How battered are your books?

[midnight13 she/her]

Happy New Year’s Eve! Or, for some people, new year’s day!

I think I’m kind of a messy reader - I dog ear pages, fold the spine of paperbacks. So yeah. I was bored. How battered are your Sanderson books? This is my copy of tWoK.

Is your copy worse off? Better? Well, believe it or not, I got this six days ago. I think it’s pretty beaten down for being less than a week old...

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

Much better because I mostly read them once and then rereads are on the kindle version!

[Lecky Twig she/her]

Most of my Sanderson books are in good condition, except Elantris which is held together with sticky tape and has pages falling out of it. The Elantris book is the eldest of my Sanderson books. 

[Flying she/her]

My copy of WoK honestly looks basically the same as the picture you posted. I've used it a lot and had it for a few years, and most of my mass market paperbacks also have damaged spines. I have hardcover copies that are in almost perfect condition, so it doesn't really bother me when the paperbacks are damaged.

However, (although this isn't Sanderson) I will never be able to look at my copy of The Wise Man's Fear without feeling disappointed. The spine broke in half on my first read through and now pages fall out. I tried to fix it with glue, but that didn't work so now it's covered in tape. I can't even read some of the pages because I damaged them so much while attempting to fix the book. 

[Knight of Iron she/they]

The books? They're doing great! The covers that I've had to remove off of them due to how ugly they looked? Not so well.

I just got a leatherbound Warbreaker, too, and I'm not even allowing myself to even touch that.

[Spren of Kindness she/her]

My copies of Mistborn Era Two are a bit creased, but that's about it.

[Ghanderflaffle she/her]

I’ve used this copy of Oathbringer once. I crack a lot of spines.

[midnight13 she/her]

17 hours ago, Green Hoodie Mistborn said:

Much better because I mostly read them once and then rereads are on the kindle version!

Wow...that’s still incredible! I’ve only read through my copy of WoK once.

5 hours ago, Ghanderflaffle said:

I’ve used this copy of Oathbringer once. I crack a lot of spines.

Yep, me too. I think the cracked spines are the worst thing about mass market paperbacks.

[Spren of Kindness she/her]

Well, my earlier statement is defunct.  I cracked the spine on my brand-new copy of Elantris.  The things I'm willing to do to not cramp my arm muscles....

[Frustration]

On 12/31/2020 at 7:52 PM, midnight13 said:

- I dog ear pages,

You monster

On 1/1/2021 at 10:13 AM, Ghanderflaffle said:

I’ve used this copy of Oathbringer once. I crack a lot of spines.

Is that a copy of "A World Without Hero's" I've laid my eyes on?

[Chasmgoat he/him]

my books are perfect condition... mainly because they are ebooks, but nevermind that.

[Ghanderflaffle she/her]

9 hours ago, Frustration said:

Is that a copy of "A World Without Hero's" I've laid my eyes on?

It is indeed. I picked it up at a secondhand store a while ago.

[Bearer of all agonies he/him]

17 hours ago, Chasmgoat said:

my books are perfect condition... mainly because they are ebooks, but nevermind that.

Same! 

All of my hardcovers are brand-new, because I’ve been reading Sanderson for almost two years now but only on kindle. . . I only read my hardcovers in my room, and I never take them anywhere. 

[Weltall]

I'm in the 'read the hardbounds once' camp (and I take the covers off when I do) and then do my rereading either digitally or in paperback form, so the copies I care about are in good condition while my paperbacks for Stormlight in particular are looking a bit... worn. And my Warbreaker paperback is probably due for a replacement too.

[TheGirlWhoLookedUp she/her]

All my Sanderson book are in pretty good condition…

…All except WoR 

I’ve had it for three years now and it definitely shows

[Bearer of all agonies he/him]

4 hours ago, Weltall said:

I'm in the 'read the hardbounds once' camp (and I take the covers off when I do) and then do my rereading either digitally or in paperback form, so the copies I care about are in good condition while my paperbacks for Stormlight in particular are looking a bit... worn.

Yeah, I take off the book covers. 
All of my (at least 14) Stormlight read have been on kindle until I’ve recently gotten the hardcovers. 

[Ghanderflaffle she/her]

On 1/5/2021 at 4:33 PM, Weltall said:

I'm in the 'read the hardbounds once' camp (and I take the covers off when I do) and then do my rereading either digitally or in paperback form, so the copies I care about are in good condition while my paperbacks for Stormlight in particular are looking a bit... worn. And my Warbreaker paperback is probably due for a replacement too.

I take off the covers, but it’s because I find them annoying. They slide around if you don’t hold them right and come off so easily.

[Bearer of all agonies he/him]

2 hours ago, Ghanderflaffle said:

I take off the covers, but it’s because I find them annoying. They slide around if you don’t hold them right and come off so easily.

Yeah. I made that mistake of reading one with it on, and the book slipped out. When I tried to catch it I basically crumpled the cover, so I’m not doing that again. 

[Frustration]

*Is skilled enough to read with covers on, and in print, without harming the books*

[Ghanderflaffle she/her]

8 hours ago, Frustration said:

*Is skilled enough to read with covers on, and in print, without harming the books*

I mean I can, but it’s so much more convenient to take it off. (Hardcovers from the library are ok since they tape it on, but that can get in the way too sometimes)

[Rushu42 she/her]

Most of my book collection is on kindle, but my Mistborn books are physical and quite battered. I lent The Well of Ascension to a classmate and it came back with the cover off, so that was fun.

I'm not a careless reader - I don't write in books or dogear them or leave them open on a table - but I do carry them around and read them at odd moments, which can take a toll.

[Ghanderflaffle she/her]

22 hours ago, Rushu42 said:

leave them open on a table

Cough cough Yea I’d never do that. 

[Chinkoln he/him]

On 12/31/2020 at 9:52 PM, midnight13 said:

Happy New Year’s Eve! Or, for some people, new year’s day!

I think I’m kind of a messy reader - I dog ear pages, fold the spine of paperbacks. So yeah. I was bored. How battered are your Sanderson books? This is my copy of tWoK.

Is your copy worse off? Better? Well, believe it or not, I got this six days ago. I think it’s pretty beaten down for being less than a week old...

All of my books are in pristine condition. I read them carefully, I don’t dog eat pages, the books don’t get bent, the spines look like I just bought the book. The only exception is Era 1 Mistborn and Elantris, both of which I bought from “Well Used” on Amazon. Those were the first Sanderson books I was introduced to, and I wasn’t going to buy expensive new books for an author that I might not like. After I read them, I kept them with care and they have not degraded at all since I got them. 
Also, lots of people are saying that they they have eBooks or hardcover, I am told that I am odd. I buy exclusively paperback books. I will not own a book if it it hardcover.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Chinkoln

[Ghanderflaffle she/her]

I own a lot of paperbacks, most of my hardcovers are gifts. The ones that aren’t were the only option or on sale so they were cheaper than the paperbacks. I’m a high schools student, I can’t afford really nice hardcovers. 

[+Doomstick he/him]

Me as a high school student who only uses money for hardcovers