Books

1. Are you careful with the spines? Or do you crack your books open to make them lay flat?
I open my books as much as they will open but I don't turn them backwards inside out to crack the spines. I read a lot when I'm eating and I like for the book to lay flat but if it doesn't I find something heavy to lay across the top to hold it open.
2. Do you use bookmarks? Or do you dog-ear the corners? If you do use bookmarks, do you use those fashionable metal ones? Or paper?
If the book is mine, I tend to dog-ear the corners but if it is a library book or one I've borrowed, I always use a bookmark. I have tried the expensive fancy ones but I always lose them! I usually use paper bookmarks or scraps of paper or receipts or business cards or whatever paper I can get my hands on.
3. Do you write in your books? Ever? If you do, do you make small marks, or write in as much blank space as you can find? Pen or pencil? Highlighter? Your name on the front page?
I don't usually write in my books unless it is a textbook that I've bought. If I'm studying it or teaching from it, I usually highlight and write in pencil in the margins. But since I've started doing powerpoints, I don't write in them very much.
4. Do you toss your books on the floor? Into bookbags? Or do you treat them tenderly, with respect?
I tend to toss them in my bookbags, suitcases, or even a grocery bag because I've GOT to have a book with me whereever I go. It is like an addiction. I'm afraid I will have some free time where I can read and won't have a book with me. If I don't have a book, it is like going out without a shoe. I read in the car, on cruises, on airplanes, buses, and trains, in restaurants (I bring my hubby a newspaper), when I'm waiting in line to pay my taxes, during my break at school and definitely before I go to sleep at night.
5. Do you ever lay your book face-down, to save your place?
Yes.
6. Um--water? Do you bathe with your books? Hold them with wet hands? Read out in the rain? Anything of that sort?
I read while I'm in the hot tub but I always make sure my hands are dry. I hate a wet book.
7. Are your books lined up on a bookshelf? Or crammed in any which way? Stacked on the floor?
I have so many books that they are lined on every bookshelf and then stacked on top of those books and stacked on the floor. There are also boxes of books in my attic and in a storage building. I could open a big bookstore and still have boxes of books left over.
8. Do you make a distinction--as regards book care--between hardcovers and paperbacks?
No.
9. And, to recap? Naturally, you love all of your books, but how, exactly? Are your books loved in the battered way of a well-loved teddy bear, or like a cherished photo album or item of clothing that's used, appreciated, but carefully cared for?
I have so many books but they are like the teddy bear, because they surround my life. I have books on all subjects (fact and fiction). I never know what mood I will be in to read so I want them all around me. I hate to get rid of any books so I don't. When I die, it may be because a stack of books have fallen on me.
10. Any additional comments?
Psst. Don't tell anyone, but I think I have a book addiction problem! I've loved books since I first learned to read and can't seem to read enough. Sometimes it drives my husband crazy!