Booking Through Thursday - Conditioning

Mariel suggested this week’s question.

Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earrer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?

My Response:
In all honesty, I would have to answer: yes, yes, yes, yes, but I've changed. In fact, I've flip-flopped. When I was a child, I handled books as if they were precious keepsakes. They are.

When I got older, I used to break the spine by bending the book in half so that I could more easily hold it in one hand while I read. I'd press my fingers down the inside spine to force the book to lay flat while open. I'd think nothing of folding down those pages to keep my place. After all, bookmarks fall out! I confess that I've further messed up books by making notes in them, underling and highlighting lines in them. But no longer.

Now, my books are kept in pristine condition; it's difficult to tell by looking at a book whether or not I've read it. In fact, I hesitate to fully open a book too wide. This means I gently turn the pages as I read. Instead of dog-earring a page, I use a Post-it to keep my place. What changed me? I began to sell my books on eBay!

How do you read a book?