• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

When is a book too damaged?

SFG75

Well-Known Member
How damaged must a book for you to consider throwing it away or not purchasing it? I have a few with missing front pages, some with water damage, not to mention your average wear and tear. I ask this as I was recently at a relative's house and picked up a good number of books they no longe wanted. A lot of these had fading pages and wear/tear, but I'm not necessarily one to just get books based on aesthetics. I do plan on reading these books and the relative was thrilled to get rid of a fwe old and tattered books that in their view, was probably a blight on their living room.

How's 'bout you?
 
I guess if a book stinks, it's really warped, or pages are falling out, it's time to send it to the big library in the sky. My paperbacks get tossed when the pages fall out, the hardcovers get more consideration.
 
I try to keep my books in good shape.......but there are a few that are a bit worse for wear, from drink spills to missing pages but as long as I can still read them I keep them.

Thanks
Sam
 
i even got a book that i accidently got 2/3 wet by a pool. hell, it even grew mold! for some reason i dont have the heart to throw it out over two years later.
 
WoundedThorns said:
i even got a book that i accidently got 2/3 wet by a pool. hell, it even grew mold! for some reason i dont have the heart to throw it out over two years later.

Same thing happened to me, I just picked up. Read it. When I was done, I think I got rid of it. It was one of Bruce Coville's alien books.
 
Most of my books are in good condition. I won't read any book that has water damage, stains, smells of smoke, pages falling out or missing, badly bent spines, warped even creased covers or pages.
All my books are wiped with a weak anti-bacterial solution. Books are my passion and are treated with respect.
Maybe i'm a little over the top but anything with any of the above are usually thrown out or given away.
Most of them are books that i have lent out.
 
When pages or the front cover is missing. Or in the case of shopping for used books, when there is an odd (usually booger-like! :eek: )stain in them. :mad:
 
I have a book that got soaked with Diet Pepsi, that is stillreadable, just not very pleasant, and I can't manage to throw it away.
 
Enough water damage to make it uneven when a heavier book is placed on top of it. That is a killer for me. Pages falling out can be fixed with tape, but if they are missing completely I toss the book.
 
If it's unreadable, even just a page of it, I don't think I'd read it... but I don't think I'd have the heart to throw a book out!
At the moment I have two rather damaged books that my boyfriend had forgotten to return to school. As he was about to throw them away I snatched them and shouted "How could you!" at him. :eek: One of them is in such bad condition that I think the pages may fall out if I try to open it... but it's not going to get thrown out any time soon!
 
"...no, Sir Mallister! I cannot abide this... thing we're doing!"
"Sweet Sarah, we ought but savor this chance, else Bulwart the Bear will return and take you away, and I shall see you never!"
"Oh, Sir, then you may touch [bookworm hole]"

Now that's when you throw a book away.

ds
 
Back
Top