Allow me to restate the question. Do you write you name in your books? Personally, I can’t understand the impulse to take a nice clean book and scribble your name in it. And whenever I borrow a book from someone who’s done this I feel like they don’t trust me.
My wife, on the other hand, is a name writer. She also puts in the date she got the book (at least the year). She says this is because she likes to know when she got it. Sort of like a diary entry and I have long ago gotten used to Mrs. Trion’s love of documenting things.
Finally, I was originally under the impression that this was a female habit until I found my own brother doing it. For shame!
So, do you do this thing? And why (or why not)? And finally, for the sake of science – male or female?
Oh, yes, yes, yes, I do this. You betcha. Although mine is in the form of a bookplate instead of just writing. It’s not that I don’t trust people, but I know how forgetful my friends can be with their own stuff. Plus, I’ve had books find their way back to me by, say, Mike, who borrowed it from Harley, who borrowed it from Ken, who borrowed it from Matt, who read it after his wife-who I loaned it to in the first place-finished it. All because they knew whose it was. Always. All my books that I want to keep.
Oh, and I’m female. But my son and daughter both put name plates in their books, as does my SYL if the book is important to him-like his gold leafed, leather bound copies of Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Complete Sherlock Holmes.
I’m not really a book keeper. If I manage not to loose them when I move (which is quite a bit as I rent) I generally end up giving them to somebody and don’t get them back.
I only have a few books that I keep away from other people so I don’t loose them.
Oh and in the interest of science, I’ve got a penis.
Oh, yes, I absolutely put my name in my books so that they will come back to me if I lend them to friends. Instead of bookplates, I use a stone name-seal I bought in Beijing. It has my first name in English and my last name in phonetic Chinese. Underneath I write the date I puchased the book.
I usually write my name and the year in as well, although probably less now than I did when I was younger. It is kind of interesting to go through a box of books and find my maiden name along with 1980 typed (yes, I used to type it) on the inside cover. I enjoy seeing what year I bought the book, and it usually brings back memories.
Actually, I use those return address labels I get from non-profit agencies*. Not only does the book have my name in it, then the person borrowing it has NO EXCUSE not to return the book to me. (And I keep a list of every book and who borrowed it when! mwahahahahahaha!)
If I end up selling or giving away the book, I merely blot out my name and address or remove the label completely.
You know, when you make a donation to “Help-Build-A-Home-For-The-Endangered-Religious-Paralyzed-Environmental-Veteran’s-Terminally-Ill-Children’s-Abused-Animals” and end up on every other organization’s mailing list. Return address labels are an inexpensive premium as an enticement for a donation. And before you jump on me, yes, I work for a non-profit organization, and donations are a big part of a non-profit’s survival.
Female.
But when I’m wearing my genealogy hat, I would definitely appreciate seeing my ancestors’ names in old books that find in an attic. Families used to write down the name of every family member in the family Bible. That is usually a prime source of info for genealogists.
I only do if I’m loaning them out to someone. I treasure my books and don’t want them finding a permanent home in someone else’s house just 'cause they can’t remember who they borrowed it from!
Sorry, Opal, I only have 2 conditions, but I’ve heard about you and lists.
I just can’t seem to bring myself to mar a hardcover book. I also generally won’t lend hardcovers either. I have been known to have two copies of a book, one in hardcover that sits on the shelf, and one in paperback that is the ‘reading copy’. That is the one I’ll lend out.
:: sighs thinking of her 14 boxes of books sitting in storage :: I need to move to a bigger place!
I used to, but I’ve since started taking the books I’m finished with to the local used bookstore to exchange for books I haven’t read yet. I’m not comfortable with the idea of someone finding me because my name was written in a book.
OTOH, I once had a bunch of stuff stolen from a storage locker. My dad stopped at a garage sale, and saw a table with some books he thought I might like. He opened one of them, and he saw where I had written my name. The people running the sale were friends of the guy who had stolen my stuff. Weird.
Not only do I write my name in my books, I also write the date I read it and some note about the book so I can remember if I want to read it again or if it stunk. Sometimes I have four or five lines scribbled on the inside of the front cover.
I enjoy picking up a book from my grandfather’s collection and knowing what he thought about it before I read it. I just feel like I am carrying on the tradition.
Used to, until sometime after I finished college. Before that time, I rarely bought anything in hardcover or anything that was collectible. I also rarely bought more than a book or two at a time. Once I actually started making some money, I started buying first edition hardcovers and/or lots of books at a time, and I just got out of the habit.
Yes, absolutely I do. I’ve been doing this ever since school, when books were expensive & if accidentally left sitting around, would mysteriously evaporate.
I still do this today because most of my books are reference texts or encyclopedias, some of which cost over $100. I use them at work, and my coworkers often borrow them. Since there are 20 people on my floor & we all do basically the same thing & all have various books at our desks, writing your name on it helps it get back to its rightful owner. If the book is left sitting around somewhere by accident, at least it will be clear to whom it belongs.
And another thing: I use a heavy marker and write my name along the edge of the book while it is closed, thus assuring that the book won’t become an orphan simply by ripping out the index page, or which ever page you might have written your name on.
I use bookplates for this, and I love them. I usually put the bookplates in hardcover or otherwise collectable books, otherwise the bookplate bill would really add up. Until this thread, it never occurred to me to add the date, but maybe I’ll start.
I love seeing my mom’s name and the year written in books that she has passed on to me.
I seldom put my name in a paperback book. It just doesn’t occur to me, and if it gets lost, it’s usually replacable. But I will take notes inside the front and back cover of whatever paperback happens to be in my hand at the time – I’ll go to reread a favorite book, and see shopping lists, directions to Oyster Bay, etc. People who borrow my books sometimes think this is really weird.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the books on my shelf at work. These have my name all over them. I still find them in other people’s offices. “Say, is that my HTML book?” “Er, no, that’s mine.” “Really, you wrote MY name all over YOUR book?”
And when was the name written? More interesting if it was someone in the late 1800s than someone who wrote in the book in, say, 1983.
(Side note: years ago, my mom bought some old typing textbooks in a used book store, and the previous owner’s name was in the cover. A few months later, there was a news report of a woman who had severely beaten her child in the restroom of a local restaurant - lo and behold, it was the woman in the books (very unusual name, no way of it being anyone else), now serving life for murdering the child.)
Wow. It looks like most people don’t mind the writing-in-the-book thing. I still feel - like Ike - that your ruining the tome somewhat. You might as well take a big crayon and draw pictures. But that’s just me.
As far as book plates and the like go, they do seem somewhat classier. But I’d still rather leave the books in their original condition.
lolagranola - How did you manage to type the information into the book??
When I was in law school, I wrote my name in every casebook I used. I wasn’t so much afraid of it being stolen as simply swapped with another student’s casebook by mistake. Especially after I’d highlighted and written some notes in the margins!
Speaking of highlighting, etc - sometimes I underline stuff in books that I’m reading purely for enjoyment. I used to think it was an abomination to take ink to a book but at some point, I thought, “Hell, it’s my book, I don’t ever plan on selling it…I am going to enjoy it to the full extent I can.” And for me, that sometimes means underlining a particular passage that strikes me - or making notes in the margin. The notes I make are usually a reference to another page where the event was foreshadowed, etc - symbolic stuff, too.
As for writing my name in them - Yeah, I do when it strikes me but I don’t make a point of doing it.
