never letting anyone borrow one of my books again

[Klaark]

All my friends are largely illiterate and when I borrow books, the people I borrow them from just forget about them.

[twinks and bears]

My sister bought me the first three books in the Dark Tower series and I let my mother read the first one. She snaps it nearly in half with the way she bends the spine and then she read it in the bathtub and it was completely wet and some of the pages tore because they had melded together from being wet. I warned her not to do it again and let her read the second one. She left it in the middle of the floor where my dogs could tear it to pieces. The corners were chewed to bits but it was still readable. Then, she took the third one without my permission, left it on the floor again and spilled ******** tea on it as well as a couple of nasty a** looking, orange stains on the cover that are sticky. Suffice it is to say, I will never let her read my books again.

[Tiggermyk]

Before I let anyone borrow one of my books, I say to myself: "They will dog-ear the pages. They will spill chocolate milk on it. They will break the spine. They will read it in the tub surrounded by lit candles and accidentally set it on fire and drop it in the water to put it out. Is it worth it?" And honestly, most of the time the answer is "yes;" I love sharing my books with my friends because then we can talk about it, sometimes the book is already in pretty bad condition so I don't even notice if it comes back worse, and usually I'm pleasantly surprised when it comes back in relatively good condition.

...also, since working at the library, my definition of a book in "bad" condition has definitely changed. The other day my co-worker and I found a book with a few bite-marks in the corner, presumably from a dog; but the pages weren't damaged and it was just that one corner, so we shrugged and put it back on the shelf.

[Infinity Outlaw]

The world is not beautiful

When I loan out my books, I just make it clear that bodily harm will come to the person in proportion to the amount of damage my book suffers. If you return my book in the same condition I lent it to you, you don't need to worry. If on the other hand you break the spine of my book, well, I believe the saying goes: an eye for an eye. D:<

Just kidding... sort of.

But what I'm willing to lend really depends on the person. I buy lots of used books to begin with, and while I try and get the best copy, most of my books come pre-worn. So those I'd probably lend to most of my friends. My rarer and/or nicer condition books though, there's an extremely limited number of people I'd lend them to. My parents are not on that list. Especially my dad. I don't know what he does, because he's not super-abusive to them, but he really messes up books. I loaned him my copy of A Clash of Kings and by the time he was done the cover had fallen completely off, one page was almost torn through completely, and a section of the book started to come apart from the rest. I managed to use my limited book repair skills to patch it up fairly well and it's in readable condition again, but I ended up buying another copy for my personal collection and relegating that one to being my lending copy.

Therefore it is.

[anna bandana]

I never loan books to people. I tell them to buy it from the store or borrow it from the library.

Especially if it's a book I love. I get disappointed when friends don't have the same religious experience I get from reading it.

[Raye Delvego]

roseamarie_damphire95

i got her back thou. she let me borrow awakened, a house of night novel. it wasnt even hers. i will not give it back to her for a few years. i know its wrong, but hey, shouldnt of lost my book, or replaced it with a crappy paperback version> biggrin

Did you tell her you wanted hardback? If not it's your own fault she replaced it with paperback.

[NorthEastFire]

I loan books to my friends sometimes.

I've never had a bad experience with it. Mainly because ever since my friends figured out that I like to keep my books in really good condition, for some reason they're, like, TERRIFIED of giving one back to me with even some tiny imperfection. Like, to the point that if they crease the spine, they go out and buy a new copy to give to me instead.

I honestly have no idea what they think I'm going to do to them if they damage them. It's really pretty funny, but at the same time I feel bad that they actually think they have to go out and replace them when I wouldn't really have cared that much.

One time, though, one of my friends dropped one of my books down a staircase, and then her dog attacked it and ripped the cover off. Then she tried to buy a replacement, but she spilled a glass of water all over it. That incident didn't really bother me though, because the book was Twilight.

[Aha]

There are only a couple of people that I will lend out books that are in good condition too. Only once have I gotten a book back that had been damaged during the lending period, but the person who was reading it did tell me about it when it happened and offered to buy me a new one. That person is also very a**l retentive about taking care of books, so I know it was it completely out of his control.

(He likened it to the spine just exploding. There is a huge horizontal rip in it that neither of us can figure out how it could have happened.)

I do not ever lend out autographed books, I don't even open those past the autograph session, I keep an non autographed copy for reading purposes.

But if a book is in really bad condition and especially if I have a spare, I'll lend it to anyone. My favorite book I've lent out to many people because I always have an extra and sometimes I let them keep it as an excuse to buy the new cover of its next release.

[Eveille]

i dont lend books. I did that once and the girl would toss it on the floor, in her bag, bend it....etc. we were sharing a room so I saw and took it away, just like that. My mom and grandma like bending covers back, so they have been banned from magazines and paperbacks. I like my books to be as close to brand new and unread as possible.

[Robotic Dream Weaver]

Um..
do you people not understand that it's pretty much inevitable that a book will experience wear and tear over time, no matter how gentle people are with them?

Spills and misplacing things and accidentally bending the spine etc. etc. are going to happen and 99% of the time it's an accident, if you're going to flip your s**t about it, don't lend out your stuff. neutral

[Sir YANGY XIA0 L0NG]

Raye Delvego

roseamarie_damphire95

i got her back thou. she let me borrow awakened, a house of night novel. it wasnt even hers. i will not give it back to her for a few years. i know its wrong, but hey, shouldnt of lost my book, or replaced it with a crappy paperback version> biggrin

Did you tell her you wanted hardback? If not it's your own fault she replaced it with paperback.

i specifically told her that it needed to be a hard back. honestly, thou, that shouldnt of had to be said. she should of bought the hard back, just cuz it was the one i had bought.. one time i borrowed a book from one of my friends and i had lost it. i usually take good care of books as if they are my children.. so i was pretty upset. and it was a paperback. so i went above and beyond and got her a hardback replacement..

[Born Backwards]

Ugh I know how you feel! Luckily I haven't had any of my mates lose mine but they always come back bent & with creases everywhere! scream

[Lilac Wood]

I only let people borrow things I can replace easily.

[Ice-Paige]

roseamarie_damphire1213

ok, so a year or so ago, i let one of my freinds borrow one of my books. one of my favorites, it was one of the vampire acadamy books. i let here borrow the 6th on. hard cover. i love it. anyhhow, she comes to me in school, saying she lost it in the band room. b***h!!!! so i tell here she will buy me a new one. so she does, but its ******** paperback!!! never again will she touch my books. they are special to me... anyone else have this problem?? its frustrating ain,t it??

i know how you feel.
even i had my share of experience with people who borrow stuff without bothering to return them... especially money.
anyway, yeah, if the beetch does not wish to return your book then it might help to buy a new copy. just keep that same beetch out of your life for good.
how much more if she borrowed a book with the author's signature?!

[Mischa Lune]

What I've learned is to not lend stuff to people. Seriously, I know I seem stingy, but I've had too many bad experiences with people returning stuff after a really long time has passed and in horrible condition. I don't know how they can do it. I'm always really conscious of another person's stuff when I borrow them, and I do my best to take care of them. One time I did keep one of my friend's games for a pretty long time, but I let her know pretty often that I was still working on it (instead of forgetting about it or anything infuriating like that). I've had people return stuff to me over a year after I lent them. People have returned books to me with rips and water stains (Seriously, people!?) and I've had other stuff lost or stolen while in the person's possession, and they never replaced it. gonk

I don't mind a little wear and tear on stuff I lend out, but normally when it's returned in worse condition, it's really bad. I lent my roommate a book that was new, and when I got it back it looked like I bought it at the used book store for two bucks. xp One time a girl lent me a paperback, and when I returned it there was a slight crease in the spine. From, you know, opening it. She pitched a fit. People like her really shouldn't lend their stuff out, ever.