# Let's talk about book abuse. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-book-abuse/600454 "2011-10-22T16:30:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-book-abuse/600454/41 "2011-11-01T22:19:03Z")
1. Licking fingers to turn pages? No problem. 2. Dog earring to mark a place? No problem. 3. Breaking the spine? Now that’s just wrong. 4 Making notes in the margins only bothers me if the notes are stupid or get in the way of the reading. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-book-abuse/600454/42 "2011-11-01T22:23:54Z")
My rule of thumb with any loaned object is that if at all possible it should be returned in the same or better condition as it was originally in. Page-licking, dog-earing, spine-breaking, and writing all violate that condition, so I find all of them unacceptable. Now, if the book was a gift, that’s different. In that case, do what you want. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-book-abuse/600454/43 "2011-11-01T23:22:10Z")
I’ll dog-ear my own crappy paperbacks, but I’d never do that to someone else’s book! 😮 I find all of those things unacceptable for borrowed property. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-book-abuse/600454.md?page=2)