I came to a similar realization recently. I used to care so much about how pristine my books looked and then I realized that some of my favorite books I have found in used bookstores are ones which are written all over and have a well-worn feel to them. I now annotate all my books with pencil and also write my name in them. I love seeing a history of who's owned a given book when I open the front cover and see a name and phone number.
I once read that the only way you can actually damage a book, is by not reading it.
Well, one can damage a hardcover by not opening it properly the first time:
https://www.reddit.com/r/lifehacks/comments/7sry7v/open_a_ha...
(which was a lesson in 2nd grade, when we got our first-ever hardcover textbooks)
That's sure can't be true for "modern" (as in 1960s+) books? Bookstores normally allow to look inside hardcovers without being instructed on proper handling first
When I was in grade school in the 60s (I'm old) they showed us this film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHe2hx1JL7U
For some reason, the lessons learned stuck with me.
Wow. I’m almost 40 and never knew this!
Yeah, really, Barnes & Noble marketing is missing a beat by not printing that as a bookmark to include with new book sales after asking the question at the register, "Has the person you are buying this hardcover for ever opened a new book correctly?"
Oblig. XKCD:
https://xkcd.com/1053/
(which I kind of wish was comic #1,000 so it was easy to remember/link)
A better solution would be for them to just pre-open the books so you don't need complex rituals to read them.
Fire is pretty effective too, in my experience.
Floods are pretty bad for them too. I have some books drying now, some paper is really bad about getting wet while others are okay.
they're not exactly thrilled by termites either. lost a lot of my grandparents' books to that.
The few times I've had a chance to have something signed by an author I like, I've deliberately taken along with me an old and well-loved copy of one of their books. I've bought the new one, sure, but it's the old one I'll ask them to sign. I don't even know if I'll like the new one yet! No one has said anything about it, yet, but I kind of hope they notice and appreciate it.
I bought a copy of Warhammer Quest, a board game, from Lifeline for 5 bucks.
It came with annotations, some kids custom rules, their character sheets and the outline of a custom campaign they were writing. Its got so much texture.