Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: When reading a mass paperback book, many people fold the cover back, as if they were reading a magazine. Doing this will eventually create creases in the spine. How do you feel about this common bookish habit?

I may have actually shuddered when I read this.  I just…the poor cover!!  I’m trying not to judge anyone who does this, truly…but I’m not sure I’ve ever done this.  I’m not actually worried about creases in the spine.  I’d be more worried about bending the book out of shape and damaging the cover–either by bending it so it won’t lie flat, or actually ripping the cover off because of the wear.

Although.  The emphasis on “mass market paperback” seems to suggest these are very cheap books, and perhaps the people reading them in this way view them as a disposable, one-use-only commodity.  There we differ, because I don’t really view any book that way.  Most books I read are from the library, so they’re not even mine and, by definition, are expected to hold up for many reads.  And I only buy my books if I plan to keep them for rereading.

Some of my books have cracked spines (notably, Maskerade by Terry Pratchett, which I swear cracked on my favorite page, one of OG’s maniacal notes) and I love them anyway and so far they’ve all held up reasonably well.  But I try to treat my books with care.

Should I even ask if anyone out there folds their covers back…? 😉