Let's talk about book abuse.

Cafe Society
41

  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.

42

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.

43

I’ll dog-ear my own crappy paperbacks, but I’d never do that to someone else’s book! :open_mouth: I find all of those things unacceptable for borrowed property.