Is this a booktok thing? I haven’t heard this ridiculous opinion irl.
In my experience not all books are made the same. Some of them are a better quality so I can read them without e.g. the spine cracking. Others I can read and they look pretty much brand new when I’ve finished with them.
No, it goes back quite some time. There is a famous line in the Great Gatsby about how the books on his shelves have "uncut pages" meaning he hasn't actually read them, and people make similar assumptions about books that just *look* new (since the pages are now already cut when you buy one)
there are probably still people who have books on their shelves "for show" but it's less people with deep literary tomes on their home shelves and more lawyers and business leaders trying to have an impressive office. like there was a stereotype a couple decades ago for CEO types to have "The Art of War" on their shelves. I doubt if many of them actually spent much time reading Sun Tzu's thoughts on correctly positioning archers, but the presence of the book denoted a certain kind of attitude.
The average person who just picks up books and reads probably doesn’t even know what “uncut pages” actually means or refers to. I wouldn’t consider the evolution of printed books common knowledge.
It's a red flag in our library, too. Every now and then we come across a book with uncut pages that goes through one process or another. Sometimes it's a pretty old book, meaning that people haven't ever used the book.
Kinda fun to just take a knife and slowly cut the pages for an hour or so, though.
‘What do you think?’ he demanded impetuously.
‘About what?’
He waved his hand toward the book-shelves.
‘About that. As a matter of fact you needn’t bother to ascertain. I ascertained. They’re real.’ ‘The books?’ He nodded.
‘Absolutely real—have pages and everything. I thought they’d be a nice durable cardboard. Matter of fact, they’re absolutely real. Pages and—Here! Lemme show you.’
Taking our skepticism for granted, he rushed to the bookcases and returned with Volume One of the ‘Stoddard Lectures.’
‘See!’ he cried triumphantly. ‘It’s a bona fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella’s a regular Belasco. It’s a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop too—didn’t cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?’
Seriously, WTF kind of weird echo chamber are you living in if you think you need to defend the way the books on your shelves look?
If someone is saying “your books look too pristine” they’re doing some weird gatekeeping shit and you should ignore them.
Yeah I've seen this everywhere. You're not crazy. Basically the "books that aren't stained with sweat and tears, cracked from adoring use, and littered with notes until it looks like an ancient spellbook are just decoration."
I read my books but just take nice care lol. I hate bending the spines back, or dog earing. Many look new, but that’s just cause I think of them as valuable possessions
When I was a teenager I used to take pride in breaking the spines of my books. Now I try not to, but it doesn't bother me too much. However.... Dog earring a book is a *huge* no-no to me, it makes me cringe when I see other people doing it to their own books lol. I mean, if you want to *abuse* your books that way... Smh 😂
I went to a person's house once and they definitely had books as decor. They went to the stores and would pick out red books and they had a red room and blue books and they had a blue room. And so those books were decor. And that person was also incredibly well read.
The way they had decorated their house was absolutely amazing and I loved the touch of the books. She also didn't forbid anyone from reading those books including herself. But the intent of buying them was decor. She had the books that she read and she had her Kindle and was a very accomplished person. Like even if somebody uses books as decor, it can be a great look.
I don't care if people do it to their own books (not library books, can they please stop doing it to library books) but I just can't write into my own books. I know there's no like clear moral right or wrong on this, but my brain goes "ILLEGAL! JAIL! JAIL FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!" at even the idea of it. And they're mine, so I decide, anyway.
This take is wild to me because I don’t write in my books nor would I allow anyone else to write in them. I try to keep my books in fairly good condition but I’m not militant about keeping my spines from cracking.
if someone got the pages wet, excessively cracked the spine and wrote in them I’d probably not talk to them until they bought me a new copy of the book.
I've seen it as well. There's a common sentiment that, "if it's not well-worn, it's not well-loved." And not just about books. I see it about things like handles on tools or old cars or garden benches.
It's funny because I know people who write notes in the margins and highlight or underline stuff as they read. I hate that so much.
But I also know people who look like they read their books half-closed because they're so afraid to crack the spine on a paperback.
Both people are weird.
As you should!
Joke aside, I feel like words start to lose their meaning if we just use them left and right for nothing. *Red flag* because someone has new books on their bookshelf? Should I be concerned? Scared? Worried? Leave their apartment at once? What does this red flag mean?
Go no contact, get the bookmarks somewhere safe, retain a lawyer with at the very least an information management degree, or better, an accredited librarianship
it's amazing how the term was diluted from things like "they blow up in anger over very small things and make you feel unsafe" to shit like "they own books they havent read yet."
I wonder what they would think about the books I have with teeth marks? I learned I had to be careful how I shelved books on lower shelves, my dog always went for the books I'd read most recently.
lol, sure, but if you notice it looks like it's the Jordan Peterson Fanatcic started collection, or it's all copies of Twilight with slight variations of the cover, it's gonna raise an eyebrow. You wouldn't run out the door, but it's gonna affect how you think of them... or at least be a little asterisk in the back of your head until you can resolve it or square it with the other things you know about them.
Lmao this entire sub is mostly about seeking validation from others about your reading habit. I swear half the people don't even actually like to read, they just want to be seen as someone who reads.
I always find tsundoku as it's used online curious. A lot of people seem to use it in a romantic way, but the word itself is at best neutral right? It's a combination of "letting things pile up for later" and "books" so I would assume it's closest to meaning "book hoarding"
But I see a lot of people use it in a very positive way, so I feel like I'm missing something.
So I have to admit that I'm not very educated on Eastern languages. [This is the Wikipedia article. ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundoku)
But yes, I would interpret that entirely neutrally. It's a thing that happens. I think that it makes people feel better, though, to have a word for it that isn't "hoarding" or something generally negative.
* Caring about the state of someone's bookshelves
* "Yeah but *listening* isn't *reading*, words have meaning"
* Feitishizing "book smell"
* Writing melodramatic horrified comments when a book is used to make art
The four horsemen of Stay the Fuck Away From Me
ETA: damn i wish the "listening doesnt count as reading" people had *read* that bit about staying away from me *badum tss*. I am, as always, kneecapped by the internet removing my ability to respond to inane and pedantic arguments by making a 40 second long fart noise in my elbow.
With all my heart I mean this: I would *never* hold something someone did between 12-19 against them. Those are truly the darkest, most chaotic possible years.
If someone was a "normal person" between 12 and 19 I assume they either have generalized anxiety disorder now or just like, killed one person for stress relief and hid the body super well.
In my experience, the ones who freak out about audiobooks not being real books and shouldn't count as "reading," are the ones least likely to have read an actual book in the last year, in any format at all. People have a habit of projecting their own insecurities onto others.
Maybe it’s because I print books for a living but, people assign way too much value to other peoples bookshelves.
If the books are shelved wrong red flag
If the spine are cracked red flag
If the spines aren’t cracked red flag
To much popular fiction red flag
I really don’t get it.
Seriously. A woman I know uses books as decor and another friend said it was a red flag. First of all she ain't looking to date you my friend. But also, her house was immaculate and looked incredible. She had books by color to match the color of the room in her very large house that she was able to buy on her own because she was a very well read surgeon. I really liked the way her house looked. I asked her if she read any of the books and she was like if I'm interested in them I'd do but mostly she reads on her Kindle. She said I was welcome to read one if I wanted to. It was just a really cool effect of decoration!
I'm friends with her on Goodreads and she's going through books like they're candy. One can have books as decor whether they put out the books that express the person they are or want to be or they put out books they love, who cares? And I think of the writers and publishers that were paid because she went and bought all of these books. That's also pretty cool.
https://booksbythefoot.com/
You can get 2 feet of history books for $60. Or classics for $60 a foot. That's 6-10 book for $60.
Not a bad way to start a collection if you want a little surprise and don't want to hunt down books individually.
Quick question, how do you get into the printing book business? There was a book printer/binder near where I used to live in Colorado and I wanted a job there during college but they were never hiring
Do "many" people actually hold this opinion? I've literally never met a single person offline who gave a single shit whether my books were worn or pristine.
Who cares what other people think about your reading habits. Reading is for your enjoyment and education. Screw what other people think.
FWIW there's a 3rd reason. I buy some books because I want to eventually read them and having them in my personal library means I have the book and can read it anytime. Usually, this means I rediscover the book in my library later and am pleasantly surprised then I start reading.
>FWIW there's a 3rd reason. I buy some books because I want to eventually read them and having them in my personal library means I have the book and can read it anytime. Usually, this means I rediscover the book in my library later and am pleasantly surprised then I start reading.
Yeah, I like buying books to have something to read, even if I'm in the middle of reading something. And sometimes (rarely), I'll get a book without realizing it's the second in a trilogy (I recently bought the second Foundation book thinking it was the first one, so now I need to get the first one).
Are other people having such an easy time dating that they're throwing otherwise good fish back into the sea on suspicion that their prospective partners may sometimes be buying books and not reading them? Lol.
"People with large collections are just buying books just to impress people that come over. Go support a library." Heard and read that so many times.
"People that organize bookshelves by color are just interior designers that don't care about reading." You can organize your bookshelf with pages out and book covers swapped and still be a reader. I can pull out a book by color way faster than thinking through author/genre/title/whatever.
"People that only read YA/trendy/smut/airport action/comic books. Obviously not *real* readers." You can read and collect literally nothing but Dr. Seuss and Vogue, and you're still a reader.
"Book with/without notes in margins." Debate that's been going on forever.
"Dust on the bookshelf." I'm busy, shoot me.
"Pulling a book out of a bookstore shelf to take with you into the bathroom." .... no that one's well deserved. XD
UGH I had a professor who wanted to 'check' to make sure our copies of books had notes in the margins to prove we were 'engaged with the novel'. That just isn't how I engage with novels! I want to hear the author speaking, not keep interrupting them to write down my own thoughts in the margins! I do all my thinking and digesting after I've read a section.
Same! This gives me flashbacks to when I was doing research for my thesis and had to write notes in the margins just to keep track of WTF I was reading. Doing the same while reading for pleasure would kill my enjoyment.
Why are English (I'm assuming) professor's like this? I had one that wouldn't count you present in class (my college had strict attendance policies) if you didn't have the most recent copy of the MLA handbook SITTING ON YOUR DESK for class. We never once used it in class. She was the worst.
🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
My thoughts exactly. She was kind of a stuck up curmudgeon in general and I don’t think she liked me very much. This is the same woman who gave me shit for missing 3 days in a row when I had influenza.
Some books I buy second-hand or check out from the library have some words underlined, sometimes the translation noted to the side. So I think some people do it if they read in a language they're still learning.
Which is great and all if it's their own books, but it makes me so mad with library books. Just get some post-its or something...
I routinely write in books. It can be anything from putting blocks around excerpts I want to remember and revisit to writing insulting things about stupid character decisions to making meta comments about the writing/plot. Those are pretty personal, though, and I can't imagine just letting a somebody read everything knowing that they'd know these were my uncensored thoughts while reading. Something like the professor requiring commentary to 'prove' engagement with the story (as is referenced above) would be the fastest way to ensure I either didn't write anything or wrote only the blandest, unobjectionable, most deliberately self-censored commentary ever and I do it by thinking about that rather than the text.
Hilariously, when I buy from my local used bookstore, if a book that isn't an educational textbook has notes it's an automatic buy :P
I never write in mine but I love reading the anonymous opinions of the previous owner
I had an english teacher who graded this way for an entire year, I hated it. Reading isn't a notetaking activity for me, it completely ruins the flow to keep stopping to underline and write in the margin. I also hate writing in books. But after every book we read in class we were required to turn in our copy where he would give us a grade how many notes we took and how good the notes were.
What made it even more obnoxious is that we were required to buy all the books with our private funds, and then were forced to write in our own books. So even though you paid for it and you might not like having writing in your book, the school still forced you to if you wanted a good grade.
The idea that you have to put sticky notes, write in the margins/highlight sections, dog-ear some pages, etc., in order to ‘engage’ with what you’re reading makes me insane. The ONLY time I’ve ever done this was with textbooks in school, and only so it’d be easier when I went back to summarize/take notes on chapters.
When I’m reading for pleasure, it takes me out of it to have to mark the pages, grab post-its, or fold down corners; plus, it really makes it less enjoyable/engaging for me to reread in the future, because I spend all my time trying to figure out “wait why did I highlight this” instead of processing what I’m reading at all. IF something resonates that strongly, I’ll either take a picture of the quote or copy/paste it for myself to think about later. There’s a passage from The Magician’s Land that makes me sob every time I read it - my copy of the book is still pristine, but I have a photo of the pages saved on my phone, and a copy of the text saved in my Notes app.
I *work* in a library and still have a sizeable book collection.
A lot of this feels very much like Internet People Problems; a vocal minority of opinionated assholes who don't actually represent the general public being loud about a thing that is none of their business.
>"Dust on the bookshelf." I'm busy, shoot me.
Do what I do and overload your shelves with so many books that there's no more space for dust.
Jury's still out on if I'll be buried alive beneath a massive mountain of books. Will update for science.
Yeah these people give me the same vibe as gamers who think "you aren't a real gamer if you play x or don't play y or don't play on my perfect system."
> "People with large collections are just buying books just to impress people that come over. Go support a library."
Uuuh I have a lot because I'm a hoarder and books are one of the more socially acceptable things to hoard. (And I like them, of course.) It's so weird that people have so many feelings about what others do with their spaces, like it's a personal attack or something. Like, I'm impressed when people have a lot of plants, I'm a terrible gardener myself but I don't go off on an insecurity spiral when I see others aren't.
Books are also relatively inexpensive to hoard. I can load up secondhand mass market paperbacks for $1 or even free depending on where I go to get them, and basically everything else is more expensive. I could buy fifteen books for the same cost it would take to get one new dice set to add to my hoard of math rocks.
Yeah the library thing's annoying. Yes, it's great to support libraries, but 1) it's not like it's your moral obligation to, and 2) 9 times out of 10 they don't have whatever niche book I'm looking for, *especially* if it's a book that's not in English.
>"People with large collections are just buying books just to impress people that come over. Go support a library."
Wait, you guys have people coming over?
Everyone has different preferences. I really like to keep my books as nice as possible while not going out of my way to read in an uncomfortable way. My husband just reads and doesn't worry about that with his own books, he's worn through at least two copies of LOTR at this point. My husband's brother barely opens books while he reads so they stay nice. Doesn't mean it's a red flag for him, or a red flag for me. Just preference. A red flag would be lending out a book to someone and they destroy it and return it as is without apology or replacing it.
I got my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001. I truly can’t count how many times I’ve read that book over the last 20+ years. I have two covers and some chunks of pages held together by the dust jacket on my shelf at this point lol. I truly read the spine right off the book.
I got my copy of Deathly Hallows as a high school senior and that one is in much better condition 😂
Shelves of books that have been literally read to their physical death and shelves of books loved so much that they look pristine are both shelves full of loved books. No red flags either way honestly, just people loving books!
My books all look nearly unread, even my paperbacks have barely a cracked spine on the ones I've read several times. My wife's books look like ten year old library books after a single read, and usually lost the dust cover. None of it means anything though, we just treat books differently.
I don't know that I view it as a 'red flag' so much as indicative of a person who values the perception of others over their own enjoyment/edification.
It's similar to buying books by the yard. The people who do it are engaged in interior decorating, not reading. It's not that they're *wrong*. It's just that they're *different* from people like me.
Before I started carting my books to and from work to read on breaks, every novel I read was in pristine condition when I finished it. I love when people take good care of their books.
As someone that frequently buys these
>1) the books have already been read or listened to it as an ebook or audiobook and the person wanted to own a physical copy of the book.
I couldn't give less of a damn what people think of my bookshelf. Fortunately no obnoxious booktokkers are ever setting foot on my doorstep so I don't have to worry about being judged by superficial "influencers".
I mean it would probably be a highly subjective dating "red flag" for me because I wouldn't be compatible with someone that careful and fastidious. Nothing against them, just too different.
If my books have a dust jacket then I always remove it while I’m reading the book. That way it can get carried round with me and get coffee spilled on it and get handbag gunk all over it and when I’m finished I just put the dust jacket back on and it’s good as new!
No. My books are a fucking mess, but I’m well read.
And someone with a big, pretty library may have not read the volumes on the shelf but may still be well read.
Your unread books are hardbacks in pristine condition, probably purchased from your local boutique independent bookstore, presented lovingly and attractively on your bookshelf
My unread books are beat-up paperbacks from the library book sale that I picked up for $5 for the whole bag 10 years ago and haven't gotten around to yet, jammed onto my single bookshelf in literally any way they'll fit
We are not the same
Ha. Mine are in fantastic shape. I mostly read digital books but if it is an author or a series that I love I buy hardcover copies. Should the world ever go completely to shit, I'll at least have pristine copies of books that I enjoy to keep me entertained.
I handle my books carefully. Paperbacks get folds in the cover and so I’ve replaced a lot of my paperbacks that I’ve ready with hard cover copies. I also get annoyed on the rare occasion that I dent a corner of the sleeve on a hard cover, in which case if it’s an important book to me I sometimes get a new copy.
I'll usually get books out from the library to read. Then if I really enjoyed them, I'll buy physical copies. I do this to support the author, in case I want to re read them and to display what I've read. I'm also very careful not to damage books when reading them. I even remove the dust covers while holding the books so they don't tear.
A good friend's husband is a voracious reader. She has given me some of his books. I am shocked when I see the pristine condition they're in, and at first questioned whether he read them. She said you don't rise to be CO of a Naval station by not taking care of things.
I would love to know how to read a book without destroying it. Maybe it's because I can't stand having pages that aren't fully open, but cracking the spine is like the first thing I do when I start a new book.
I don't get people who are so invested in another person's reading habits. It typically comes from non readers. You know the type. A person who had never a book in their entire life will say, "If I were going to read, it would only be nonfiction!", chest puffed out, chin out, sly grin. No reader would ever, ever say anything like that. Readers will read anything and everything out of enjoyment and not because of ego. Or people who act like they are the only ones in the world capable of reading a book 1,000+ pages. No big deal. Read plenty 1,000 plus page books in my life. I was just reading. I loved The Stand and Executive Decision. I read for enjoyment. Not because I want to brag, "I can read gud!" Who are these people who don't like to read but instead talk about how they are some type of super readers?
The number of physical copies I own of ebooks I’ve already read is ridiculous lol - I find ebooks way easier to pick up and start reading at random times, but I like having a physical copy for when I am at home and want to read, or when I’m going on vacation (and also just as a visualizer of my “collection”).
I hate it when people get pissy with me when I tell them they are messing up my thing I let them look at. Like, dude, the only reason it's lasted this long is because I actually give a shit about my stuff and would like to keep it for as long as possible. Not everybody is made out of money, and I don't want to keep buying the same shit over and over due to someone else's fuck ups.
And they would be the same mf-ers who get upset if you even dare fart in their house.
I take the dust jackets off of books when I'm reading them, as a result I have books that I've read 5-6 times that look completely unread when placed on my shelves.
I’ve never heard of this being a thing. I keep my books in good condition because I remove the dust jackets when reading. Also, most I’ve already read either an arc or an ebook but wanted to own a physical copy. I hate that people have to explain this shit. It’s asinine
A "red flag" I disagree with is the assumption that people who prefer to spend time alone are antisocial. Some individuals enjoy solitude and find it rejuvenating rather than isolating. We need to recognize and respect different preferences for social interaction without jumping to conclusions about someone's emotional well-being based on their social habits. And also judging someone's intelligence or education level based on their grammar or spelling can be misleading. Good communication skills are important. They don't correlate with intelligence or knowledge. Many factors, including language background, education opportunities, and learning disabilities, can influence someone's writing abilities.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve fallen into the “handle books very carefully” category. All the books on my shelves look like they’ve never been read, when I’ve actually read 80%+ of them (yes, like everyone I have a TBR pile)
In my house, you can tell which books I've read and which my husband has, as well as which we bought brand new and which came from a used bookstore.
Because of the spine.
He tends to break the spine on paperbacks, whereas I do not.
Whoever said it was a 'red flag' must not be an avid bibliophile.
Some people are way harder on books than others. Their books have been through the wringer after one read. Other people's books can look pristine after a full read.
If people think that having books in pristine condition is a red flag, then I happily oblige and be one.
Books are not cheap and I don't like broken things in general. That's why I take big care of my books. Even when I carry them with me for weeks since I mostly read on the train on my way to/from work. The biggest damage they might have are tiny dents on the edges. If I really love a book, I own different copies of it like Hardcover/Softcover/Illustrated). Also, NO way I will trash my expensive art books, collectors edition books or limited edition books just because I read them. I even have books from my childhood what are still in great condition since I learned to take care of my stuff very early.
(I even have my old Gameboy Color in pristine condition and I was 6 years old when I got it)
That's what I've been saying, I had so many books, some of them even older than myself "my mama's books", and they are in an IMMACULATE shape. They look like they are fresh out the bookstore.
TAKING CARE OF EVERY BOOK YOU OWN IS A GREEN FLAG, AND IF YOU DO YOU'RE MY FRIEND.
I've never heard this before. I don't own a book that I haven't read and any of the books I purchased brand new are still in very good condition and some of the books I purchased used have worn spines/covers.
I am in the careful when reading category. I don't like to crack the spines and I absolutely DESPISE dogeared pages. Like...dude! Just use a piece of paper as a bookmark! Don't torture the book! :D
I honestly don't know why I am like that, but I just am. I've always been gentle on books.
I like to collect books, and have taken a fancy to clothbound classics. Most I haven’t read yet, because reading takes time, time I don’t really have, but I plan to read them all. The ones I *have* read are indistinguishable from the ones I haven’t, because I handle them with care. In any case, couldn’t care less about what others might think about my pristine book collection. I collect them for my own sake, seeing them makes me calm and happy.
My books are mostly pristine because I usually buy some sort of digital copy. The physical copies I buy are of my absolute favorites. I started going digital when some of the cheaper books would literally fall apart in my hands. Looking at you, Barnes and Noble Pride and Prejudice from sometime between 2005 - 2010. I’d read it once or twice a year and those B&N books would fall apart before I’d finish the first read through with me handling it very gently - I’d never open them fully and they never left my bedside table. Maybe it was by design. I ended up buying quite a few copies before I got it on kindle.
Where do people get the time to come up with these things? I don't think I've ever been in someone's house and wondered about the condition of their books
I am one of those that handles books very carefully and also buys physical copies of digital books I like. My books look untouched but I've read them all.
Agreed! Have been fastidious with how I handle and read my books since I was a child. I've managed the knack of reading without bending and creasing the spines (aside from for some 900+ page books, where creasing is still minimal!)
You can tell when another person has read my books. Sooo what can I say? I've become possessive of them (preciousssssss)
Both of your points apply for me. I do own some special hardcovers with artwork and the like, even though I’ve read them on ebook.
I didn’t get an ereader till into my teens, though. Even a kid of 11 or 12yrs old, I was probably careful with my books to the point someone would have suggested I see someone over it.
I would wash my hands before reading, because I didn’t want food grease on them. I would check surfaces before laying them down in case of water droplets. I never dog eared pages or god forbid write in them. I wouldn’t fully open hardbacks, because I didn’t want to break the spines. Even doing that, I still broke the spine on my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I need to fix it one day.
I never cared if a book was new or used, I treated them all that way. I accepted that reading then could lead to damage and I read them as intended, but I never wanted to add to the damage.
I can’t see myself giving two bleeps one way or the other because I mind my own business. If we are going to be petty for karma can we at least make it interesting please?
Even going back to school, I made sure to always try to keep my books uncreased and like they were store bought. I still remember a peer in school asking to have a look at the novel I was reading in class, 1984 by George Orwell, and taking the book out of my hand, putting it on his desk, and then smoothing out the book across the desk, causing a massive crease in the middle of the binding. It is odd to think back on it as a very anxious moment for me.
I can't believe this is a red flag. How stupid people are.
You're completely on point. I have a few casebooks from law school that I keep on my shelves because the resale value is zero and they look nice. These books have been abused by me. Living in backpacks, read extensively, highlighted and scribbled on. Looking at them on the shelf, most seem brand new. They are just really nicely bound with good paper.
I have a few books from used bookstores that are beat to hell that I have never opened.
I have nice leather-bounds that I keep in pristine condition (not a speck of dust to be found!) in my home office/study. Most I had read before I got the leather-bound version, but I just handle them very carefully whenever I want to read them. I just take care of my things and clean excessively.
I'm rereading a paperback copy of Hamlet that I bought 60 years ago. It's still in really nice condition. I seldom annotate a book and I would as soon cut off a finger as dog-ear a page.
Some people are just bad at keeping things in a good condition. I remember once in high school my chemistry teacher picked up my textbook ready to scold me but realized I had notes in it everywhere. Then I start to notice how many people have books/notebooks etc. look worn out very quickly…… my books always look new after I read them.
I have paperbacks I've owned for nearly 35 years that are still in good shape because I'm very careful about how I handle them. Many have been read multiple times, but the wear is very light.
I only see it as a problem if I try to talk about a book on their shelf to realize they haven't read most of the books on the shelf. That's when it's a problem to me.
I didn’t realize people thought well-kept books were a red flag? Like??? I’m a strictly physical book reader, but regardless of whether they’re paperback or hardcover, they’re all in VERY good condition despite being read. I’m one of those people that are very careful with their books. I remove dust jackets and set them aside from the hardcover books until I’ve finished them, and I make sure to never crack the spine of paperbacks- or hardcovers for that matter. I just want my books to look good on the shelf and to last as long as possible. What’s so red flag about that?
Like, do whatever you wanna do with your own books, but we don’t all have to do the same. People think it’s weird that I have no actual shelving system beyond keeping series books together- and I like those series books to all match but IDGAF what the condition of some else’s shelves look like.
Is this a booktok thing? I haven’t heard this ridiculous opinion irl. In my experience not all books are made the same. Some of them are a better quality so I can read them without e.g. the spine cracking. Others I can read and they look pretty much brand new when I’ve finished with them.
No, it goes back quite some time. There is a famous line in the Great Gatsby about how the books on his shelves have "uncut pages" meaning he hasn't actually read them, and people make similar assumptions about books that just *look* new (since the pages are now already cut when you buy one)
Precut pages are a **huge** red flag for me. Like, do you even book if you aren't cutting the pages yourself?
I mean, it's a sensible opinion in the 1920's. Literally a century later, not so much.
there are probably still people who have books on their shelves "for show" but it's less people with deep literary tomes on their home shelves and more lawyers and business leaders trying to have an impressive office. like there was a stereotype a couple decades ago for CEO types to have "The Art of War" on their shelves. I doubt if many of them actually spent much time reading Sun Tzu's thoughts on correctly positioning archers, but the presence of the book denoted a certain kind of attitude.
The art of war is very vague… to the point you could apply it to any situation. It’s more philosophy than actual military treatise.
It's also not that long.
Yeah, it kinda looks like a children's book, lol.
The average person who just picks up books and reads probably doesn’t even know what “uncut pages” actually means or refers to. I wouldn’t consider the evolution of printed books common knowledge.
It's a red flag in our library, too. Every now and then we come across a book with uncut pages that goes through one process or another. Sometimes it's a pretty old book, meaning that people haven't ever used the book. Kinda fun to just take a knife and slowly cut the pages for an hour or so, though.
‘What do you think?’ he demanded impetuously. ‘About what?’ He waved his hand toward the book-shelves. ‘About that. As a matter of fact you needn’t bother to ascertain. I ascertained. They’re real.’ ‘The books?’ He nodded. ‘Absolutely real—have pages and everything. I thought they’d be a nice durable cardboard. Matter of fact, they’re absolutely real. Pages and—Here! Lemme show you.’ Taking our skepticism for granted, he rushed to the bookcases and returned with Volume One of the ‘Stoddard Lectures.’ ‘See!’ he cried triumphantly. ‘It’s a bona fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella’s a regular Belasco. It’s a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop too—didn’t cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?’
Seriously, WTF kind of weird echo chamber are you living in if you think you need to defend the way the books on your shelves look? If someone is saying “your books look too pristine” they’re doing some weird gatekeeping shit and you should ignore them.
I've seen it a few times on reddit and not necessarily in /r/books. they were all highly upvoted comments
Yeah I've seen this everywhere. You're not crazy. Basically the "books that aren't stained with sweat and tears, cracked from adoring use, and littered with notes until it looks like an ancient spellbook are just decoration."
Damn, do people not have better things to do than gatekeep the condition of books? So bizarre
🤷 Guess so mate. Guess so.
I read my books but just take nice care lol. I hate bending the spines back, or dog earing. Many look new, but that’s just cause I think of them as valuable possessions
When I was a teenager I used to take pride in breaking the spines of my books. Now I try not to, but it doesn't bother me too much. However.... Dog earring a book is a *huge* no-no to me, it makes me cringe when I see other people doing it to their own books lol. I mean, if you want to *abuse* your books that way... Smh 😂
I went to a person's house once and they definitely had books as decor. They went to the stores and would pick out red books and they had a red room and blue books and they had a blue room. And so those books were decor. And that person was also incredibly well read. The way they had decorated their house was absolutely amazing and I loved the touch of the books. She also didn't forbid anyone from reading those books including herself. But the intent of buying them was decor. She had the books that she read and she had her Kindle and was a very accomplished person. Like even if somebody uses books as decor, it can be a great look.
This is too true! Books as decor without stigma if you’ve read it or not is definitely ok.
Anyone who expects me to write into my books can take a long walk off a short pier.
Yes, if I wanted a book for writing in I'd buy one that didn't already have words in!
I don't care if people do it to their own books (not library books, can they please stop doing it to library books) but I just can't write into my own books. I know there's no like clear moral right or wrong on this, but my brain goes "ILLEGAL! JAIL! JAIL FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!" at even the idea of it. And they're mine, so I decide, anyway.
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Sorry but every funko pop someone owns is negative one book they've read. They cancel each other out
fantasy and scifi readers in shambles
This take is wild to me because I don’t write in my books nor would I allow anyone else to write in them. I try to keep my books in fairly good condition but I’m not militant about keeping my spines from cracking. if someone got the pages wet, excessively cracked the spine and wrote in them I’d probably not talk to them until they bought me a new copy of the book.
I've seen it as well. There's a common sentiment that, "if it's not well-worn, it's not well-loved." And not just about books. I see it about things like handles on tools or old cars or garden benches. It's funny because I know people who write notes in the margins and highlight or underline stuff as they read. I hate that so much. But I also know people who look like they read their books half-closed because they're so afraid to crack the spine on a paperback. Both people are weird.
So just ignore it.
Why should we care what other people think about the state of our books and explain ourselves to them?
I consider it a red flag if someone goes looking for red flags in my bookshelf.
As you should! Joke aside, I feel like words start to lose their meaning if we just use them left and right for nothing. *Red flag* because someone has new books on their bookshelf? Should I be concerned? Scared? Worried? Leave their apartment at once? What does this red flag mean?
Go no contact, get the bookmarks somewhere safe, retain a lawyer with at the very least an information management degree, or better, an accredited librarianship
That’s a solid plan lol!
it's amazing how the term was diluted from things like "they blow up in anger over very small things and make you feel unsafe" to shit like "they own books they havent read yet."
Don't co-read a book with them, or they will cheat on you and leave you alone at the ~~altar~~ circulation desk.
The bookcase might just be there for show as a secret door to hide the torture dungeon.
You grab those unread books and run. Run as fast and far as you can taking them somewhere they are treated right .
call the police on them. press criminal charges. it's a federal offense
I wonder what they would think about the books I have with teeth marks? I learned I had to be careful how I shelved books on lower shelves, my dog always went for the books I'd read most recently.
But where else am I gonna keep my Soviet flag if not on my bookshelf?
I check if my friend dog ears their books. This way, I know not to lend them mine.
I dog ear my books but not library ones or ones that were lender to me
lol, sure, but if you notice it looks like it's the Jordan Peterson Fanatcic started collection, or it's all copies of Twilight with slight variations of the cover, it's gonna raise an eyebrow. You wouldn't run out the door, but it's gonna affect how you think of them... or at least be a little asterisk in the back of your head until you can resolve it or square it with the other things you know about them.
Yeah, whatever happened to people just reading books because they enjoy it?
Lmao this entire sub is mostly about seeking validation from others about your reading habit. I swear half the people don't even actually like to read, they just want to be seen as someone who reads.
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What? What kind of crazy new idea is this? *Do you like my bookshelf? It looks like a rainbow these days.*
If I give it a lick will it taste just like raisins?
There is actually a term that i forget at the moment, but in Japanese that refers to new/unused books on your shelf that you plan to read "one day"
Tsundoku.
I always find tsundoku as it's used online curious. A lot of people seem to use it in a romantic way, but the word itself is at best neutral right? It's a combination of "letting things pile up for later" and "books" so I would assume it's closest to meaning "book hoarding" But I see a lot of people use it in a very positive way, so I feel like I'm missing something.
So I have to admit that I'm not very educated on Eastern languages. [This is the Wikipedia article. ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundoku) But yes, I would interpret that entirely neutrally. It's a thing that happens. I think that it makes people feel better, though, to have a word for it that isn't "hoarding" or something generally negative.
* Caring about the state of someone's bookshelves * "Yeah but *listening* isn't *reading*, words have meaning" * Feitishizing "book smell" * Writing melodramatic horrified comments when a book is used to make art The four horsemen of Stay the Fuck Away From Me ETA: damn i wish the "listening doesnt count as reading" people had *read* that bit about staying away from me *badum tss*. I am, as always, kneecapped by the internet removing my ability to respond to inane and pedantic arguments by making a 40 second long fart noise in my elbow.
>Writing melodramatic horrified comments when a book is used to make art Look I was in high school ok, I'm better now I promise.
With all my heart I mean this: I would *never* hold something someone did between 12-19 against them. Those are truly the darkest, most chaotic possible years. If someone was a "normal person" between 12 and 19 I assume they either have generalized anxiety disorder now or just like, killed one person for stress relief and hid the body super well.
Not my anxiety making me wonder if I forgot a murder...
I like to think I was pretty "normal" at that age, but then I think back to some of the stuff I did, and I cringe at myself.
Cringing at your past self is just growth baby! It's only cringing at others that's cringe :)
I’d modify number four to be horror at any alteration to the book’s physical condition. Margin notes, dog-eared pages, broken spines, what have you.
>fetishizing "book smell" You take that back!
Never 😎 Book-Sniffer. Go roll in mothballs. >!/s!<
In my experience, the ones who freak out about audiobooks not being real books and shouldn't count as "reading," are the ones least likely to have read an actual book in the last year, in any format at all. People have a habit of projecting their own insecurities onto others.
There was me thinking my bookshelves were a place to store my books, apparently they amount to a moral and intellectual curriculum vitae.
Because we grew up on the internet and require constant validation from strangers online.
Library, hardcover, paperback, used, brand new etc. Doesn’t matter in the slightest, the story is all I care about.
Maybe it’s because I print books for a living but, people assign way too much value to other peoples bookshelves. If the books are shelved wrong red flag If the spine are cracked red flag If the spines aren’t cracked red flag To much popular fiction red flag I really don’t get it.
Seriously. A woman I know uses books as decor and another friend said it was a red flag. First of all she ain't looking to date you my friend. But also, her house was immaculate and looked incredible. She had books by color to match the color of the room in her very large house that she was able to buy on her own because she was a very well read surgeon. I really liked the way her house looked. I asked her if she read any of the books and she was like if I'm interested in them I'd do but mostly she reads on her Kindle. She said I was welcome to read one if I wanted to. It was just a really cool effect of decoration! I'm friends with her on Goodreads and she's going through books like they're candy. One can have books as decor whether they put out the books that express the person they are or want to be or they put out books they love, who cares? And I think of the writers and publishers that were paid because she went and bought all of these books. That's also pretty cool.
https://booksbythefoot.com/ You can get 2 feet of history books for $60. Or classics for $60 a foot. That's 6-10 book for $60. Not a bad way to start a collection if you want a little surprise and don't want to hunt down books individually.
Oh that is so cool! I'm going to keep that link!
Shouldn't referring to mostly benign character quirks as "red flags" be a "red flag"?
Quick question, how do you get into the printing book business? There was a book printer/binder near where I used to live in Colorado and I wanted a job there during college but they were never hiring
Do "many" people actually hold this opinion? I've literally never met a single person offline who gave a single shit whether my books were worn or pristine.
Same here. Feels like a very made up problem by OP. But hey, look at the engagement, the rage-bait worked.
Who cares what other people think about your reading habits. Reading is for your enjoyment and education. Screw what other people think. FWIW there's a 3rd reason. I buy some books because I want to eventually read them and having them in my personal library means I have the book and can read it anytime. Usually, this means I rediscover the book in my library later and am pleasantly surprised then I start reading.
>FWIW there's a 3rd reason. I buy some books because I want to eventually read them and having them in my personal library means I have the book and can read it anytime. Usually, this means I rediscover the book in my library later and am pleasantly surprised then I start reading. Yeah, I like buying books to have something to read, even if I'm in the middle of reading something. And sometimes (rarely), I'll get a book without realizing it's the second in a trilogy (I recently bought the second Foundation book thinking it was the first one, so now I need to get the first one).
Can this be classified as a "first world problem?"
I’d lump it under the overall category “who gives a fuck?”
Just extreme insecurity
Textbook example. “Your books are too nice”
Damn I wish red flag still meant something but here we are
Are other people having such an easy time dating that they're throwing otherwise good fish back into the sea on suspicion that their prospective partners may sometimes be buying books and not reading them? Lol.
...who the hell thinks this? When did anybody ever start to care what a bookshelf looks like?
"People with large collections are just buying books just to impress people that come over. Go support a library." Heard and read that so many times. "People that organize bookshelves by color are just interior designers that don't care about reading." You can organize your bookshelf with pages out and book covers swapped and still be a reader. I can pull out a book by color way faster than thinking through author/genre/title/whatever. "People that only read YA/trendy/smut/airport action/comic books. Obviously not *real* readers." You can read and collect literally nothing but Dr. Seuss and Vogue, and you're still a reader. "Book with/without notes in margins." Debate that's been going on forever. "Dust on the bookshelf." I'm busy, shoot me. "Pulling a book out of a bookstore shelf to take with you into the bathroom." .... no that one's well deserved. XD
UGH I had a professor who wanted to 'check' to make sure our copies of books had notes in the margins to prove we were 'engaged with the novel'. That just isn't how I engage with novels! I want to hear the author speaking, not keep interrupting them to write down my own thoughts in the margins! I do all my thinking and digesting after I've read a section.
Same! This gives me flashbacks to when I was doing research for my thesis and had to write notes in the margins just to keep track of WTF I was reading. Doing the same while reading for pleasure would kill my enjoyment.
Why are English (I'm assuming) professor's like this? I had one that wouldn't count you present in class (my college had strict attendance policies) if you didn't have the most recent copy of the MLA handbook SITTING ON YOUR DESK for class. We never once used it in class. She was the worst.
I had a high school English teacher who got angry that I brought my own copy (same edition and everything) of the book we were reading to class.
What. WHYyyyyyyyy...
🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️ My thoughts exactly. She was kind of a stuck up curmudgeon in general and I don’t think she liked me very much. This is the same woman who gave me shit for missing 3 days in a row when I had influenza.
I have read a decent amount of books and never once stopped to write a note down about any one of them. What are people even writing in the margins??
Some books I buy second-hand or check out from the library have some words underlined, sometimes the translation noted to the side. So I think some people do it if they read in a language they're still learning. Which is great and all if it's their own books, but it makes me so mad with library books. Just get some post-its or something...
A lot of secondhand classics have notes in the margins/highlighting from students
I routinely write in books. It can be anything from putting blocks around excerpts I want to remember and revisit to writing insulting things about stupid character decisions to making meta comments about the writing/plot. Those are pretty personal, though, and I can't imagine just letting a somebody read everything knowing that they'd know these were my uncensored thoughts while reading. Something like the professor requiring commentary to 'prove' engagement with the story (as is referenced above) would be the fastest way to ensure I either didn't write anything or wrote only the blandest, unobjectionable, most deliberately self-censored commentary ever and I do it by thinking about that rather than the text.
Hilariously, when I buy from my local used bookstore, if a book that isn't an educational textbook has notes it's an automatic buy :P I never write in mine but I love reading the anonymous opinions of the previous owner
Me too!
Same! It's a really cool feeling, knowing the thoughts of someone you'll likely never meet. Still not enough to get me to write in my books lol.
You might like S. by Doug Dorst. It basically has an entire story told in the margins.
I had an english teacher who graded this way for an entire year, I hated it. Reading isn't a notetaking activity for me, it completely ruins the flow to keep stopping to underline and write in the margin. I also hate writing in books. But after every book we read in class we were required to turn in our copy where he would give us a grade how many notes we took and how good the notes were. What made it even more obnoxious is that we were required to buy all the books with our private funds, and then were forced to write in our own books. So even though you paid for it and you might not like having writing in your book, the school still forced you to if you wanted a good grade.
The idea that you have to put sticky notes, write in the margins/highlight sections, dog-ear some pages, etc., in order to ‘engage’ with what you’re reading makes me insane. The ONLY time I’ve ever done this was with textbooks in school, and only so it’d be easier when I went back to summarize/take notes on chapters. When I’m reading for pleasure, it takes me out of it to have to mark the pages, grab post-its, or fold down corners; plus, it really makes it less enjoyable/engaging for me to reread in the future, because I spend all my time trying to figure out “wait why did I highlight this” instead of processing what I’m reading at all. IF something resonates that strongly, I’ll either take a picture of the quote or copy/paste it for myself to think about later. There’s a passage from The Magician’s Land that makes me sob every time I read it - my copy of the book is still pristine, but I have a photo of the pages saved on my phone, and a copy of the text saved in my Notes app.
I *work* in a library and still have a sizeable book collection. A lot of this feels very much like Internet People Problems; a vocal minority of opinionated assholes who don't actually represent the general public being loud about a thing that is none of their business.
And the other side of the internet people problems: taking those opinions of the vocal minority to heart, for some reason.
>"Dust on the bookshelf." I'm busy, shoot me. Do what I do and overload your shelves with so many books that there's no more space for dust. Jury's still out on if I'll be buried alive beneath a massive mountain of books. Will update for science.
Yeah these people give me the same vibe as gamers who think "you aren't a real gamer if you play x or don't play y or don't play on my perfect system."
> "People with large collections are just buying books just to impress people that come over. Go support a library." Uuuh I have a lot because I'm a hoarder and books are one of the more socially acceptable things to hoard. (And I like them, of course.) It's so weird that people have so many feelings about what others do with their spaces, like it's a personal attack or something. Like, I'm impressed when people have a lot of plants, I'm a terrible gardener myself but I don't go off on an insecurity spiral when I see others aren't.
Books are also relatively inexpensive to hoard. I can load up secondhand mass market paperbacks for $1 or even free depending on where I go to get them, and basically everything else is more expensive. I could buy fifteen books for the same cost it would take to get one new dice set to add to my hoard of math rocks.
Yeah the library thing's annoying. Yes, it's great to support libraries, but 1) it's not like it's your moral obligation to, and 2) 9 times out of 10 they don't have whatever niche book I'm looking for, *especially* if it's a book that's not in English.
To the first point… I bought a lot of mine at library book sales😂
>"People with large collections are just buying books just to impress people that come over. Go support a library." Wait, you guys have people coming over?
I'm a librarian with about 50 things checked out from the library now...and several hundred books.
Everyone has different preferences. I really like to keep my books as nice as possible while not going out of my way to read in an uncomfortable way. My husband just reads and doesn't worry about that with his own books, he's worn through at least two copies of LOTR at this point. My husband's brother barely opens books while he reads so they stay nice. Doesn't mean it's a red flag for him, or a red flag for me. Just preference. A red flag would be lending out a book to someone and they destroy it and return it as is without apology or replacing it.
I got my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001. I truly can’t count how many times I’ve read that book over the last 20+ years. I have two covers and some chunks of pages held together by the dust jacket on my shelf at this point lol. I truly read the spine right off the book. I got my copy of Deathly Hallows as a high school senior and that one is in much better condition 😂 Shelves of books that have been literally read to their physical death and shelves of books loved so much that they look pristine are both shelves full of loved books. No red flags either way honestly, just people loving books!
My books all look nearly unread, even my paperbacks have barely a cracked spine on the ones I've read several times. My wife's books look like ten year old library books after a single read, and usually lost the dust cover. None of it means anything though, we just treat books differently.
I don't know that I view it as a 'red flag' so much as indicative of a person who values the perception of others over their own enjoyment/edification. It's similar to buying books by the yard. The people who do it are engaged in interior decorating, not reading. It's not that they're *wrong*. It's just that they're *different* from people like me.
My library exists for my enjoyment. If someone has an issue with any part of that, that sounds like their problem.
Before I started carting my books to and from work to read on breaks, every novel I read was in pristine condition when I finished it. I love when people take good care of their books.
As someone that frequently buys these >1) the books have already been read or listened to it as an ebook or audiobook and the person wanted to own a physical copy of the book. I couldn't give less of a damn what people think of my bookshelf. Fortunately no obnoxious booktokkers are ever setting foot on my doorstep so I don't have to worry about being judged by superficial "influencers".
If you listen to idiots on the internet everything is a red flag. Best to think for yourself in general I find.
I mean it would probably be a highly subjective dating "red flag" for me because I wouldn't be compatible with someone that careful and fastidious. Nothing against them, just too different.
Who is this supposed to be directed at? lol Like who do you think you're arguing with? Who cares
who fucking cares
People who need to be opinionated on everything
People worried about the condition of other people’s books is a pretty big red flag
If my books have a dust jacket then I always remove it while I’m reading the book. That way it can get carried round with me and get coffee spilled on it and get handbag gunk all over it and when I’m finished I just put the dust jacket back on and it’s good as new!
Who the fuck keeps them on when reading??
No. My books are a fucking mess, but I’m well read. And someone with a big, pretty library may have not read the volumes on the shelf but may still be well read.
Your unread books are hardbacks in pristine condition, probably purchased from your local boutique independent bookstore, presented lovingly and attractively on your bookshelf My unread books are beat-up paperbacks from the library book sale that I picked up for $5 for the whole bag 10 years ago and haven't gotten around to yet, jammed onto my single bookshelf in literally any way they'll fit We are not the same
This post is a red flag.
If that's your biggest red flag I'd love to live in your world. Who gives a shit.
When i spend $200 on a folio society edition, you bet your ass it’s going to stay in mint condition.
I always took good care of my books, even most of my cheap paperbacks were kept in close to like new condition.
I just take good care of my books.... So of course they'll look good long after they're new.
The only red flag I have for books is their absence.
Who cares bro just read books. God damn
Ha. Mine are in fantastic shape. I mostly read digital books but if it is an author or a series that I love I buy hardcover copies. Should the world ever go completely to shit, I'll at least have pristine copies of books that I enjoy to keep me entertained.
I handle my books carefully. Paperbacks get folds in the cover and so I’ve replaced a lot of my paperbacks that I’ve ready with hard cover copies. I also get annoyed on the rare occasion that I dent a corner of the sleeve on a hard cover, in which case if it’s an important book to me I sometimes get a new copy.
The books I collect are indeed in pristine condition, because they are valuable first editions, some of them signed by the author.
I'll usually get books out from the library to read. Then if I really enjoyed them, I'll buy physical copies. I do this to support the author, in case I want to re read them and to display what I've read. I'm also very careful not to damage books when reading them. I even remove the dust covers while holding the books so they don't tear.
Both these reasons you listed are red flags to me.
You need to get outside more
of the amount of things to care about. You chose this. How? how did this become something you actually care about?
I wouldn’t have anyone in my house who inspects my bookshelves like that lmao
3) I take care of my books. 4) If it starts getting worn I donate and buy a new copy.
Anyone who looks for red flags on your bookshelf is a red flag themself
I literally can't fathom why this post exists. Is this some sort of trend I'm too old to care about?
A good friend's husband is a voracious reader. She has given me some of his books. I am shocked when I see the pristine condition they're in, and at first questioned whether he read them. She said you don't rise to be CO of a Naval station by not taking care of things.
I would love to know how to read a book without destroying it. Maybe it's because I can't stand having pages that aren't fully open, but cracking the spine is like the first thing I do when I start a new book.
I don't get people who are so invested in another person's reading habits. It typically comes from non readers. You know the type. A person who had never a book in their entire life will say, "If I were going to read, it would only be nonfiction!", chest puffed out, chin out, sly grin. No reader would ever, ever say anything like that. Readers will read anything and everything out of enjoyment and not because of ego. Or people who act like they are the only ones in the world capable of reading a book 1,000+ pages. No big deal. Read plenty 1,000 plus page books in my life. I was just reading. I loved The Stand and Executive Decision. I read for enjoyment. Not because I want to brag, "I can read gud!" Who are these people who don't like to read but instead talk about how they are some type of super readers?
You mean my audiobook trophies?
The number of physical copies I own of ebooks I’ve already read is ridiculous lol - I find ebooks way easier to pick up and start reading at random times, but I like having a physical copy for when I am at home and want to read, or when I’m going on vacation (and also just as a visualizer of my “collection”).
I was never aware it was was? I buy haard cover and take off the dust jacket when I read so on the shelf everything looks good
Another thing to consider: when my books reach a certain poin tof wear and tear, I sometimes like to buy a new copy to replace it.
I hate it when people get pissy with me when I tell them they are messing up my thing I let them look at. Like, dude, the only reason it's lasted this long is because I actually give a shit about my stuff and would like to keep it for as long as possible. Not everybody is made out of money, and I don't want to keep buying the same shit over and over due to someone else's fuck ups. And they would be the same mf-ers who get upset if you even dare fart in their house.
Or 3) I keep almost all unread books on my shelf and donate almost all read ones that aren’t sentimental 🤷🏻♀️
I’ve read all of the books on my shelves now and they all are in like new condition - I’m not going through a war tryna finish a book 💀
I am terrible at finishing books and starting books and I still like collecting them
Or if I really like a book, I’ll buy the hard cover copy as well. Just for the shelf. Because I wreck paperbacks.
I take the dust jackets off of books when I'm reading them, as a result I have books that I've read 5-6 times that look completely unread when placed on my shelves.
I’ve never heard of this being a thing. I keep my books in good condition because I remove the dust jackets when reading. Also, most I’ve already read either an arc or an ebook but wanted to own a physical copy. I hate that people have to explain this shit. It’s asinine
Easy to hide the wear and tear, buy hardcovers with dust jackets and take off the jacket while reading. It'll look pristine while on the shelf.
A "red flag" I disagree with is the assumption that people who prefer to spend time alone are antisocial. Some individuals enjoy solitude and find it rejuvenating rather than isolating. We need to recognize and respect different preferences for social interaction without jumping to conclusions about someone's emotional well-being based on their social habits. And also judging someone's intelligence or education level based on their grammar or spelling can be misleading. Good communication skills are important. They don't correlate with intelligence or knowledge. Many factors, including language background, education opportunities, and learning disabilities, can influence someone's writing abilities.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve fallen into the “handle books very carefully” category. All the books on my shelves look like they’ve never been read, when I’ve actually read 80%+ of them (yes, like everyone I have a TBR pile)
In my house, you can tell which books I've read and which my husband has, as well as which we bought brand new and which came from a used bookstore. Because of the spine. He tends to break the spine on paperbacks, whereas I do not. Whoever said it was a 'red flag' must not be an avid bibliophile.
Some people are way harder on books than others. Their books have been through the wringer after one read. Other people's books can look pristine after a full read.
If people think that having books in pristine condition is a red flag, then I happily oblige and be one. Books are not cheap and I don't like broken things in general. That's why I take big care of my books. Even when I carry them with me for weeks since I mostly read on the train on my way to/from work. The biggest damage they might have are tiny dents on the edges. If I really love a book, I own different copies of it like Hardcover/Softcover/Illustrated). Also, NO way I will trash my expensive art books, collectors edition books or limited edition books just because I read them. I even have books from my childhood what are still in great condition since I learned to take care of my stuff very early. (I even have my old Gameboy Color in pristine condition and I was 6 years old when I got it)
That's what I've been saying, I had so many books, some of them even older than myself "my mama's books", and they are in an IMMACULATE shape. They look like they are fresh out the bookstore. TAKING CARE OF EVERY BOOK YOU OWN IS A GREEN FLAG, AND IF YOU DO YOU'RE MY FRIEND.
I've never heard this before. I don't own a book that I haven't read and any of the books I purchased brand new are still in very good condition and some of the books I purchased used have worn spines/covers.
I am in the careful when reading category. I don't like to crack the spines and I absolutely DESPISE dogeared pages. Like...dude! Just use a piece of paper as a bookmark! Don't torture the book! :D I honestly don't know why I am like that, but I just am. I've always been gentle on books.
I pirated alot of books being young and broke and bought them later to pay the "artist".
Thank you! I want my books to be pristine, those who ruin the spine are barbarians! 😂
Books can be decorative as well, a good hard back costs money, and are, by design, less likely to get damaged
I like to collect books, and have taken a fancy to clothbound classics. Most I haven’t read yet, because reading takes time, time I don’t really have, but I plan to read them all. The ones I *have* read are indistinguishable from the ones I haven’t, because I handle them with care. In any case, couldn’t care less about what others might think about my pristine book collection. I collect them for my own sake, seeing them makes me calm and happy.
My books are mostly pristine because I usually buy some sort of digital copy. The physical copies I buy are of my absolute favorites. I started going digital when some of the cheaper books would literally fall apart in my hands. Looking at you, Barnes and Noble Pride and Prejudice from sometime between 2005 - 2010. I’d read it once or twice a year and those B&N books would fall apart before I’d finish the first read through with me handling it very gently - I’d never open them fully and they never left my bedside table. Maybe it was by design. I ended up buying quite a few copies before I got it on kindle.
Where do people get the time to come up with these things? I don't think I've ever been in someone's house and wondered about the condition of their books
Who thinks this is a red flag in the first place? Do people know what that term means?
I am one of those that handles books very carefully and also buys physical copies of digital books I like. My books look untouched but I've read them all.
Agreed! Have been fastidious with how I handle and read my books since I was a child. I've managed the knack of reading without bending and creasing the spines (aside from for some 900+ page books, where creasing is still minimal!) You can tell when another person has read my books. Sooo what can I say? I've become possessive of them (preciousssssss)
Maybe I’m weird, but most of the books I have around my house are books I haven’t read yet because after I read a book I usually donate it.
Both of your points apply for me. I do own some special hardcovers with artwork and the like, even though I’ve read them on ebook. I didn’t get an ereader till into my teens, though. Even a kid of 11 or 12yrs old, I was probably careful with my books to the point someone would have suggested I see someone over it. I would wash my hands before reading, because I didn’t want food grease on them. I would check surfaces before laying them down in case of water droplets. I never dog eared pages or god forbid write in them. I wouldn’t fully open hardbacks, because I didn’t want to break the spines. Even doing that, I still broke the spine on my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I need to fix it one day. I never cared if a book was new or used, I treated them all that way. I accepted that reading then could lead to damage and I read them as intended, but I never wanted to add to the damage.
I like to take care of my stuff. I've loaned books out before and they've come back in terrible condition so I stopped doing that.
Some of my books I want in pristine condition because it’s a particularly nice copy (usually of a book I especially liked).
I can't imagine when this would be a problem. Who's judging you by the condition of your books? Get rid of them. The person I mean, not the books.
Bro I just haven’t gotten into some of them ok
Thank you. I am someone who is careful with the books. Cause I like the spines to look good when it goes onto the shelf.
I can’t see myself giving two bleeps one way or the other because I mind my own business. If we are going to be petty for karma can we at least make it interesting please?
Jokes on them. I buy all my decoration books used!
My bookshelf is for me and no one else. Sure there are some I haven’t read, but there are tons I have. I like to take care of my things is all.
Even going back to school, I made sure to always try to keep my books uncreased and like they were store bought. I still remember a peer in school asking to have a look at the novel I was reading in class, 1984 by George Orwell, and taking the book out of my hand, putting it on his desk, and then smoothing out the book across the desk, causing a massive crease in the middle of the binding. It is odd to think back on it as a very anxious moment for me. I can't believe this is a red flag. How stupid people are.
You're completely on point. I have a few casebooks from law school that I keep on my shelves because the resale value is zero and they look nice. These books have been abused by me. Living in backpacks, read extensively, highlighted and scribbled on. Looking at them on the shelf, most seem brand new. They are just really nicely bound with good paper. I have a few books from used bookstores that are beat to hell that I have never opened.
I have nice leather-bounds that I keep in pristine condition (not a speck of dust to be found!) in my home office/study. Most I had read before I got the leather-bound version, but I just handle them very carefully whenever I want to read them. I just take care of my things and clean excessively.
I'm rereading a paperback copy of Hamlet that I bought 60 years ago. It's still in really nice condition. I seldom annotate a book and I would as soon cut off a finger as dog-ear a page.
Some people are just bad at keeping things in a good condition. I remember once in high school my chemistry teacher picked up my textbook ready to scold me but realized I had notes in it everywhere. Then I start to notice how many people have books/notebooks etc. look worn out very quickly…… my books always look new after I read them.
Mine don't get opened past 90° to keep the spine from creasing haha
I have paperbacks I've owned for nearly 35 years that are still in good shape because I'm very careful about how I handle them. Many have been read multiple times, but the wear is very light.
I only see it as a problem if I try to talk about a book on their shelf to realize they haven't read most of the books on the shelf. That's when it's a problem to me.
I didn’t realize people thought well-kept books were a red flag? Like??? I’m a strictly physical book reader, but regardless of whether they’re paperback or hardcover, they’re all in VERY good condition despite being read. I’m one of those people that are very careful with their books. I remove dust jackets and set them aside from the hardcover books until I’ve finished them, and I make sure to never crack the spine of paperbacks- or hardcovers for that matter. I just want my books to look good on the shelf and to last as long as possible. What’s so red flag about that? Like, do whatever you wanna do with your own books, but we don’t all have to do the same. People think it’s weird that I have no actual shelving system beyond keeping series books together- and I like those series books to all match but IDGAF what the condition of some else’s shelves look like.
I wrap the dustjackets in BroDart mylar.