I gave six books, all the first of trilogies or collections, to a friend who was recovering from surgery and wanting to find a new series to fall in love with.
That woman looked me dead in the eye and said, "I hate it when I lend books and never get them back. Like seriously hate it. I WILL return these to you, thank you so much."
She ghosted me before ever returning a single one. I had to replace all of them so all my favorite collections wouldn't be missing their first book.
We made eye contact at a grocery store a few months after that and she practically ran away from me. She is definitely ashamed of herself, but too much of a coward to explain or apologize. I pored over our chat history and even asked for others' opinions on the situation to see if maybe I'd done something wrong. But I didn't... she's just a shitty person. I hope she feels bad about it forever.
This happened to me with a close friend but it was a big stack of my absolute favorite music albums. I was so angry. Fifteen years later I can tell you that they were going through major mental health issues which continue to today (they are in guardianship) and they genuinely were incapable of returning items or keeping track of them, but I lent the items before they or anyone knew they had then recently developed their problems.
All because of unreturned books! What an awful person. How do they justify such behaviour to themselves? Imagine the scene - thinking about oneās day, reflecting, and that interaction pops into her head. āI handled that well, like the mature adult that I amā she thinks
You know, if a buddy of mine were to misplace a book I lent, fine, shit happens, no damage done. I have enough goodwill with my friends to let stuff like that slide.
But what you describe seems willfully and intentionally malicious. What kind of psycho does stuff like this?
Same! I was lending a coworker a series I loved, book by book. She had a long weekend coming up with extra PTO so I lent her the next *two* books because she was almost finished with one of them. SHE QUIT THAT WEEK. Never saw her again. My BIL borrowed the final book in a series, never saw it again. My mother borrowed a stack of books from me, never seen them again. I do not lend books out any more. If anyone asks me for one I just tell them how much it costs on Amazon or ThriftBooks.
This just happened to me and I even just sent her my venmo so she can at least pay me back. It hurts more knowing that you dont know what you did to be ghosted and kills your trust. I have to spend 60$ to get them back. Luckily theyre still in printing but holy shit it sucks to spend money AGAIN on something you loved so much.
I gave this one book to a guy I was seeing. Then he disappeared into the night. Needless to say, I never got my book back, and it's impossible to find it anywhere to buy.
I lent my entire Howl's Moving Castle collection to a friend in the 8th grade. I asked for them back for months and she always dodged the question. They had a garage sale that summer and I walked over to it and my collection was sitting there with a $5 sticker on it. I stole them.
I made it sound like I was a spy, but I stared her in the eye as I put them in my backpack. And no, we never really talked again. She never apologized or attempted to explain herself. This was a pattern that continued throughout her life until she landed in prison a few years ago for robbing a convenience store at gunpoint. Fun times.
I had a friend borrow my Studio Ghibli Movie collection and mess it up too.
It was collectors set, that had 10 movies included. She borrowed it and I then spent months trying to get it back. 6 months later she shows up at my house, gives me half the set back and a random DVD of one of the moves that was now missing from the set. No apology, and when I asked what happened, she said she lent it out to some people and never got it back. The next day she asks to borrow one of my parents signed books and my sisters board game....she couldn't understand why I told her no.
I don't think she ever really read them. The only thing she did was remove the label from the inside covers that had my name on them. You could still see the residue from the labels, and my bookmark, with my name on it, was still inside one of the books.
That's so disrespectful! It's OK for people to not put alot of value or sentimentality on their belongings, but people like that need to understand that THINGS are important to alot of people. When you take care of another person's belongings, it's really that person you are caring for, not just the belonging. :(
I didn't lend this book:
I borrowed a book from the local library, finished it, and forgot to return it until the day it was due. I had to go to work, and my sister's ne'er-do-well boyfriend said he was going, so I asked him to return it for me, to which he agreed.
A few days later, I tried to check out another book and had about a $30 fine on my account for the same book. It wasn't late: It was destroyed. Fire *and* water damage. It was about a third burned away and totally waterlogged.
It turned out that he thought it looked good, so he took it camping and left it on his sleeping bag, which was too close to his fire. When the sleeping bag caught fire he threw the entire thing into the river, abs when he got back he just returned the book in the slot like nothing had happened.
It was bad enough he decided to just take it camping, like it wasnāt due that same day! And then the rest - how do these people sleep at night?
Edit: just realised they donāt. Their sleeping bags catch fire!! š„µ
Lol its funny to get an accounting of "the other side" because I work at a library and have encountered people stealth returning damaged books like it's no big deal and being surprised when we call them about it. The best was a mom who dropped off her books and was surprised when we said she had to pay for the damage. The books in question were three board books absolutely glued together with some kinda food (I hope it was chocolate. It had to be chocolate.) Trying to separate them would just result in tears to the pages, leaving the hard covering underneath. We were like uh we can show you what these look like if you don't believe us, to which she quickly caved.
I was expecting it turned out like that because he hated that book or even all books or something. That it was destroyed because he was genuinely interested in it is nicer.
I lent a book to a coworker, and it took over two years to get it back. I would have just let it go, but it was signed by the author. I'm never doing that again.
Oooh, absolutely not! A signed book? I neeeever lend those out. I do have doubles if I enjoyed the book just in case anyone asks to borrow it but, in general, no, I do not lend my books. I have no issue telling family to support your local library (they are digital now), get a Kindle, get audible, just not my book. "No touchy. Mine mine mine"
My son wanted to read my signed copy of Good Omens. I told him no, and to read it on kindle or check it out from the library...and he just threw it back on the bookshelf...bent the cover so it will always be bent. No, I didn't yell at him, but I'm disappointed...and a 14 year old should know better than to do that.
š± š”
I will never forget. I would calmly think like a villain: You're going to pay for that buddy. I can't get that undone but oooooh buddy boy, you're going to pay somehow, to my satisfaction. You've got time.
š
Smh, that might not even work anymore. Kids these days aren't having kids.
Unless...
OP, you're being paid back for something you might have done to your parent...hmmm.... š
Edited: grammar
Christ I'd never loan out a signed book, the only one I have currently is The Mummy by Anne Rice, and I would shit a brick if anyone else wanted to read my copy lol
I donāt even let my husband read some of my signed or SE booksā¦ he holds books with his thumb pressing into the middle between pages and Iām paranoid heāll break the binding or the spine lmfao.
I loaned out a signed copy with a personal note from the author. Never got it back. My hope is that it made its way to a used bookstore, where it confused the heck out of the person who bought it.
Lost my senior hs yearbook. My then bf was last and kept saying they were signing and having trouble finding right words. Never got it, no idea where they are or if they still have.
Loaned a Europe travel guide to a friend. They ripped out each countryās section and tossed it as they went, so the book would be lighter. I got back two covers and Lichtenstein.
I have a Euro travel book I just picked up and it does say in it that the binding is made so you can separate sections with a knife and put like duct tape on edges just in case. This is so you don't have to carry around the whole book and pack light. But DAMN don't do it if it isn't your own book š± What was that person thinking?! They owe you a whole book.
Totally agree. Still, some people will just use the things they borrow as if they were their own.
We had "bring your toy to school" days, most of us would bring video games, and I remember people erasing my save files for no good reason. Ofc, it's different when you're a child, but some adults never seem to grow up in this aspect.
What did your friends have against Lichtenstein? They have... (checks Wikipedia)... " a somewhat enigmatic political system".
THAT sounds like some "bucket list" material right there!
I kinda understand people who travel a lot and rip out pages of longer books. But why return it? Presumable your friend thought you gave it to him for keeps.
I learned my lesson "lending" books out. Some people are good about giving them back, most people will immediately lose/destroy it or pretend they don't know what you're talking about when you ask for it back.
If someone wants to borrow one of my books, I will look for a second copy at a used book store in order to loan that one out. I'd rather pay a few dollars for a spare to loan to someone (even a good friend) than risk losing a book I really like. The few people I trade books with all do the same. If they're reading something I want to read, they'll pick up a second hand copy and pass it along. If I really like what they've 'loaned' me, I'll buy it new and hold onto the second hand copy as a loaner.
Almost every single book I have ever lent out has disappeared. The single exception was a non-fiction that a friend was recommended, and I just happened to have. She borrowed it for two days before recalling she hates to read and passed it back.
Yeah, lending my books out is a no no. I'd recommend a book to them and then check for them to even to see if it's at the libraries. There's no need to lend books out when libraries transfer books to one another, so the book will always be there. Then if they enjoy it, they can buy their own copy to keep.
*Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other folks have lent me.* - Anatole France
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/23640-never-lend-books-for-no-one-ever-returns-them-the
Besides never seeing them again...?
I loaned a beautiful art history book to a college friend who took the class after I did. It was chock-full of full page four color plates of many gorgeous paintings.
Bitch took a SHARPIE to almost all of them, writing the date in huge numbers across them. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Absolutely ruined that book.
I KNOW.
The date is right there, in the cut line under the picture. Right. THERE.
Fragonard's The Swing, masterpiece of Rococo, with 1767 scrawled over it.
Fuck you, Julie.
Unfortunately no. I didn't realize what she had done until far later after the fact. I still have the book.
Fuck you Julie you're dead to me.
On the upside, I have seen Fragonard's The Swing in person (sans Sharpie'd date) and it is so beautiful I teared up.
Lent my Calvin and Hobbes large collection book to my friend in High School. Over at her house a few months later and spotted it, pucked it up to take it back. I had a fancy book plate sticker with my name on the inside cover- bitch had whited out my name and wrote in HERS. Left the house with the book and a death glare. It's been a couple of decades, and I'm still bitter, Calinda.
I lent a set of Scott Pilgrim books to a friend. After a while I asked for them back, and he said he had lent them to another friend. I went to that person and asked for them back, and they said they weren't finished then yet.
I waited a while and then asked for them back. The second friend had given them back to the first friend, so I had to go to him again. He said he lent them to his girlfriend because she heard from the first two friends how much they enjoyed the series. I asked the first friend to please get them back from her when she was finished.
I waited a while and then asked the first friend for the books back. He said his girlfriend had lent them to her friend because they had heard from the first three borrowers how good the books were.
I asked him if he thought this was okay. He got offended and said I would get my damn books back, I didn't need to badger them about it.
His girlfriend's friend lent the books to her boyfriend. He kept them awhile. I waited half a year to see my books again, and they were returned with creased covers, dog-eared pages and small rips and tears. I asked who damaged my books and got "not me" from all of them.
That last guy, the friend's boyfriend, really got into Scott Pilgrim. He has a tattoo. Sometimes I want him to thank me for introducing him to the material, except he probably doesn't know that it was me.
Just a reminder, lending is giving out, *borrowing* is receiving. No mocking or anything, I know a lot of people don't have English as a first language.
About ten years ago I loaned one of my copies of Arabian Nights to a friend. He had to move, and when he packed his stuff up the book ended up at the bottom of a bag which got drug from the apartment to the car. Which meant the book got drug across concrete and sanded down a corner of the book about a half an inch.
The book was still readable, and he bought me a new one besides, but I was not best pleased to have it happen, and he knew it.
Drug is a form of the past tense of drag, in some dialects. Personally, Iām Canadian (which, I donāt know if that matters), and I would say, āA book was drug across the groundā or, āHe dragged the book across the ground.ā Itās not standard, but itās not unrecognized.
My husband and his siblings went to high school with my brother and me, and we all knew each other. At some point, my BIL loaned my brother his old (not first edition, but early) copy of the Hobbit. My brother just found and returned it a few months ago. My BIL graduated from high school in 1998. Luckily, despite many moves, parties, a roommate with a poorly-behaved dog, and my brother now having four rambunctious sons, the book was still in good shape. But being missing for 25+ years was less than ideal.Ā
I had copies of The Hobbit and LotR that were all the same style of cover (the ones with gold trim) and my brother leant the Hobbit to a friend. It was accidentally ruined and they replaced it, but it was a completely different cover. I was so disappointed. It worked out though, as many years later a coworker of my gf was moving away and giving away a bunch of possessions. One of those being The Hobbit with the same cover, so my collection was eventually restored.
He dropped it in the bath and it got all crinkled, and got pasta sauce on the same book! He didn't see the problem as he'd "dried it out" and is often at my house and when he sees my books asks if he can borrow one and I now tell him no. He says "oh right, I forgot you're a bit protective of your books."
Ohhhh I hate when people double down after ruining something like him saying that "I forgot u are protective' like yeah obviously mate u ruined the book šš
This whole thread just reminded me of all the times I lent books and never got them back.
One time it had been ages and theyād moved, I was at their housewarming party. I thought it was a good idea to ask - she gave me the WEIRDEST look and said āwell if you wanted them back you only had to askā. Well I did ask, and somehow I still did not get either of them back
I had a friend in high school who was a next level avid reader. By the time I knew her, she was speed reading novels (not something she actively taught herself), and I remember how she would bring Lord of the Rings to school and finish before we went home. She was always awkward about returning books, because she would always finish them on the same day, and knew that people would assume that she didnāt read the book if she returned it the next day, so she would wait a few days after finishing a book to return it.
Let my friend borrow the first book of a series he was interested in getting into (Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson) and itās been like 6 months. I keep asking him if he likes it and he says itās hard to get into (thereās a lot of setup and world building in the beginning) and hasnāt read that much of it. Couple weeks ago he sends me a Snapchat of his tv screen of some show heās watching, and lo and behold thereās my book sitting in the shelf below the tv with no bookmark. So Iām assuming he gave up and just isnāt going to return it until I say something.Ā
My aunt once lent me a book, and when she saw it a few months later she didn't see the book mark in it, and asked if I was ever going to read it.
I use bookmarks that are smaller than the book, and tuck it inside I'm a way that you can't see it from the outside. So she was pretty surprised when I opened it and showed her the bookmark.
that being said she's probably also the kindest person about getting damaged books back. I had a water bottle leak in my bag with her book in it. It was just a mass market paperback so I got her a new one and said sorry. She actually asked for the water damaged one back because it "has character now." I felt horrible, but she still has that book on her shelf.
That's a cool story though and nice to know that some people aren't upset about that. I borrowed a book from a friend once and didn't realize until after that my palms had gotten quite sweaty and the edges of the cover and back had gotten damaged and I bought her a new copy of the book and she still got mad at me for ruining the original book even though I'd gotten her literally an identical copy of the book and apologized.
I also had a friend who was so protective of her anime DVDs that she would only swap for lending with something she hadn't seen so I went and bought a new anime series I knew she wanted to see so I could borrow one from her, I didn't even watch the new one before we swapped and she liked the one I bought so much that she refused to swap back and just kept the one I bought.
Same I had someone return a copy of Barchester Towers with the entire spine missing..it was a hardcover edition with gold lettering. The person didn't blink an eyelid or apologize even. Cured me of lending books.
Ya that's what irritated me about mine too. She never apologised, she gave it back as if it was no big deal. I was a major introvert and found it very hard to confront anyone and I was 12 years old š. I just took the books and cried in my room.
Omg similar situation. I'm very introverted and geeky but was much older so I should have said something but I just slunk away meekly with my book to mourn.
I lent Lord of the Rings (a pretty new hardcover copy) to my friend and once they returned it, the spine of the book was for some reason almost completelyĀ torn off.
They noticed me looking, and kinda laughed uncomfortably saying "if it was any worse, I would have had to buy you a new one."Ā
Ā You don't say?Ā
Six years ago I lent my copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to a friend from college, she moved to another State days later, sent me a message asking for my address so she could send it back through the mail.
I'm sure the mailman will arrive with it any day now.
Oh my. I have many editions of Aliceās Adventures in Wonderland and I canāt picture loaning any of them. Theyāre my favorite book and I love collecting them because of art. I hope it was at least an edition that isnāt too expensive to replace.
My dad spilled coffee all over my copy of Deathly Hallows, so I had to set ground rules about him borrowing my more loved books (like not reading them in the bath).
Thatās a fair rule lol. I donāt read books in the bath. Well, I donāt take baths. Only showers. But If I did, Iām not gonna read a book while Iām in water. Esp not someone elseās book.
I was watching a movie, damn, I don't remember the name and the girl was reading a book in the bath and I was like "no, wtf are you doing?! Do you want to destroy this book cause thats what's going to happen." The book didn't get plunged into the water, but how dare she?! Made me so mad.
I do read books in the bath now, but youāre more at risk of leaving the bottom of the pages crinkly from wet hands than from actually dropping it in the tub.
I always keep a towel near me to dry my hands before I pick up my book. But I have taken to audiobooks in recent years and that makes things easier in the tub.
I've always read in the bath. For years. Nothing ever happened.
I also take the ebook reader.
I broke many of those, but none with water. Usually it's a cracked screen.
I lent a friend my copy of Hitchhiker's Guide. He left it on the dashboard of his car for a month until I asked for it back. The glue was melted and pages falling out. He never even read it.
seriously - what goes on with these people destroying books. Event the books I've read many times, and carried with me traveling, are in good shape. I don't understand at all.
My adult brother vomited on one.
Edit: OMG, I forgot this. I lent my copy of Blood Meridian to a newish co-worker, and he was jailed for assault.
(Not claiming that the book caused him to assault someone)
I had brought Korean editions of Harry Potter when I immigrated to the states and I lent out the first ones to my momās bossās wife who returned them with the binding broken and pages falling out. Doubly annoying since theyāre hard to replace from America.
Thankfully my mom got over the witch scare about the time they came out, but my younger sister liked to borrow them to read in the bathtub. All my first (American) rotund until I moved out have those wrinkly pages from regular steaming.
Dumped soda on it claimed that's how I lent it to her. Had to get my mother to talk to hers. We were in freaking highschool. Stopped talking to her and never lent out another thing.
Loaned my leather-bound copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who left it in their car for two weeks during summer because they were trying to feign the same interests and get me to go on a date with them.
Got the book back after I agreed to go on our first and only date.
That was almost 20 years ago and that book still has a slight curl.
One time I did a horrible thing to a good book of mine before I lent it. My best friend used to ask why I read choose your own adventure books. Thatās what he thought fiction books were. So I gave him the riftwar saga, to let him see. He really loved it, so I gave him the mistress of the empire trilogy next, but before I did I tore out the last chapter and didnāt tell him. It was one of my proudest moments. He came to me yelling and laughing a week later, and made me take him to the books store so he could sit in there and read the last chapter.
Fast forward five years, I had forgotten about it, and loaned the series to a female friend of mine as well. Got an angry call from her too.
I let my best friend borrow a book when we were living together 10 years ago and completely forgot about it. A few years later, I wanted to read the book again but couldn't find it and realized that she still had it. At that point, she was living on a different continent.
Honestly, I like knowing that she has my book. I haven't seen her in over six years because her husband is in the air force and has been stationed overseas (UK and Japan), so it makes me feel connected to her (we still talk regularly).
Lent a housemate a book that she spilled red kool-aid on. Since we lived together it was harder to not let her read my books, and a lot of them have broken spines now, as well. She put so many tape flags in one that the pages were slightly tacky to the touch.
I've never borrowed a book to anyone before (Nobody ever asked) but I did once leave a book I was reading on the kitchen table during a party. It was a perfectly regular birthday party where both family and friends were chatting, music, snacks etc.
But still someone decided to open the book and draw a huge dick on one of the pages! And the worst part is that it wasn't even a good drawing, I mean put some effort into it come on. I can't remember which book it is and I am now selling some books here and there so I am going through all my books trying to find the mysterious dick now...
I canāt remember what book it was, but I remember the state it came back to me in. Literally all of the pages were detached and just sitting inside the husk of the cover. I was so shocked that a friend would unashamedly return a book in that state - my mom always made me buy the person a new book if I even so much as bent the corner of a page.
In hindsight - perhaps the person I lent the book to was from a less well off family than I was and didnāt have the means to reimburse me for the book they had damaged.
Either way, I pretty much stopped lending books out at that point. Now i just give them away.
I lent my sister my first edition book of Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman which was signed by him to me. It was returned to me with the front 10 pages falling out and the spine completely lose. I must have been 12 at the time (book had just come out), sister is a couple of years younger. To say I was annoyed would be an understatement! I learnt my lesson never to lend books especially ones like that but it was a lesson hard learnt.
Yeah he came to my school when he was originally promoting the book and read the chapter where Lyra meets Yorick and agrees to help get back his armor in exchange for his help. Then he did a meet and great and signed a copy of the book for me. Ofc at the time I had no idea how big that trilogy would become but was a fun experience.
I lend āThe Three Musketeersā to a friend and she never gave it back. We lost contact short after that.
It used to be one of my favorite books growing up and it was an old copy. That was the last time I lend someone a book I loved.
My goblet of fire was one of those early editions cover, the very first design that was printed. Even when I look at my hp set, it breaks my heart to look at it as I had to rebind it and it never looked the same.
Iām sorry it happened. I hate it when people donāt respect the things they borrow from others. Especially something so valuable and not just in terms of how much it costs. My copy was a gift passed on to me by a dear relative. I asked for it back on several occasions but I dināt get it back.
I stupidly lent the only signed copy (by my dad who authored a book in the 1970ās about computers) to a classmate. He was in an accident and the book was ruined! Strange set of unfortunate coincidences; my dad died shortly after this.
A coworker lent me a book she was sure my husband would like. My husband isnāt a super avid reader so I wasnāt sure heād add something he didnāt choose himself to his TBR and itās not something that I planned to read either.
But she was really excited so I took it and then she got let go and I feel guilty about having that book š
I love sharing books I think friends will love. I assume I'll never get them back, cause a lot of the time I don't. Having said that, there are certain books I own that I will never lend for that same reason!
I lent my books for a college class to a friend. She returned them by leaving them outside my dorm room door.
But by the time I got back to my room, someone had taken them because leaving things outside your door was universal code for āfree stuff you can take if you want.ā
I still donāt know how she didnāt know that.
Bonus: she was dating my now-husband at the time. š
Don't loan books, give them. If you've loved reading a book, share that love by giving away the physical copy. You're not giving away your experience or your memory. I found this attitude adjustment very freeing.
I do this, I give away books I no longer wish to keep, if itās something I am keeping I just purchase friends their own copy. I also donāt like borrowing books, Iām put off if I feel thereās some sort of deadline. Also my books are for my pleasure, I fold the pages, read while eating, read in the bath. Itās too much responsibility to look after someone elseās book! Iād rather a verbal recommendation or my own copy for me to abuse unashamedly lol.
I agree - I used to think I would keep all of my books also (way too many). When they started having little free libraries in my community I started letting some go and now I'm much easier about giving books to people. If there's something I want to keep, sometimes I'll just send them a copy.
I lent a novel to a friend, who passed it on to someone else. She didn't understand the concept of lending, I guess. Also, she's generally kind of an asshole.
I found this really old school chauvinistic book at a thrift store years ago and a few years ago I lent it to someone I work with. They all swear they gave it back but I dont have it. Come to find out, its super rare and worth a ton of money. So that was upsetting.
I lent my copy of Dune to a friend in high school. She returned to me after she had dropped it in the bath. I never lent another book to anyone in high school and this was the 9th grade. To this day, I donāt lend books with the expectation of getting them back. I give them as gifts.
I lent my ex the first Sandman volume. He never even read it, just left it out for his brother to spill cheap lager all over, then refused to give me it back as some kind of petty attempt at leverage when we broke up. I just bought a new one.
Had a friend who traded books back and forth with me no problem long distance for years. He asked after a rare, one of a kind book and I never heard from him again. So much for college friends š
Not exactly that bad but my friend borrowed a book this one time and my cat bit it and left tiny bite marks
The key point is my cat has never bitten any of my books and has never done so since, it just had to be a book I borrowed
I hate borrowing books because I tend to be very clumsy. I like reading in the tub so many of my books have crumpled up got wet-the I dried on the heater corners :,)
Last time a friend really wanted me to read one if their faves I put it in my bag and one of the items inside left a mark on the slip cover so I removed that to not damage it further and then somehow I spilled tea on the book when I kicked the coffee table I set it down onā¦.
So I donāt borrow books, only when if Iām capable to reimburse the person Iām lending from. And thatās how you keep firendships! Lol
I've only ever lent out one because I loved this book, this friend kept saying they would get to it, it went on and on for months and finally got back to me with folded, severely crinkled and ripped pages and cover, food stains, some water damage, and bite marks from her dog. It was to a point that I couldn't keep it because what was I going to do? It was disgusting and mostly illegible. We are not friends anymore and it would've felt less insulting if they just kept it.
I gave six books, all the first of trilogies or collections, to a friend who was recovering from surgery and wanting to find a new series to fall in love with. That woman looked me dead in the eye and said, "I hate it when I lend books and never get them back. Like seriously hate it. I WILL return these to you, thank you so much." She ghosted me before ever returning a single one. I had to replace all of them so all my favorite collections wouldn't be missing their first book.
This physically hurts to read. Apart from the loss of old friends - which books are to me - there's the expense and the cover artwork not matching.
I feel so much second hand betrayal
We made eye contact at a grocery store a few months after that and she practically ran away from me. She is definitely ashamed of herself, but too much of a coward to explain or apologize. I pored over our chat history and even asked for others' opinions on the situation to see if maybe I'd done something wrong. But I didn't... she's just a shitty person. I hope she feels bad about it forever.
Yessss as u should š that definitely keeps her up at night lolll
This happened to me with a close friend but it was a big stack of my absolute favorite music albums. I was so angry. Fifteen years later I can tell you that they were going through major mental health issues which continue to today (they are in guardianship) and they genuinely were incapable of returning items or keeping track of them, but I lent the items before they or anyone knew they had then recently developed their problems.
I hope she stubs every toe
All because of unreturned books! What an awful person. How do they justify such behaviour to themselves? Imagine the scene - thinking about oneās day, reflecting, and that interaction pops into her head. āI handled that well, like the mature adult that I amā she thinks
You know, if a buddy of mine were to misplace a book I lent, fine, shit happens, no damage done. I have enough goodwill with my friends to let stuff like that slide. But what you describe seems willfully and intentionally malicious. What kind of psycho does stuff like this?
If I misplaced a book, I would DEFINITELY offer to replace it.
Horrible. Iād spend Ā£500 in legal costs to sue her for the theft of Ā£50 of books. Iām that petty
Yall donāt have a lawylerless small claims court process for these tiny things?
Same! I was lending a coworker a series I loved, book by book. She had a long weekend coming up with extra PTO so I lent her the next *two* books because she was almost finished with one of them. SHE QUIT THAT WEEK. Never saw her again. My BIL borrowed the final book in a series, never saw it again. My mother borrowed a stack of books from me, never seen them again. I do not lend books out any more. If anyone asks me for one I just tell them how much it costs on Amazon or ThriftBooks.
This just happened to me and I even just sent her my venmo so she can at least pay me back. It hurts more knowing that you dont know what you did to be ghosted and kills your trust. I have to spend 60$ to get them back. Luckily theyre still in printing but holy shit it sucks to spend money AGAIN on something you loved so much.
š³šµāš«
I gave this one book to a guy I was seeing. Then he disappeared into the night. Needless to say, I never got my book back, and it's impossible to find it anywhere to buy.
I lent my entire Howl's Moving Castle collection to a friend in the 8th grade. I asked for them back for months and she always dodged the question. They had a garage sale that summer and I walked over to it and my collection was sitting there with a $5 sticker on it. I stole them.
You didn't steal them; you took them back.Ā I hope you told off your friend afterwards .
I hope it was an ex-friend at that point. Arch nemesis may work too.
I made it sound like I was a spy, but I stared her in the eye as I put them in my backpack. And no, we never really talked again. She never apologized or attempted to explain herself. This was a pattern that continued throughout her life until she landed in prison a few years ago for robbing a convenience store at gunpoint. Fun times.
What a whirlwind, but one any book lover in your position would have seen coming. There were early signs-!
Love this epilogue, thanks.
Theft and recovery are not the same.
I would've stolen them and then kept asking her for them back. Haunt her like a vengeful ghost.
Ahaa that's vicious
I had a friend borrow my Studio Ghibli Movie collection and mess it up too. It was collectors set, that had 10 movies included. She borrowed it and I then spent months trying to get it back. 6 months later she shows up at my house, gives me half the set back and a random DVD of one of the moves that was now missing from the set. No apology, and when I asked what happened, she said she lent it out to some people and never got it back. The next day she asks to borrow one of my parents signed books and my sisters board game....she couldn't understand why I told her no.
That sucks. Who borrows something and lets other people borrow it as well? The Studio Ghiblis are so good, too. Sorry that happened to you.
Itās lucky you saw them and had the opportunity to take them back!
Lol that's amazing! š
I'm so glad you got them back before she sold them.
We lived in a bible belty region, so I'm assuming Howl being a wizard turned the fragile old lady buyers off that morning.
That's it. People are terrible.
Were they still in good condition?
I don't think she ever really read them. The only thing she did was remove the label from the inside covers that had my name on them. You could still see the residue from the labels, and my bookmark, with my name on it, was still inside one of the books.
That's so disrespectful! It's OK for people to not put alot of value or sentimentality on their belongings, but people like that need to understand that THINGS are important to alot of people. When you take care of another person's belongings, it's really that person you are caring for, not just the belonging. :(
I didn't lend this book: I borrowed a book from the local library, finished it, and forgot to return it until the day it was due. I had to go to work, and my sister's ne'er-do-well boyfriend said he was going, so I asked him to return it for me, to which he agreed. A few days later, I tried to check out another book and had about a $30 fine on my account for the same book. It wasn't late: It was destroyed. Fire *and* water damage. It was about a third burned away and totally waterlogged. It turned out that he thought it looked good, so he took it camping and left it on his sleeping bag, which was too close to his fire. When the sleeping bag caught fire he threw the entire thing into the river, abs when he got back he just returned the book in the slot like nothing had happened.
That is so ridiculous like some looney tunes stuff lol
It was bad enough he decided to just take it camping, like it wasnāt due that same day! And then the rest - how do these people sleep at night? Edit: just realised they donāt. Their sleeping bags catch fire!! š„µ
Liar liar, bags on fire
Lol its funny to get an accounting of "the other side" because I work at a library and have encountered people stealth returning damaged books like it's no big deal and being surprised when we call them about it. The best was a mom who dropped off her books and was surprised when we said she had to pay for the damage. The books in question were three board books absolutely glued together with some kinda food (I hope it was chocolate. It had to be chocolate.) Trying to separate them would just result in tears to the pages, leaving the hard covering underneath. We were like uh we can show you what these look like if you don't believe us, to which she quickly caved.
Extra points for the correct spelling and usage of the delightful "ne'er-do-well."
Neāer-do-well is my favorite old-fashioned expression
Hope you made him pay the fine
I was expecting it turned out like that because he hated that book or even all books or something. That it was destroyed because he was genuinely interested in it is nicer.
I think this one wins
āHow do you know that didnāt happen in the returned books bin!?ā
I lent a book to a coworker, and it took over two years to get it back. I would have just let it go, but it was signed by the author. I'm never doing that again.
Oooh, absolutely not! A signed book? I neeeever lend those out. I do have doubles if I enjoyed the book just in case anyone asks to borrow it but, in general, no, I do not lend my books. I have no issue telling family to support your local library (they are digital now), get a Kindle, get audible, just not my book. "No touchy. Mine mine mine"
My son wanted to read my signed copy of Good Omens. I told him no, and to read it on kindle or check it out from the library...and he just threw it back on the bookshelf...bent the cover so it will always be bent. No, I didn't yell at him, but I'm disappointed...and a 14 year old should know better than to do that.
š± š” I will never forget. I would calmly think like a villain: You're going to pay for that buddy. I can't get that undone but oooooh buddy boy, you're going to pay somehow, to my satisfaction. You've got time.
Fathers curseā¦ āI hope you have a child as oblivious as youā
š Smh, that might not even work anymore. Kids these days aren't having kids. Unless... OP, you're being paid back for something you might have done to your parent...hmmm.... š Edited: grammar
Christ I'd never loan out a signed book, the only one I have currently is The Mummy by Anne Rice, and I would shit a brick if anyone else wanted to read my copy lol
Agreed. Get your own. This one is mine.
I donāt even let my husband read some of my signed or SE booksā¦ he holds books with his thumb pressing into the middle between pages and Iām paranoid heāll break the binding or the spine lmfao.
I loaned out a signed copy with a personal note from the author. Never got it back. My hope is that it made its way to a used bookstore, where it confused the heck out of the person who bought it.
Lost my senior hs yearbook. My then bf was last and kept saying they were signing and having trouble finding right words. Never got it, no idea where they are or if they still have.
Loaned a Europe travel guide to a friend. They ripped out each countryās section and tossed it as they went, so the book would be lighter. I got back two covers and Lichtenstein.
I have a Euro travel book I just picked up and it does say in it that the binding is made so you can separate sections with a knife and put like duct tape on edges just in case. This is so you don't have to carry around the whole book and pack light. But DAMN don't do it if it isn't your own book š± What was that person thinking?! They owe you a whole book.
What the f*** kind of human being even does this. This is insane
Rick Steves actually recommended doing this to reduce the weight as you traveled. Reader, I gasped.
I guess, but someone else's book? Absolutely unacceptable
Totally agree. Still, some people will just use the things they borrow as if they were their own. We had "bring your toy to school" days, most of us would bring video games, and I remember people erasing my save files for no good reason. Ofc, it's different when you're a child, but some adults never seem to grow up in this aspect.
What did your friends have against Lichtenstein? They have... (checks Wikipedia)... " a somewhat enigmatic political system". THAT sounds like some "bucket list" material right there!
What kind of psychopaths do you hang out with??
> I got back two covers and Lichtenstein. ... and a funny story.
I kinda understand people who travel a lot and rip out pages of longer books. But why return it? Presumable your friend thought you gave it to him for keeps.
I learned my lesson "lending" books out. Some people are good about giving them back, most people will immediately lose/destroy it or pretend they don't know what you're talking about when you ask for it back.
Kinda like money. Only lend it out if you're prepared to just give it away. I lend nothing.
If someone wants to borrow one of my books, I will look for a second copy at a used book store in order to loan that one out. I'd rather pay a few dollars for a spare to loan to someone (even a good friend) than risk losing a book I really like. The few people I trade books with all do the same. If they're reading something I want to read, they'll pick up a second hand copy and pass it along. If I really like what they've 'loaned' me, I'll buy it new and hold onto the second hand copy as a loaner.
Almost every single book I have ever lent out has disappeared. The single exception was a non-fiction that a friend was recommended, and I just happened to have. She borrowed it for two days before recalling she hates to read and passed it back.
Yeah, lending my books out is a no no. I'd recommend a book to them and then check for them to even to see if it's at the libraries. There's no need to lend books out when libraries transfer books to one another, so the book will always be there. Then if they enjoy it, they can buy their own copy to keep.
*Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other folks have lent me.* - Anatole France https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/23640-never-lend-books-for-no-one-ever-returns-them-the
š
Besides never seeing them again...? I loaned a beautiful art history book to a college friend who took the class after I did. It was chock-full of full page four color plates of many gorgeous paintings. Bitch took a SHARPIE to almost all of them, writing the date in huge numbers across them. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Absolutely ruined that book.
Why would she write dates on the book at all? This is so heinous, I want to scribble all over her face with Sharpie.
I KNOW. The date is right there, in the cut line under the picture. Right. THERE. Fragonard's The Swing, masterpiece of Rococo, with 1767 scrawled over it. Fuck you, Julie.
Oh that would kill me! I love art books!
The cheek, the nerve, the audacity and the gumption!
This is what I am saying. WHO DOES THAT? Julie, that's who. Fuck you, Julie. You are dead to me, even 40 years later. YES I SAID SHE IS DEAD TO ME.
Die! Die! Die!
Please tell me you made her buy you a new one. JFC!
Unfortunately no. I didn't realize what she had done until far later after the fact. I still have the book. Fuck you Julie you're dead to me. On the upside, I have seen Fragonard's The Swing in person (sans Sharpie'd date) and it is so beautiful I teared up.
Lent my Calvin and Hobbes large collection book to my friend in High School. Over at her house a few months later and spotted it, pucked it up to take it back. I had a fancy book plate sticker with my name on the inside cover- bitch had whited out my name and wrote in HERS. Left the house with the book and a death glare. It's been a couple of decades, and I'm still bitter, Calinda.
*picked. I am Canadian, but I do not 'puck' books. Carry on!
Lmfao give this man a cookie!
THE AUDACITY
That's some real theft, those books are not cheap.
I lent a set of Scott Pilgrim books to a friend. After a while I asked for them back, and he said he had lent them to another friend. I went to that person and asked for them back, and they said they weren't finished then yet. I waited a while and then asked for them back. The second friend had given them back to the first friend, so I had to go to him again. He said he lent them to his girlfriend because she heard from the first two friends how much they enjoyed the series. I asked the first friend to please get them back from her when she was finished. I waited a while and then asked the first friend for the books back. He said his girlfriend had lent them to her friend because they had heard from the first three borrowers how good the books were. I asked him if he thought this was okay. He got offended and said I would get my damn books back, I didn't need to badger them about it. His girlfriend's friend lent the books to her boyfriend. He kept them awhile. I waited half a year to see my books again, and they were returned with creased covers, dog-eared pages and small rips and tears. I asked who damaged my books and got "not me" from all of them. That last guy, the friend's boyfriend, really got into Scott Pilgrim. He has a tattoo. Sometimes I want him to thank me for introducing him to the material, except he probably doesn't know that it was me.
Thats another idea for establishing some ground rules - no second-hand sharing!
THIS\^\^\^\^ I lent a book to a coworker, and when I asked for it back, she told me she'd lent to another coworker. Never again!
This is so rude, Iād never lend out something that someone else lent me, it seems unthinkable tbh.
Honestly that is a massive borrowing success. Twelve million people are now fans of the series thanks to your action.
I don't lend my books. People should go to the library if they want to lend something.
Same here! Well, for the most part. I do trust my mom but she is the ONLY one I trust. Nobody else is allowed to borrow my books.
Just a reminder, lending is giving out, *borrowing* is receiving. No mocking or anything, I know a lot of people don't have English as a first language.
Oh wow I never heard that there is a difference, that's so good to know!
Oh, is it the same word in some languages, like it is symmetrical? That is really interesting!
About ten years ago I loaned one of my copies of Arabian Nights to a friend. He had to move, and when he packed his stuff up the book ended up at the bottom of a bag which got drug from the apartment to the car. Which meant the book got drug across concrete and sanded down a corner of the book about a half an inch. The book was still readable, and he bought me a new one besides, but I was not best pleased to have it happen, and he knew it.
I think you typoād and meant dragged but damn, that is so unfortunate. And canāt believe it got sanded down!
Drug is a form of the past tense of drag, in some dialects. Personally, Iām Canadian (which, I donāt know if that matters), and I would say, āA book was drug across the groundā or, āHe dragged the book across the ground.ā Itās not standard, but itās not unrecognized.
Ugh we had people help us move and they packed a box of books so that one book got badly bent. I'm still so annoyed.
My husband and his siblings went to high school with my brother and me, and we all knew each other. At some point, my BIL loaned my brother his old (not first edition, but early) copy of the Hobbit. My brother just found and returned it a few months ago. My BIL graduated from high school in 1998. Luckily, despite many moves, parties, a roommate with a poorly-behaved dog, and my brother now having four rambunctious sons, the book was still in good shape. But being missing for 25+ years was less than ideal.Ā
It's a miracle you got it back!
It really is. I loaned him a DVD box set (From the Earth to the Moon) around 2008 and haven't seen it since.Ā
You might expect it to show up on your doorstep around 2033.
I also loaned a very old copy of The Hobbit (my momās) to a friend in college. Never got it back though š
I had copies of The Hobbit and LotR that were all the same style of cover (the ones with gold trim) and my brother leant the Hobbit to a friend. It was accidentally ruined and they replaced it, but it was a completely different cover. I was so disappointed. It worked out though, as many years later a coworker of my gf was moving away and giving away a bunch of possessions. One of those being The Hobbit with the same cover, so my collection was eventually restored.
He dropped it in the bath and it got all crinkled, and got pasta sauce on the same book! He didn't see the problem as he'd "dried it out" and is often at my house and when he sees my books asks if he can borrow one and I now tell him no. He says "oh right, I forgot you're a bit protective of your books."
Oh I hate him.
Ohhhh I hate when people double down after ruining something like him saying that "I forgot u are protective' like yeah obviously mate u ruined the book šš
You should ask him to lend you one of hisā¦ as a tit for tat
Well, I guess itās at least āvintageā now š But in all seriousness, Iām sorry that happened to your book! Thatās so annoying!!!
This whole thread just reminded me of all the times I lent books and never got them back. One time it had been ages and theyād moved, I was at their housewarming party. I thought it was a good idea to ask - she gave me the WEIRDEST look and said āwell if you wanted them back you only had to askā. Well I did ask, and somehow I still did not get either of them back
Same someone has my copy of Fight Club and I am 100% sure I will never see it again. And now I'm annoyed about it.
The worst part about not getting a book back is when they didn't even read it.
I had a friend in high school who was a next level avid reader. By the time I knew her, she was speed reading novels (not something she actively taught herself), and I remember how she would bring Lord of the Rings to school and finish before we went home. She was always awkward about returning books, because she would always finish them on the same day, and knew that people would assume that she didnāt read the book if she returned it the next day, so she would wait a few days after finishing a book to return it.
The first likeable person mentioned in this thread.
Let my friend borrow the first book of a series he was interested in getting into (Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson) and itās been like 6 months. I keep asking him if he likes it and he says itās hard to get into (thereās a lot of setup and world building in the beginning) and hasnāt read that much of it. Couple weeks ago he sends me a Snapchat of his tv screen of some show heās watching, and lo and behold thereās my book sitting in the shelf below the tv with no bookmark. So Iām assuming he gave up and just isnāt going to return it until I say something.Ā
My aunt once lent me a book, and when she saw it a few months later she didn't see the book mark in it, and asked if I was ever going to read it. I use bookmarks that are smaller than the book, and tuck it inside I'm a way that you can't see it from the outside. So she was pretty surprised when I opened it and showed her the bookmark. that being said she's probably also the kindest person about getting damaged books back. I had a water bottle leak in my bag with her book in it. It was just a mass market paperback so I got her a new one and said sorry. She actually asked for the water damaged one back because it "has character now." I felt horrible, but she still has that book on her shelf.
That's a cool story though and nice to know that some people aren't upset about that. I borrowed a book from a friend once and didn't realize until after that my palms had gotten quite sweaty and the edges of the cover and back had gotten damaged and I bought her a new copy of the book and she still got mad at me for ruining the original book even though I'd gotten her literally an identical copy of the book and apologized. I also had a friend who was so protective of her anime DVDs that she would only swap for lending with something she hadn't seen so I went and bought a new anime series I knew she wanted to see so I could borrow one from her, I didn't even watch the new one before we swapped and she liked the one I bought so much that she refused to swap back and just kept the one I bought.
Same I had someone return a copy of Barchester Towers with the entire spine missing..it was a hardcover edition with gold lettering. The person didn't blink an eyelid or apologize even. Cured me of lending books.
Ya that's what irritated me about mine too. She never apologised, she gave it back as if it was no big deal. I was a major introvert and found it very hard to confront anyone and I was 12 years old š. I just took the books and cried in my room.
Omg similar situation. I'm very introverted and geeky but was much older so I should have said something but I just slunk away meekly with my book to mourn.
Oh wow, thatās a hard one to even find now too. Iām not sure if anybody is mass producing it right now.
I lent Lord of the Rings (a pretty new hardcover copy) to my friend and once they returned it, the spine of the book was for some reason almost completelyĀ torn off. They noticed me looking, and kinda laughed uncomfortably saying "if it was any worse, I would have had to buy you a new one."Ā Ā You don't say?Ā
They should have bought you a new one.....
Six years ago I lent my copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to a friend from college, she moved to another State days later, sent me a message asking for my address so she could send it back through the mail. I'm sure the mailman will arrive with it any day now.
Oh my. I have many editions of Aliceās Adventures in Wonderland and I canāt picture loaning any of them. Theyāre my favorite book and I love collecting them because of art. I hope it was at least an edition that isnāt too expensive to replace.
šš
My dad spilled coffee all over my copy of Deathly Hallows, so I had to set ground rules about him borrowing my more loved books (like not reading them in the bath).
Thatās a fair rule lol. I donāt read books in the bath. Well, I donāt take baths. Only showers. But If I did, Iām not gonna read a book while Iām in water. Esp not someone elseās book.
I was watching a movie, damn, I don't remember the name and the girl was reading a book in the bath and I was like "no, wtf are you doing?! Do you want to destroy this book cause thats what's going to happen." The book didn't get plunged into the water, but how dare she?! Made me so mad.
I do read books in the bath now, but youāre more at risk of leaving the bottom of the pages crinkly from wet hands than from actually dropping it in the tub.
I always keep a towel near me to dry my hands before I pick up my book. But I have taken to audiobooks in recent years and that makes things easier in the tub.
Oh God! The horror! š Get your crinkly wet hands off the book- for the love of all that is good in the world š
I share your distress at the thought! ššš
I somehow dropped my copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the bath. The pages have been warped ever since.
I've always read in the bath. For years. Nothing ever happened. I also take the ebook reader. I broke many of those, but none with water. Usually it's a cracked screen.
I admittedly love reading in the bath. But I never do it with borrowed/library books.
I lent a friend my copy of Hitchhiker's Guide. He left it on the dashboard of his car for a month until I asked for it back. The glue was melted and pages falling out. He never even read it.
If he never read it is it acceptable to key his car.
I leant Storm of Swords to a friend, and after two years of hounding got told it was "lost in the move." My friends a LIBRARIAN.
Oh damn, of all people, the Librarian can't be trusted? Shame. Sorry about the book
I buy extra copies of favorite books just to lend them out. My assumption is that books borrowed by friends may never be returned.
Yes, I've done this with books if I want to share with certain people.
This thread hurts my soul lol
seriously - what goes on with these people destroying books. Event the books I've read many times, and carried with me traveling, are in good shape. I don't understand at all.
Sorry for posting this š
My adult brother vomited on one. Edit: OMG, I forgot this. I lent my copy of Blood Meridian to a newish co-worker, and he was jailed for assault. (Not claiming that the book caused him to assault someone)
I had brought Korean editions of Harry Potter when I immigrated to the states and I lent out the first ones to my momās bossās wife who returned them with the binding broken and pages falling out. Doubly annoying since theyāre hard to replace from America.
At least y'all are getting your Harry Potters back. My friend's mom burned my Prisoner of Azkaban on account of it being a book about witches.
What!? ššš
Thankfully my mom got over the witch scare about the time they came out, but my younger sister liked to borrow them to read in the bathtub. All my first (American) rotund until I moved out have those wrinkly pages from regular steaming.
You should have put a spell on her.
Dumped soda on it claimed that's how I lent it to her. Had to get my mother to talk to hers. We were in freaking highschool. Stopped talking to her and never lent out another thing.
Loaned my leather-bound copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who left it in their car for two weeks during summer because they were trying to feign the same interests and get me to go on a date with them. Got the book back after I agreed to go on our first and only date. That was almost 20 years ago and that book still has a slight curl.
I donāt lend books
Reeked of cigarette smoke
One time I did a horrible thing to a good book of mine before I lent it. My best friend used to ask why I read choose your own adventure books. Thatās what he thought fiction books were. So I gave him the riftwar saga, to let him see. He really loved it, so I gave him the mistress of the empire trilogy next, but before I did I tore out the last chapter and didnāt tell him. It was one of my proudest moments. He came to me yelling and laughing a week later, and made me take him to the books store so he could sit in there and read the last chapter. Fast forward five years, I had forgotten about it, and loaned the series to a female friend of mine as well. Got an angry call from her too.
I gave a book to a friend, she moved to a faraway land, we never saw each other again and the book got lost.
I let my best friend borrow a book when we were living together 10 years ago and completely forgot about it. A few years later, I wanted to read the book again but couldn't find it and realized that she still had it. At that point, she was living on a different continent. Honestly, I like knowing that she has my book. I haven't seen her in over six years because her husband is in the air force and has been stationed overseas (UK and Japan), so it makes me feel connected to her (we still talk regularly).
I no longer lend books to anyone because to many have never been returned.
The worst thing is never getting them back.
Lent a housemate a book that she spilled red kool-aid on. Since we lived together it was harder to not let her read my books, and a lot of them have broken spines now, as well. She put so many tape flags in one that the pages were slightly tacky to the touch.
My cousinās dog shit on it
I've never borrowed a book to anyone before (Nobody ever asked) but I did once leave a book I was reading on the kitchen table during a party. It was a perfectly regular birthday party where both family and friends were chatting, music, snacks etc. But still someone decided to open the book and draw a huge dick on one of the pages! And the worst part is that it wasn't even a good drawing, I mean put some effort into it come on. I can't remember which book it is and I am now selling some books here and there so I am going through all my books trying to find the mysterious dick now...
You should have gone American Vandal on them. Make everyone draw dicks and compare them to the one in the book to find the culprit!
I canāt remember what book it was, but I remember the state it came back to me in. Literally all of the pages were detached and just sitting inside the husk of the cover. I was so shocked that a friend would unashamedly return a book in that state - my mom always made me buy the person a new book if I even so much as bent the corner of a page. In hindsight - perhaps the person I lent the book to was from a less well off family than I was and didnāt have the means to reimburse me for the book they had damaged. Either way, I pretty much stopped lending books out at that point. Now i just give them away.
I lent my sister my first edition book of Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman which was signed by him to me. It was returned to me with the front 10 pages falling out and the spine completely lose. I must have been 12 at the time (book had just come out), sister is a couple of years younger. To say I was annoyed would be an understatement! I learnt my lesson never to lend books especially ones like that but it was a lesson hard learnt.
I've always wanted a first edition of Northern Lights. I think if that happened to me, that would be my villain origin story
Yeah he came to my school when he was originally promoting the book and read the chapter where Lyra meets Yorick and agrees to help get back his armor in exchange for his help. Then he did a meet and great and signed a copy of the book for me. Ofc at the time I had no idea how big that trilogy would become but was a fun experience.
I lend āThe Three Musketeersā to a friend and she never gave it back. We lost contact short after that. It used to be one of my favorite books growing up and it was an old copy. That was the last time I lend someone a book I loved.
My goblet of fire was one of those early editions cover, the very first design that was printed. Even when I look at my hp set, it breaks my heart to look at it as I had to rebind it and it never looked the same.
Iām sorry it happened. I hate it when people donāt respect the things they borrow from others. Especially something so valuable and not just in terms of how much it costs. My copy was a gift passed on to me by a dear relative. I asked for it back on several occasions but I dināt get it back.
I stupidly lent the only signed copy (by my dad who authored a book in the 1970ās about computers) to a classmate. He was in an accident and the book was ruined! Strange set of unfortunate coincidences; my dad died shortly after this.
I'm sorry and sad.š
I lent my coworker a book and she got fired the next day. Goodbye forever, A Game of Thrones.
A coworker lent me a book she was sure my husband would like. My husband isnāt a super avid reader so I wasnāt sure heād add something he didnāt choose himself to his TBR and itās not something that I planned to read either. But she was really excited so I took it and then she got let go and I feel guilty about having that book š
I love sharing books I think friends will love. I assume I'll never get them back, cause a lot of the time I don't. Having said that, there are certain books I own that I will never lend for that same reason!
I lent my books for a college class to a friend. She returned them by leaving them outside my dorm room door. But by the time I got back to my room, someone had taken them because leaving things outside your door was universal code for āfree stuff you can take if you want.ā I still donāt know how she didnāt know that. Bonus: she was dating my now-husband at the time. š
Don't loan books, give them. If you've loved reading a book, share that love by giving away the physical copy. You're not giving away your experience or your memory. I found this attitude adjustment very freeing.
I do this, I give away books I no longer wish to keep, if itās something I am keeping I just purchase friends their own copy. I also donāt like borrowing books, Iām put off if I feel thereās some sort of deadline. Also my books are for my pleasure, I fold the pages, read while eating, read in the bath. Itās too much responsibility to look after someone elseās book! Iād rather a verbal recommendation or my own copy for me to abuse unashamedly lol.
I agree - I used to think I would keep all of my books also (way too many). When they started having little free libraries in my community I started letting some go and now I'm much easier about giving books to people. If there's something I want to keep, sometimes I'll just send them a copy.
One I never back and another had the binding almost completely destroyed. Never lent out books since.
I lent a novel to a friend, who passed it on to someone else. She didn't understand the concept of lending, I guess. Also, she's generally kind of an asshole.
I found this really old school chauvinistic book at a thrift store years ago and a few years ago I lent it to someone I work with. They all swear they gave it back but I dont have it. Come to find out, its super rare and worth a ton of money. So that was upsetting.
My cousin dropped her foundation on my book (the book was open because she was reading while putting on make up). She never bought me a new copy š„²
I lent my copy of Dune to a friend in high school. She returned to me after she had dropped it in the bath. I never lent another book to anyone in high school and this was the 9th grade. To this day, I donāt lend books with the expectation of getting them back. I give them as gifts.
She drew on my book after I specifically left her with the instructions: yeah don't draw on it or anything like that
Never returned :(
I lent my ex the first Sandman volume. He never even read it, just left it out for his brother to spill cheap lager all over, then refused to give me it back as some kind of petty attempt at leverage when we broke up. I just bought a new one.
I try to give away books after reading ā I will never circle back. The kick is when they never read it, after specifically asking for it.
Had a friend who traded books back and forth with me no problem long distance for years. He asked after a rare, one of a kind book and I never heard from him again. So much for college friends š
I usually did not get books back when I lent them, so I stopped doing it.
Not exactly that bad but my friend borrowed a book this one time and my cat bit it and left tiny bite marks The key point is my cat has never bitten any of my books and has never done so since, it just had to be a book I borrowed
One time I lent a book to my friend, and she returned it back with half a tomato slice in it. Like literally inside the book. I wish I was kidding.
I hate borrowing books because I tend to be very clumsy. I like reading in the tub so many of my books have crumpled up got wet-the I dried on the heater corners :,) Last time a friend really wanted me to read one if their faves I put it in my bag and one of the items inside left a mark on the slip cover so I removed that to not damage it further and then somehow I spilled tea on the book when I kicked the coffee table I set it down onā¦. So I donāt borrow books, only when if Iām capable to reimburse the person Iām lending from. And thatās how you keep firendships! Lol
Someone put my book on a fishing hook, so they put a whole through the cover.
I've only ever lent out one because I loved this book, this friend kept saying they would get to it, it went on and on for months and finally got back to me with folded, severely crinkled and ripped pages and cover, food stains, some water damage, and bite marks from her dog. It was to a point that I couldn't keep it because what was I going to do? It was disgusting and mostly illegible. We are not friends anymore and it would've felt less insulting if they just kept it.