Don't worry. No one could ever be as neurotic as you. ;-) *g,d,r*

Actually ...

1) Yes, though I try to do so in a non-spine-breaking way (not all the way open, carefully balanced).

2) Only to folks who will take care of them.

3) Yes.

4) I don't write my name in my books.

5) I'm not as good to books as I could be, but nothing too horrible nor too fastidious.

1. Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?

Never. I tend to scold students, too, when they do that with school books.

2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?

There are a handful of books I likely wouldn't lend to anyone. Beyond that I'm happy to lend books out to friends, most of whom I know will take care of them. I have learned to keep favorite books out of my classroom, though. They often get damaged or go missing. My copy of "The Hobbit" from my very first 1970s set of LOTR was such a victim *sniff*. It just vanished.

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them? (protect the jackets, that is)

I will frequently do that as I'm reading and then put the jacket back on when I return the book to the shelf.

4. How often do you write in your own books? (other than your name, if you’re that reckless)

Rarely. I wrote on textbooks and study novels in university, and assorted teacher materials now, but not the books I buy for recreation. I tend to use book plates, too, if I'm adding on my name.

5. Other than the above, do you have any other odd habits having to do with your books or books in general that you’re willing to ‘fess up to?

I make a ritual of the bookmark I choose to use in each book I read. Either I aim to pick a bookmark that matches the theme of the book or I use a new bookmark that has never been used before to break it in. With my new Flickr MOO cards I should be set for a few years :).

I also just think it's odd that I buy most of the books that I read. I mean, my parents took me to the library every week when I was growing up and my parents still go to the library every Saturday without fail. Me, though, I've never really developed a regular library habit. I think it's because I often don't read a book when I first buy it- it may be a few weeks or even more before I settle in to read it. Library books have to be read on schedule and finished within a week or two. I'm more likely to take books out of the library in the summer.

I do that, too. I actually cut down my collection of bookmarks because I almost never *use* them. Instead, I have a few that I keep for sentimental value, and use bits of receipts, or envelopes, or whatever to mark my books.

1. Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?
Almost never. I will with some books (really well bound) for a few seconds only.

2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?
Almost never and I have to KNOW the other person is as rigid in book-care as I.

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them? (protect the jackets, that is)
Only once and it backfired (freak accident damaged cover, not book).

4. How often do you write in your own books? (other than your name, if you’re that reckless)
Never ever ever ever never never ever. I do mark in magazines.

5. Other than the above, do you have any other odd habits having to do with your books or books in general that you’re willing to ‘fess up to?
Not that I can think of. Well, the basics; no writing, no dog-earing, NEVER bending spines open.

1. Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?

Mmmmmmaybe.

Does this picture make you uncomfortable?

No, because it's not a real book.

2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?

The latter.

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them? (protect the jackets, that is)

Absolutely.

4. How often do you write in your own books? (other than your name, if you’re that reckless)

Rarely, but not 'never'.

5. Other than the above, do you have any other odd habits having to do with your books or books in general that you’re willing to ‘fess up to?

No, all my book habits are perfectly normal. Like picking up cheap second copies of books I really love so I can loan them out to people without having to worry.

1. Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?
only the occasional well-broken-in paperback (yes, I do break spines)

2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?
I only lend second copies (or books I really didn't like :P )

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them? (protect the jackets, that is)
Always! I can't read a hardcover with a dust jacket on.

4. How often do you write in your own books? (other than your name, if you’re that reckless)
Never! I highlighted texts in college, but I'm physically incapable of writing in a bound book, even if they are meant to be written in. I've had a book full of undone cryptic crossword puzzles on my shelf for 4-5 years because it's so hard for me to take a pen to it.

5. Other than the above, do you have any other odd habits having to do with your books or books in general that you’re willing to ‘fess up to?
I am psychologically incapable of throwing away a book, no matter how putridly written or embarrassing to own. I suspect that many of the paperbacks I've donated may have ended up in the trash, but it wasn't my hand that put them there!

1. Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?
Never.

2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?
I used to lend them to anyone and lost two precious ones that way. Now I usually only lend them to people I trust, but with those I'm happy to lend. Books are supposed to be read, not just to stand around on bookshelves.

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them? (protect the jackets, that is)
Jep. Whenever I read a book with dust jacket I take it of when I take the book out of the shelf and put it back on after I've finished reading.

4. How often do you write in your own books? (other than your name, if you’re that reckless)
Never, if I can help it. Not even my name. I was forced to make notes in the books we read at school, though, which was horrible.

5. Other than the above, do you have any other odd habits having to do with your books or books in general that you’re willing to ‘fess up to?
I own not a quarter of the books I have read. I very often borrow the books I'm interested in from friends or family.

1. Only with cheap, worn books.

2. Only to people I know will return them.

3. No.

4. Fairly often. If I come across something really dumb in a book, I'll make a comment in the margin. My German-language books are full of translations of unfamiliar words in the margins.

1. Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?
Never. My husband does. Arrrrgh!

2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?
Only to the latter, since I got my copy of "The Fellowship of the Ring" back with the map ripped half out of it.

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them? (protect the jackets, that is)
No. I normally remove the jackets and throw them away...

. How often do you write in your own books? (other than your name, if you’re that reckless)
Never - except technical literature. My biology books all bear the sign of being my best friends during my studies.
I don't write in novels. Never.

5. Other than the above, do you have any other odd habits having to do with your books or books in general that you’re willing to ‘fess up to?
Hm. I'm obsessed with ancient looking books. I love it when a book looks used and/or old-fashioned.

1. Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?
[[Occasionally. My husband does it more than I do, because he doesn't habitually use bookmarks.]]

2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?
[[Freely]]

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them? (protect the jackets, that is)
[[No. I need to find the local source for those plastic book covers the libraries use, though.]]

4. How often do you write in your own books? (other than your name, if you’re that reckless)
[[Whenever I have something snarky to say-back to the plot]]

1. Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?
Er... well, I've been known to. But not usually for very long. I always 'break' the spines of paperbacks anyway in reading them.

2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?
I used to lend them to friends, but after I lost several irreplaceable ones, I've stopped doing it.

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them? (protect the jackets, that is)
I usually buy paperbacks, so the problem doesn't arise! For the few hardbacks I have with dustjackets, I leave the jackets on. I'm not trying to preserve these for posterity, after all.

4. How often do you write in your own books? (other than your name, if you’re that reckless)
I almost always write my name on the flyleaf, and the date of purchase. For a few special books, I put a bookplate in instead. I have been known to write comments in margins, on things that are particularly amusing or striking, or if I want to make a rude comment, but always in pencil.

5. Other than the above, do you have any other odd habits having to do with your books or books in general that you’re willing to ‘fess up to?
I'm like Allison - I like to co-ordinate bookmarks! I have the sort that slide onto the edge of the page mostly, and I tend to pick ones in a colour that matches/co-ordinates with the book cover, or occasionally with the subject (for instance, a book about dragons might get a red bookmark...).

1. Yes, but very gently.

2. Probably fair to say that in the absence of evidence or observation to the contrary we assume our friends are the sort of people who will look after books until we learn otherwise the hard way.

3. Mostly I tend to remove them as I read because they annoy me. I'm not actually sure what purpose they serve, especially in cases where the cover art is printed on the actual book too!

4. We have a stamp for the front of books we lend out. Otherwise almost never.

5. Odd habits? Hm. Reading series I know well out-of-order by selecting volumes solely on a basis of which one I happen to feel like reading next? Putting numbered stickers on the spines of long-running series to ensure they can be easily (re)shelved in the right order? (Especially when considered alongside the first point! LoL)

1. Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?

Only my own ones, but yes, all the time.

2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?

Pretty much freely.

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them? (protect the jackets, that is)

Yep.

4. How often do you write in your own books? (other than your name, if you’re that reckless)

Occasionally I will correct printing errorts/typos if i have a pen/pencil to hand when I spot them.

5. Other than the above, do you have any other odd habits having to do with your books or books in general that you’re willing to ‘fess up to?

I crack the spines of *my own* paperbacks in order that they stay open better. I read wile travelling on public transport and walking wherever, so often need one hand free to strap hang, open doors, carrry other stuff etc. A book that needs two hands to hold it far enough open so I can see rigth into the inside margin easily enough to carry on while doing that is a pain in the rear.

Teddy

1. Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?

I try to avoid it, but I'm not religious about it.

2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?

It seldom comes up, but I would freely lend a book to someone on the same sort of terms that I'd lend them the price of lunch if they forgot their wallet, unless they've given me reason to think they wouldn't get it back to me intact.

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them?

Never. In fact, see #5.

4. How often do you write in your own books?

Pretty much never. It feels wrong to write in a novel; writing in a reference book is more defensible to me, but I pretty much never do.

5. Other than the above, do you have any other odd habits having to do with your books or books in general that you’re willing to ‘fess up to?

I prefer reading hardbacks principally because the dust jacket makes a perfect built-in bookmark. Thus, I feel ripped off when I have to pay hardback price for an edition that has a glossy cover instead of a dust jacket, and I hate the taped down acetate covers libraries put on their hardbacks.

I'm mildly anal about not mixing hardbacks and paperbacks within a series. If I bought the first book in a series in paper, I buy the whole series in paper (assuming I buy it at all), even though it means waiting longer to get it. When I buy the first book in hardcover, and by the time I get around to reading it (I read painfully slowly, so I have a big "to read" shelf and it sometimes literally takes years for me to actually read a book I've bought) the second book is out of print in hardcover and only available in paper I get very frustrated.

I review every book I read.

Ooooo, me too! The first HP book I bought was actually #2, because I'd borrowed #1 to read and then couldn't wait, and *had* to get it, and it was only in hardcover then. So then I had to have them all in hardcover just so they'd match. (And the illustrator doing the American covers makes me swoon, anyway.)

I also have to have them match if it's an actual series; I'm constantly seeking for a paperback copy of A Wind in the Door that has the cover that matches the one I lost.

I don't seem to need my murder mysteries to match each other, though. I guess maybe because I buy so very, very many of them...

Do you ever put a book face-down on a flat surface?
Most of the Time no but if I have to hurry then yes.



2. Do you lend your books freely, or only to people you know will take care of them?
You have to go through a rigid screening before even touching one of my books:

One: You must be a bibliophile like me.
Two: You must wear gloves when touching my 200 year old books
Three: Thou shalt not dog ear pages
Four: Thou shal not drink near book
Five: If you have small children in the house you may not bring any books home with you.
ect ect ect....

3. Do you ever remove the dust jackets off books to protect them? (protect the jackets, that is)
I have a box in the shed with 10-15 jackets (the box in in a plastic bag in another box with a plastic bag over that one)

4. How often do you write in your own books? (other than your name, if you’re that reckless)
Name and thats it (thats only on the commen books you can get at any store)

5. Other than the above, do you have any other odd habits having to do with your books or books in general that you’re willing to ‘fess up to?


After im done reading a really good book I hug it to death and rub my face against it.... O.o Its a habit ive had since I was 7.