MetaChat - No, I don't use bookmarks. Nearly every page is dog-eared.

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07 September 2010

No, I don't use bookmarks. Nearly every page is dog-eared. →[More:]So I was looking for a couple of books to read on the plane for an upcoming vacation, and I realized that there are some books I love to read again and again (and again). So much so that nearly every page is dog-eared.

So I thought to share which of those books are like that, and ask bunnies to share which of their collections are so well-loved that they've stopped at one point in their lives on nearly every page, to be picked up again and continued at a later date.

My (partial) list:
Most of the Dune books
Most of Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series
The Foundation Trilogy, The End of Eternity and The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
Several of Larry Niven's Known Space anthologies
The "director's cut" version of The Stand--the only Stephen King book I still read again and again.

What's your dog-eared, tattered list?

post by: WolfDaddy at: 10:13 | 21 comments

This pretty much gets taken out again and again, both to read sections, and as a reference work.

posted by danf 07 September | 10:18

The Little House books! All except Farmer Boy and The First Four Years.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 07 September | 10:26

H2G2, at least the first two or three books
The Hero and The Crown, and The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady - I keep giving away my copy so I've actually bought it like four or five times
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett - another one that I keep giving away copies of - actually just make that a bunch of the Discworld ones; I'm constantly rereading those (Reaper Man, Witches Abroad, Guards! Guards!...) oh and Good Omens too
Sense & Sensibility, P&P, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

posted by flex 07 September | 10:31

Several of my JG Ballard collections, especially Vermilion Sands and Low-Flying Aircraft.

posted by BoringPostcards 07 September | 10:35

Soldier of the Great War, by Mark Helprin (heck, everything by Mark Helprin, his op-eds excepted)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith

The World According to Garp, by John Irving

posted by punchtothehead 07 September | 10:38

I rarely re-read books. The exceptions being those I read as a child and don't quite remember. That being said, King's The Stand is one of my most battered books - the cover is creased and the bottom third is thick with water damage from falling asleep in the bath. My father gave it to me for my 12th birthday, and I've started to read it several times, but have never finished it. There are just so many story lines that if I put it down for any length of time, I have to start from the beginning because I don't remember what's going on. I'll finish it one of these days...

As for bookmarks, I often use a photo.

posted by youngergirl44 07 September | 11:05

The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott I've re-read probably five or six times.

I've also just re-read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I go back to my true crime books regularly. I think Justice by Dominick Dunne will be next.

But, dear God, I cannot stand dog-eared books, I have to use a bookmark, my favourites being airline tickets, which are the perfect size.

posted by Senyar 07 September | 11:05

People who dog-ear books should be shot, and then dog-eared.

posted by Eideteker 07 September | 11:30

I used to have battered, dog-eared books, then I wound up using ebooks on my iPhone/iPad, and now they're all shiny!

:)

I used to dog-ear my books too WolfDaddy. But then cheap, trashy paperback fantasy novels are MEANT to be tattered and dogeared. So there! nyah!

posted by lonefrontranger 07 September | 11:47

water damage from falling asleep in the bath

I LOVE READING IN THE BATHTUB!

posted by WolfDaddy 07 September | 12:23

My husband reads ebooks in the bathtub. He read the whole Harry Potter series (up to book five, I think) on his Palm Pilot sealed inside a ziploc.

About the only time I get to read books is in the bathtub, these days. Sometimes in bed before going to sleep, but usually I only can get through a few pages.

(does not dog-ear books or crack spines either)

posted by flex 07 September | 12:34

The Little House books! All except Farmer Boy and The First Four Years.

I'm reading through the complete series with my wife (well, reading to her, my little night owl will fall asleep). She knows the stories by heart, so she can fall asleep and won't miss anything. After the Laura years, we have the Rose years, which she has only read once. And now I see I might have to find the book from "Laura's lost years."

posted by filthy light thief 07 September | 12:36

I LOVE READING IN THE BATHTUB!

Sometimes I take a bath just so I can read without distractions. It's just me, the hot water, and a good book.

posted by Elsa 07 September | 12:50

The only books I reread are Ian Fleming's James Bond books, but even those are far from dog-eared.

posted by Ardiril 07 September | 14:54

I dog-ear pages to remember a passage that I found powerful or an important quote. I guess it's just a habit I got from years and years of English classes - I need to be able to quote the book when I write my essay, right?

posted by youngergirl44 07 September | 15:02

I am the worst at dog earring the pages and cracking the spines. To me a book is like a good meal, I wanna jump all in. Our Harry Potter books are a sight.

flt-random weird fact. Like most young girls I read all the Little House books. I was thrilled when I visited my aunt and met Rose, her next door neighbor. So odd to meet a book character in the flesh. This was even before the days of the LHOTP tv show I think. We weren't big on tv growing up so I could be wrong about that.

posted by toastedbeagle 08 September | 00:32

When I was a kid, I read a lot of old, old, old Nancy Drew mysteries that I'd probably read again if I (or rather my mom, they were her books) knew where they were hidden away. And then there's Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.

posted by WolfDaddy 08 September | 02:18

WolfDaddy, have you read her adult books? All the old WB cartoons with a hen reading The Egg and I alluded to her.

posted by brujita 08 September | 04:43

First on my list is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

posted by brujita 08 September | 04:44

I have not, brujita. Interesting ... I love the WB hens because they're so Southern matronly and just crack me up. And they have large breasts, which Foghorn Leghorn always ignores. Mmmmm, chicken breasts.

*makes lunch*

posted by WolfDaddy 08 September | 14:17

They live downstairs on my bookshelves, to which I make only the rarest additions. (I donate or borrow from library or ebook everything else)

I'll probably forget some, but on my read a zillion times list:

The Hobbit and each of the LOTR books
To Kill a Mockingbird
Oliver Twist
David Copperfield
Pride and Prejudice
Rebecca
Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
and almost anything by Dick Francis

posted by bearwife 08 September | 16:16

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