Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?
I tend to be all over the scale on that. Oh, I’d PREFER to keep my books in good condition–but it doesn’t always happen.
Take for example Time Spiral, the Magic: The Gathering novel I just finished yesterday. If you look really closely, you can see some lines running its spine from where I’d had it laying one part flat, the other held open to read, one-handed (since I mostly read at lunch/over meals). But I don’t lay a book down and force a bend/crack.
I’m also the sort that has little trouble with flipping the book over (covers & spine up, open page facing down) on a table, or bed, or floor, or where-ever the nearest surface is that will hold the book–though this is done mostly when I intend to return shortly to the book.
With hardbacks, I often wince at the sound but tend to hear the spine break a bit. Those, too, tend to get read over meals and such, so they lay flat and get held open…and by midway through the book, I’m sure that’s gotta be moving the condition from ‘new’ into ‘used’ territory.
As said, I’m not a stickler for pristine condition–nor do I particularly want to see the book deliberately, intentionally damaged.
I’m not at all a fan of wrapping the front cover (and accompanying pages) around. I personally can think of now particular “appropriate situation” for that, as it’s quite possible to simply hold the thing open without wrapping/folding the cover.
I’m a fan of keeping a book’s dustjacket in good condition–so it looks nice on the shelf between reads. So much so that I will first chance I get remove the dust jacket, and carry the jacketless hardback around while I’m working my way through the book…and restore the jacket to it upon completion and shelving.
As a comic book person, this applies to those as well.
Where once upon a time I was ever so concerned with keeping comics in pristine condition, now I just want to read ’em. As with books, I will not consciously/deliberately damage them*, but nor am I terribly concerned about maintaining some “mint condition” or such. “Bag and boarding” my comics is something I haven’t done in over a decade.
(* I will, however, pull out any offensive inserts (Navy & Army, I’m looking at you!) or four-page ad segments found in the center of the comic (Seriously….those are just ASKING to be pulled from the comic!). I’ll also pull out posters and such that are placed in the middle of the comic.
Posted by Walt 
Walt's Writings & Thoughts 