, with a chapter on arithmetics, a chapter with calligraphy instructions, one on how to write a decent letter (with examples like "My dearest mother, I extend to you my deepest gratitude... Most humbly, your daughter/son") and so on.

It is worthless now. You know why? Because sometime during the book's life, someone thought it was a good idea to give the book to a little kid as scrap paper. The first few pages are torn out as well as some others, the WHOLE book is infested with doodles from a child aged about five, pages are creased and torn... If the book had been in good state, it would have been worth approximately 2.500 euros. Thanks to someone who thought books shouldn't be kept in good state, it has lost its value.

As a student of literature, this kind of book abuse (and especially of such old books of which only a few copies still exist) breaks my heart. I mean, this book is a year older than the Salem witch trials...

I do not usually dog-ear the books I own ~ what are bookmarks for if you don't use them?

Volucria: I can understand that. I don't recklessly set out to harm books, least of all old and precious ones. Any damage that a book in my possession may incur, is usually that which is required to read it comfortably, usually creases in the spines of paperbacks. Hardbacks are usually unharmed in any way.
I'd never let any of my books get into the hands of children, or anyone i thought was going to damage them. That's just not respectful, giving such delicate things to people who have no care or respect for them, and i can't stand people who don't respect their reading material.

salvete: True. I used to tend to fold pages, when i found something insightful or amusing, that i would loose if i didn't make a point of marking it. I'm getting out of that habit now though, in favour of small pieces of paper dropped in to mark things.

Not just spines, I'm horrible for dog-earing pages. I splay book spine up to mark my spot when I need a moment...I do abuse my books quite heartily.

But there's also something about going to the bookstore and fondling the pristine spines of those books you've not yet bought.

I have to agree with some here. Books are made to be read, not kept in perfect condition. I can easily say that my books are my prized possessions. I do try to keep them in at least a good state, but a few of my books are quite battered looking. ^__^, I just love books. I love the smell of books, new or old. Really, to me books are a treasure.

I like to see the spine of a book nice and creased. On the another hand, if its falling a part at the spine then I see a point of leaving it on a self before it falls a part completely. I would feel horrible if I had to replace a book of mine because it fell a part.

My sister is like that with her manga. If she gets a manga back and the spine has a crease in it she flips and goes on this ramble about how she likes them to look nice. I honestly don't care. Well...I did get a book back from a friend and the spine was chewed by her demon dogs. That irks me a bit xD But I have one that looks like it has been through hell, but still readable...So yeah. Some people are just crazy imo XD

I guess I'm kind of in the middle. I generally won't leave books lying open to mark my place, but I do flip pages down to mark my spot. And I don't set out to be careful not to crease the spine when I start reading a book, but actual broken spines (where the pages are falling out or are about to) do bother me.

I just signed up for this used book trading site that's really awesome. Now it only costs me the price of shipping to get a book <3...which is usually $2-$3. I guess it's made me a little less picky about the conditions (there are certain guidelines as to what you can send out of course).

I do tend to try to preserve my books and keep them nice looking. Once it's been hurt I don't really mind anymore, but I usually freak out a little over it. Like, at one point I was keeping a book in my gym locker and I pulled it out. It caught on the side of the locker and tore an ugly gash in the spine. I died a little inside there for a second. Looking at it now it looks really loved, but at the moment I was sad that I did it.

Dirty pages bother me more than broken spines. You know, when your hand leaves a mark across the pages where you were holding it. I hate that. Sometimes I try to hold the book so that I avoid touching the pages and they don't get dirty. :oops:

I love books that are well worn. Not destroyed, but obviously read and loves. I don't like ripped or torn covers or pages, and I hate purposefully dog earring a page, but if it happens, it happens. There are only a few books that are special to me that I would mind if they got torn a bit, the rest... The important part is in between the two covers.

I read a lot while I'm doing other things, like when I'm on the treadmill or when I'm eating, so there's always a possibility that something bad is going to happen to the book. I only take books that are already a little funky to the beach, though... That can really mess them up. :lol:

I like buying those dog-eared, note-ridden books. They make me feel close to the book and it's previous owner, because I can feel the love when I open them. A few of my favorite used books, I haven't actually read, just the notes left there by those who had it last. :'D

As for my own, I only protect my manga books. I'll go out of my way to make sure they're clean when, with my book-habits, it's not normal for me. I don't have that many manga books, so they're all the more precious to me for that.

But, for every other book, it's sort of a mark of honor to accidently drop them in the tub. The water-stained, warped pages (still legible) are the most beautiful thing in the world. I feel sad whenever I borrow library books because I can't dog-ear them or drop them on the floor and bend all the pages. And I especially can't drop them in the tub. D:

I'll re-fold the pages so they're all flat, but I love the crease lines.

I think it's amusing, that I bought this book of poetry, and the price was marked down because of an imprint on the book where someone obviously ran over it with their chair. I would have paid extra for that. XD;