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Original poster

Book issue “spine broken”

61 replies

LoserWinner · 12/08/2024 14:24

An acquaintance lent me a book she very much wanted me to read - a well-used paperback which was subsequently going to the neighbourhood free book exchange.

I read it and returned it.

Within hours she posted a passive-aggressive message to the group WhatsApp apologising for the broken spine. Apparently, by opening it fully to read it and leaving a crease down the spine, I have damaged it.

YABU —> it’s vandalism to bend the spine of a paperback
YANBU —> paperback spines are meant to be bent when you read

OP posts:
stayathomer · 12/08/2024 15:22

What do you mean by pages secure though? I think anti spine broken people just want the side of the book not to be ‘cracked’, I don’t think it’s to do with pages? (Could be wrong and I will admit I sometimes leave books down in a way that would lead pitchfork carriers to hunt me down!)

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 12/08/2024 15:18

My books are all kinds of battered. I like to look at my bookshelves and see books that have been 'out in the wild', read and enjoyed and folded, creased, kicked about and properly absorbed, rather than a colour-co ordinated design display.

Books are for reading, not looking at.

cstaff · 12/08/2024 15:18

If it was a collectors item or a first edition, then fine but if all you are doing is reading the book like a normal person i.e. cracking the spine to make it easier to read, then what is the issue. It doesn't make it illegible or unreadable.

Purplecrush · 12/08/2024 15:18

She is unhinged.....beware!

notanotheronenow · 12/08/2024 15:15

If it was being donated for free after anyway I don't see it makes any difference.

If she was planning to give it to someone to sell (e.g. a charity shop) or it was a first edition Shakespeare or something, that would be different.

JoJothegerbil · 12/08/2024 15:15

She's being ridiculous. It's pretty difficult to read a paperback without creasing the spine. And as for the PA comment, that's just weird.

imnottoofussed · 12/08/2024 15:11

I think if someone lent me a book and it looked in pristine condition with no creases or cracks then I'd know not to crease or crack it myself.

Flatandhappy · 12/08/2024 15:05

I would feel the same way as her which is why I stopped lending my books years ago. I would also never post a shitty passive aggressive comment on social media if I was stupid enough to lend a book to someone who broke the spine.

nanodyne · 12/08/2024 15:02

I hate broken spines so I buy hardbacks where I can and I never lend my books out.. if the spine was immaculate then yab(slightly)u to have cracked it, knowing it had previously been read.

TemuSpecialBuy · 12/08/2024 15:02

She’s got too much time on her hands.
and is being so PA…

I’d buy a brand new copy for the group and message them to advise you were the disgusting reprobate that had the audacity to actually fully open 😦 the pages of the aforementioned book so you could read it.

DappledThings · 12/08/2024 14:56

She's being ridiculous.

I read books and enjoy them. I don't deliberately damage them but I also chuck them in bags and read them in various places so they mostly have pretty damaged corners, bent spines and sometimes staining from leaking pens or general grub in my bag. Occasional coffee spills too.

It makes no odds to me how it looks when I've finished reading it nor how it might be returned if I've leant something. As long as it is returned!

VictoriaEra · 12/08/2024 14:56

AmazingBouncingFerret · 12/08/2024 14:29

It’s absolute bollocks is what it is.

Agreed. I have hundreds of books and none are collectors items. They are to be read and enjoyed.

Boopbeepbeepboop · 12/08/2024 14:52

LoserWinner · 12/08/2024 14:50

Just creased down the back. Pages all still very secure.

Show quote history

Don't understand the issue then! Books are creased when they've been read?!

Original poster
LoserWinner · 12/08/2024 14:50

Boopbeepbeepboop · 12/08/2024 14:32

So is it just creased or what does she mean by broken?

Just creased down the back. Pages all still very secure.

OP posts:
Lovelysummerdays · 12/08/2024 14:43

Memba · 12/08/2024 14:33

There are spine crackers and non-spine crackers (who can read a 500 page novel without so much as a crease).

These two groups should never share books.

I am a spine cracker.

My first serious boyfriend was a non spine cracker. I am a spine cracker. It was definitely a factor in our break up.

Changingplace · 12/08/2024 14:41

She sounds like a weirdo, especially since she was passing the book on anyway!

I read loads, I couldn’t care less if the spine is broken, I would give it less than no thought whatsoever. If you lend a book out it’s amazing if it ever comes back imo, whether or not the spine is cracked is of no interest to me.

OneTC · 12/08/2024 14:41

I never crack them. If I lent one and someone did I'd view it as part and parcel of lending a book to a fucking philistine

Breadcat24 · 12/08/2024 14:39

If she lends you a kindle please do not read it in the bath

Hectorscalling · 12/08/2024 14:38

Depends. Bending the spine is different to breaking the spine.

If you broke it, that means you left it face down or folded it backwards to the front and back covers were touching.

Personally, no I wouldn’t do that to someone else’s book. But I also wouldn’t lend someone a book as I can see how other people wouldn’t think it was a big deal.

StellaCruella · 12/08/2024 14:37

She shouldn't lend out books if she's that precious about them YANBU

PhilosophicalCheeseSandwich · 12/08/2024 14:36

Bloody hell, you don't lend books out expecting them to come back looking unread. Folding the corner of the page over to mark your place, okay that's not on with a borrowed book. But getting a crease in the spine is difficult to avoid.

bridgetreilly · 12/08/2024 14:36

Breaking the spine of your own books is on you, but it’s not okay for things you’ve borrowed. The passive aggressive way she dealt with it is out of order, though.

HarpyBirthday · 12/08/2024 14:35

I'm with you. Spines are meant to be bent a little when read! Its not like I'm bashing them about.

However my dh and dd think this is vandalism 🙄 and I'm not allowed to read their books.

DoubleCoatedDogs · 12/08/2024 14:34

I'm a prolific reader and I always break the spine of my books and turn the corners over to keep the page. I've even been known to use crisp packets as bookmarks. 😅 Books are to be read and enjoyed. However, I wouldn't do it to someone else's book. But that's why I tend not to borrow books from other people.

If she had certain expectations as to how the book should be treated, she should've conveyed those before she loaned it out.

Memba · 12/08/2024 14:34

Haha! @MonsteraMama we should swap daughters!

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