# Which of these three book abuses (made by people who read your books) is the worst? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586 "2015-03-21T11:15:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/1 "2015-03-21T11:15:35Z")
Which one do you think is the most unforgivable? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/2 "2015-03-21T11:32:49Z")
Pages dry. Corners will unfold. A broken binding and pages falling out is forever. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/3 "2015-03-21T11:33:05Z")
Wow, I don’t like any of the abuses and won’t be lending Goofus any more books. I went with the spine-breaking option. Love my kindle! ETA: Gallant wears linen gloves while reading my book and returns it promptly. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/4 "2015-03-21T11:37:59Z")
I went with the bending. Though I guess I can’t get too upset if someone does that–many of my books that I’ve owned for years aren’t in great shape. Dog eared, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/5 "2015-03-21T11:53:17Z")
I thought this was going to be about book reviews. Those crimes can be far, far worse. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/6 "2015-03-21T12:01:55Z")
NM thought you meant what people do to books before you own them 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/7 "2015-03-21T12:06:14Z")
I’m going to make a write-in vote for them reading your books while in the bathroom. NO!!! _I_ can do that with my own books if I want, but I don’t want you reading my books while you’re on the can! > [@Emiliana](#): > > I thought this was going to be about book reviews. Those crimes can be far, far worse. Me, too. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/8 "2015-03-21T12:19:03Z")
The binding breaking is the worst, I’ve had that done to my books. It ruins them. The other 2 items are minor and don’t bug me much. > [@Rodgers01](#): > > I’m going to make a write-in vote for them reading your books while in the bathroom. NO!!! _I_ can do that with my own books if I want, but I don’t want you reading my books while you’re on the can! > … You best stop using the library then. One of those things that if you borrow books or buy used books you just need to not think about. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/9 "2015-03-21T14:59:32Z")
Folded the corner of the page. Drives me nuts :mad:. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/10 "2015-03-21T15:09:58Z")
All three are Evil, and combined are why I never lend books. But spine-breaking is unforgivable. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/11 "2015-03-21T19:01:13Z")
Wait, do people actually do that? And is that why so many of the used books I buy have broken spines? That’s terrible. I have, however, seen people folding over corners and licking pages, and I hate both, but of the two, folded corners are slightly worse. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/12 "2015-03-21T20:20:37Z")
Number 3 is worst in theory. But in actuality it only works with cheap paperbacks, and if I really cared about the book I’d be buying it in hardcover, so I voted for turning down individual page corners. But what really pisses me off is when people WRITE in a book of mine. In civilized countries, that would be punishable by flogging. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/13 "2015-03-21T20:40:54Z")
Those are all despicable acts, but number 3 is the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/14 "2015-03-21T20:53:54Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Number 3 is worst in theory. But in actuality it only works with cheap paperbacks, and if I really cared about the book I’d be buying it in hardcover, so I voted for turning down individual page corners. This is exactly my reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/15 "2015-03-21T21:00:09Z")
None of them matter to me. I consider books to be items with a limited useful life that will be sugjected to wear and tear. When I’m traveling, I will happily tear pages out of books as they are no longer needed to reduce weight. At home, I try to keep the number of physical books I own to a minimum, as they take up a lot of space and are a pain in the butt to move. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/16 "2015-03-21T22:29:42Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > None of them matter to me. I consider books to be items with a limited useful life that will be sugjected to wear and tear. When I’m traveling, I will happily tear pages out of books as they are no longer needed to reduce weight. At home, I try to keep the number of physical books I own to a minimum, as they take up a lot of space and are a pain in the butt to move. Absolute _BLASPHEMY!!_\*\* 😃 I realize books have become the ultimate of ‘old media’ but growing up my parents instilled in all of us a respect for books & knowledge and therefore books were sacred. You didn’t crease, fold, tear, or write in them. EVER! You didn’t throw them away either, you either kept them forever or, in the case of books you’d outgrown, donated them to someone or someplace else. To this day I wince just a little even when I have to write in paperback workbooks that are meant for writing in! I couldn’t vote for which of the above is the worst, they’re all _infamnias!_ Having said all that, I actually don’t have a ton of books. I’ve also always been a tech geek and immediately recognized electronic medium’s superiority. But old habits die hard… And while you’re at it, _You damn kids get outta my yard!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/17 "2015-03-21T22:36:43Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I realize books have become the ultimate of ‘old media’ but growing up my parents instilled in all of us a respect for books & knowledge and therefore books were sacred. You didn’t crease, fold, tear, or write in them. EVER! I understand all that if it’s someone else’s book/a library book. But if it’s your own book? Why does anyone else care if I want to fold back a page or write in my own book? I don’t do it all that often, but if it’s a book where there are a lot of interesting passages, why not? It’s kind of cool to look back years later and see what I felt like underlining. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_of\_Words](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@Jack\_of\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_of_Words)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/18 "2015-03-21T22:43:31Z")
I can’t argue that breaking the spine is the greater crime, but I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone who read that way. Is it an American habit? So I voted for number two. I’ve used all manner of things as bookmarks over the years - there is no excuse for dog-eared pages. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/19 "2015-03-21T22:50:27Z")
I have so many books that I have torn out the back pages which consist of ads for other books. Spine breakers should be shown how it feels. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586/20 "2015-03-21T23:17:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > But what really pisses me off is when people WRITE in a book of mine. In civilized countries, that would be punishable by flogging. softie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-three-book-abuses-made-by-people-who-read-your-books-is-the-worst/715586.md?page=2)