Dirty Books

[belle&sebastiansmom]

Dirty, nasty, stinky, bloody books.

I'm here to admit I have an aversion to used books.

I can't stand if the pages are filthy. Sometimes you turn a page and find unidentifiable crusties. Yuck! All I think of is wherethe previous reader may have enjoyed their book. The germs! The horror!

This aversion probably started in the 1st grade. I remember checking out one of those beautifully illustrated, glossy paged, Caldecott books from the school library. Took it home and one of the pages was smeared with blood. Some kid obviously had a paper cut and tried to stop it. It was disgusting.

If I go to a library, I inspect my book first. Even at a bookstore, I give it a once over. Told my dh my life would be much easier if I got a Kindle!

So here's my weird aversion. I hate dirty books.

 

[NMAmy]

My dd has started with the same thing. I don't know where she came up with this--she grew up going to the library and buying used books at book sales. Suddenly, she gets creeped out by used books.

Apparently, she has no problems with my cooties, though. She steals my books all the time.

 

[MIGrandma]

So, then, is it safe to assume you don't go to yard sales or flea markets and pick up any used books?

I have been reading a book, turn a page and there is some unidentifiable smudge, smear or crust...and it does make me wonder, for a moment, what it could be...but it doesn't stop me from reading. I prefer hardbound books, rather than paperback, and they are kind of expensive to buy new so I do frequent the library often.

 

[RitaE]

I was chatting with one of our librarians once and she told me that when they designed our new Library building one of their specific instructions was that the restrooms HAD to be up by the check-out desk so they could attempt to keep people from taking the books in there to read.



It's just one of those things that I try not to think about, and now you can try too.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

lol I'm the same way! When you think about what people might be doing while reading, ugh, people read on the toilet!

 

[cheerful chickadee]

yikes, double post! sorry!!

 

[RunningGirl]

ME TOO!! I hate the smell of old books. I love nice, crisp pages and thick paper. I totally admit that I lend out my books very judiciously as I want them back looking, feeling and smelling good. A couple I've lent out and gotten back all wrinkly and creased - drives me crazy!

I try to be good and use the library to save money, but for me nothing is better than my own books.

I'm also a snob when it comes to paperbacks; I don't like the mass market editions but the larger sized trade editions.

 

[The Princess]

I tell me DH the same thing!!! I hate the library!!! There is nothing like the smell of walking into a bookstore!!!

 

[dnarkie]

From Seinfeld:

GEORGE: Yes, I, uh, I need to return this book.

CASHIER: (Puts the book's code into the computer) I'm sorry, we can't take this book back.

GEORGE: Why not?

CASHIER: It's been flagged.

GEORGE: (Confused) Flagged?

CASHIER: It's been in the bathroom.

GEORGE: It says that on the computer?

CASHIER: Please take it home. We don't want it near the other books.

GEORGE: (Outraged. Leaving) Well, you just lost a lot of business! Because I love to read!

 

[suejai]

ME TOO!! I hate the smell of old books. I love nice, crisp pages and thick paper. I totally admit that I lend out my books very judiciously as I want them back looking, feeling and smelling good. A couple I've lent out and gotten back all wrinkly and creased - drives me crazy!

I try to be good and use the library to save money, but for me nothing is better than my own books.

I'm also a snob when it comes to paperbacks; I don't like the mass market editions but the larger sized trade editions.

This is how I feel, as well.

It is my one large splurge. Some people get pedicures and frequent visits to the salon - I get new books. I also like to re-read books, I know people that don't, and if I don't own it I don't always remember if I've read something.

 

[C.Ann]

Isn't it interesting the aversions we have? I love used books - purchase most of them in garage sales, book sales, on Amazon.com, or half.com.. I've been lucky in that I've never received any yucky, dirty books and I have been able to buy SO many more than if I purchased them new..

My aversion would be a Kindle.. Someone suggested I get one because I have been buying and reading so many books this summer and I just can't do it.. The thought of it creeps me out.. I HAVE to have an honest to goodness book in my hand..

I suppose if I ever ended up with a dirty book though I could just put on a pair of the disposable gloves I always have around the house..

No matter your preference, happy reading!!

 

[TaraPA]

Oh darn & here I thought this thread was about dirty books ...I do love a good Jackie Collins novel every once & awhile!

 

[AshleyW]

Oh darn & here I thought this thread was about dirty books ...I do love a good Jackie Collins novel every once & awhile!

That's what I was thinking too when I saw the thread title


As far as used books though - love 'em. I have a Half Price Books two doors down from my job, and I can definitely do some damage to my bank account in that store. I love the old musty smell of them, and some of the rare books you can find.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

I was chatting with one of our librarians once and she told me that when they designed our new Library building one of their specific instructions was that the restrooms HAD to be up by the check-out desk so they could attempt to keep people from taking the books in there to read.



It's just one of those things that I try not to think about, and now you can try too.

Kept thinking about it! In fact, DH and I had a conversation about people taking books to the toilet in the library after reading your post. It's crazy! I've been to a library. I've been to the potty at a library. Never occurred to me to take in some reading material!

 

[ckay87]

Oh darn & here I thought this thread was about dirty books ...I do love a good Jackie Collins novel every once & awhile!

LOL!!! Me too! I could not click the link to open the thread fast enough!

Isn't it interesting the aversions we have? I love used books - purchase most of them in garage sales, book sales, on Amazon.com, or half.com.. I've been lucky in that I've never received any yucky, dirty books and I have been able to buy SO many more than if I purchased them new..

My aversion would be a Kindle.. Someone suggested I get one because I have been buying and reading so many books this summer and I just can't do it.. The thought of it creeps me out.. I HAVE to have an honest to goodness book in my hand..

I suppose if I ever ended up with a dirty book though I could just put on a pair of the disposable gloves I always have around the house..

No matter your preference, happy reading!!

What can I say, but ditto. Nothing about the Kindle appeals to me whatsoever. I love the feel of turning the page. A paper page. Something about feeling the story slip through my fingertips....love it.

And I never thought about used books being germy, but now I will. Won't stop me from visiting my used bookstore. I have been reading used books, wearing used clothing (yes I have), and sitting on used furniture most of my life and I am one of the healthiest people I know, so I don't plan to change my ways. It is funny the aversions people have. I have plenty of my own, so I'm not judging!

 

[disney1990]

Kept thinking about it! In fact, DH and I had a conversation about people taking books to the toilet in the library after reading your post. It's crazy! I've been to a library. I've been to the potty at a library. Never occurred to me to take in some reading material!

So, they have stopped people from taking the books into the bathroom at the library. If they were going to do it there, they are probably reading them in the bathroom at home.

As far as used books, we buy them all the time. We go to a Labor Day Festival that includes a book sale - thousands and thousands of books -- and cheap because it is a fundraiser for the local school. People try to sneak in early to get an early jump on the selection available. This year, we had a major score. My FIL has macular degeration (yes, I know I spelled it wrong). We were able to pickup over 30 books on tape for him at about the price we would have paid for 1 new one.

So, to the people that don't like dirty books, are you generally germophobic too? Just looking for a pattern -- I'm not judging, just wondering.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

So, they have stopped people from taking the books into the bathroom at the library. If they were going to do it there, they are probably reading them in the bathroom at home.

OP here.

Yes, a favorite reading place is the bathroom, which is part of the reason I called them dirty books. I just found it funny people taking borrowed or unpaid for books into public restroom at a library or bookstore. If I'm out and about I want to do my business and be done with it, not sit and relax with a book!

Obviously, it is germs that bother me. I'm not a neat freak, by any means (man, you should see my house right now), and I frequent thrift stores for great clothes and even toys for my kids. But I wash the clothes and can scrub the toys down with clorox wipes. I can clean those things. I can't clean a book. And to see blood stains and such on a book . . . well, I just wouldn't be able to enjoy it!

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

I like the musty smell of old books. I also like wondering who else might have read the book before me. And I'm another one who wouldn't especially want a Kindle. There's just something about a real book.

 

[NotUrsula]

LOL. I've been a librarian for over 20 years, and I've spent a lot of that time working in rare books and archives. Believe me, a little blood smear is the least of what gets left behind in books.

The best one I every encountered was a dead lizard. Yes, an entire lizard, squashed totally flat between the pages, and completely mummified. I was able to peel him right out with no damage. According to the records, the book hadn't circulated in over a decade, so he'd been in there at least that long. We did keep the book -- it was scarce and out of print.

FWIW, you *can* clean books. We do it. You will want to buy a jar of Absorene; it's book cleaner: http://www.shopbrodart.com/shop/cb/product.aspx?pgid=998

I once had someone find a book on the bank of the Mississippi River and attempt to return it -- it was waterlogged and totally encased in mud. Our records showed that it had been missing for 23 years, and believe me, it looked like it had been in the river for quite a while. We were glad to know what happened to it, but we deaccessioned it and burned it immediately.

There was a major flood in Florence, Italy in 1966, and two large libraries were inundated. They both had significant collections of rare 16th century books, and a fair number of them were saved by freezing them until conservation methods advanced enough to have them worked on. Some of them were successfully resuscitated some 40 years later, by freeze-drying them in a vacuum chamber, then carefully chipping off the dirt.

 

[RitaE]

No - I'm actually about the furthest thing from a germ-a-phobe you will ever meet and we are actually really rough to our books around this house. We eat and read, read by the pool and spill ice tea, throw them on the floorboards of our cars... I was raised to believe that books are meant to be USED, not protected and that's how my kids view them too. So we destroy books, but we have alot of fun doing it. And I used to buy tons of used books. We've been cleaning out the house though because DH has been developing sinus issues.

But we're a Kindle family now and a good disinfecting wipe doesn't hurt that Kindle one bit.

And oh man I haven't read a Jackie Collins in years. I wonder if Hollywood Wives is on Kindle? I need to go look.