What is the Most Horrific Way You’ve Ever Ruined a Book?
So I was saddened to realize that I had a certain ARC (I don’t want to admit whose book I’ve just ruined) sitting on my kitchen counter and water from the sink leaked over and I caused water damage to the last third of the book. I was literally up in the bathroom with the blow dryer so the pages wouldn’t stick together. And I was very sad, because it was even inscribed to me by the author.
This got me thinking. What is the most horrific thing you’ve ever done to ruin a book? Dropped it in the bathtub, spilled food on it, bled on it, thrown up on it (okay, sorry I’ve got kids, so this does seem very, very plausible to me)? Pet eat it, ran it over with your car, have an unfortunate run in with a pair of scissors? Was it a book that you loved?
Besides this particular water incident, I can think of a time when I was in middle school, I had a cockatiel who was left out of its cage a lot. He chewed up my cover for my Anne of Green Gables book. The cover, not the book – luckily – had to be thrown away. My kids are awful when it comes to books! If I leave a book out I am pretty much asking for trouble. They have torn out more than their fair share of pages which then have to be thrown away.
So which books have you ruined and how did you do it? Where they salvageable or beyond repair? I know you’ve got stories! And I’m sure you’ve got stories even better than mine! So let’s hear them!
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Hm, let’s see. I think the most I’ve ever done was spill food/drink on my books. Once I knocked over a glass of grape juice and it unfortunately landed on a pile of books. I managed to get it off the covers, but some of the pages were never the same, after.
I don’t they were any especially important, otherwise I would have remembered exactly what they were!
on February 25th, 2009 at 5:37 pmI think the worst thing I’ve ever done is dropped a book in the snow and didn’t realize it. I was *really* not pleased when I found it.
on February 25th, 2009 at 5:38 pmSeveral of my cats are “book biters”. They love glossy paperback covers. I try to make sure that I don’t leave books just lying around for long periods of time, but occasionally I’ll leave a book on the coffee table overnight, and the next morning discover that it has been gnawed on.
on February 25th, 2009 at 5:42 pmI think the worst I’ve done was spill coffee on a book…it’s happened more than once, though.
on February 25th, 2009 at 5:42 pmIn a frustrated rage against my ever-loving husband, I tore his book, Contact by Carl Sagan in half.
on February 25th, 2009 at 6:08 pmHe was so appalled that I would do that. What can I say, I was mad!
This is a great idea for a post! The worst way a book was destroyed was when I was in the tub and my youngest walked in with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and dropped it in the water with me! The worst part was that it was a library book. I had to pay a $45 fine. Now when I take a bath, I lock the door! =)
on February 25th, 2009 at 6:08 pmMy kids have ruined their books in many various ways, including stomach illness – we had to throw away about 10 books from one incident. After that we made sure that the floor around the kids’ beds was not buried in books. You wouldn’t think this would be hard, but when the kids grab a few books all of the rest of them slide off of the bookcase onto the floor, especially the paperbacks.
The worst thing I’ve ever done to one of my own books actually happened fairly recently. I decided to take Flirting With Forty with me to a football game in case I got bored, and my husband’s coke spilled on it. The coke and the book were under our chairs, so we didn’t notice it until we left a few hours later. The book is still readable, but the pages are multi-colored from the dye that leached from the cover.
on February 25th, 2009 at 7:31 pmI can’t think of anytime I’ve ruined a book more than maybe bending the pages.
Bummer though, about your ARC.
on February 25th, 2009 at 7:37 pmA couple of summers ago, I decided to try tree-planting as a summer job. It didn’t work out well and I was soon on my (long) way home, backpack full of snacks for the bus: fruit and stuff. This will be important.
Once I got back home, of course, I had to find another job. I got a posting as a nanny with a family who used the 1-2-3 Magic discipline system with their two kids. The mom lent me a copy of the 1-2-3 Magic book so that I’d be on board and the kids would have consistent discipline from all the adults they were with. All well and good.
Cut to, like, two weeks later when I went to get the book from my backpack and discovered a mysterious stain all along the bottom edge… coupled with a mysterious (and disgusting!) smell. Further investigation into the dark crannies and corners of my bad turned up the rotten orange, that had apparently been sitting un-noticed for… well, far too long, anyway.
I air/sun-dried the book, which got rid of the smell but not the stain. I was too mortified to admit what I’d done, so I bought a new copy of the book and snuck it into their house. I don’t know if they ever noticed that there had been a switch!
on February 25th, 2009 at 8:14 pmI have always been a big fan of reading in the bathtub. I can do it now with nary a drop of water touching the book, but when I was younger I had many, many books that had fallen completely in the tub. The main reason for this is that many younger reader’s chapter books, like The Babysitters Club wedge very nicely between the faucet and the temperature control…for a period of time anyway, until they would simply tumble out. It was so convenient to leave them there while washing one’s self, though!
on February 25th, 2009 at 9:10 pmTough choice on which is worse: cat puke, or cat pee? But basically: cats have ruined many a book around here. Mostly kids’ books because those are the ones that get left on the floor.
on February 25th, 2009 at 10:30 pmI’m with Jen, I like to read in the bath. I have had a few bathtub incidents. (for the record I’ve also dropped my cell phone in the bath and it still works!)
I have had animals nibble on the corners of books. I spilled tea on a recent library book…shhhh….I blow-dried it frantically like Natasha.
I’ve had my children do awful things to books, including the throw-up. My youngest has asthma and is a puker. She gags easily and I used to read to her when she would get her treatments to settle her down. One stray cough and “blech” all over me, nebulizer, couch and book. Not much on herself though….that’s talent.
Off topic…I’ve thought of one of those occasions as when I truly felt lik a mother. Doing something I would never do, “catching someone elses puke in my hands to save the carpet and/or their clothes” is one of them. Weird how being a mom changes you. I have a disaster child who breaks herself on a regular occasion. When you hear the frantic call from your husband saying, “when you get home, I promise, it isn’t as bad as it looks…” and come home to what looks like a murder scene off of CSI and you don’t faint from sheer panic…thats when I felt like a mom.
Okay…sorry for getting off topic….but that’s me
By the way…Jen, I think I read every Babysitter’s club book there was. I used to save my allowance and buy a new one each Friday and finish it by Saturday. I was that kid
That and Sweet Valley High….and a few other “fluffy” books.
on February 25th, 2009 at 10:39 pmI’m in moderation?!?! Did I talk too much? No links..hmmm. Is there a word limit? If so I should always be in moderation. I always talk too much.
on February 25th, 2009 at 10:41 pmWell, the worst thing that had ever happened to one of my books was when one of my hamsters bit away about half of one. It was quite a large book too (luckily nothing I actually cared about, I cannot even remember the title — but I still have the image of it before my eyes). I was and still am very surprised as the missing part was about two or even three times larger than the hamster itself.
I have, of course, spilled stuff on books myself (or, the worst thing I do to them, stain the pages with sauce as I always read while I’m eating, it’s a bad habit I’ve had since my childhood, and, well, accidents happen) but whenever I think of a really ruined book the hamster one comes to mind way before anything else.
on February 25th, 2009 at 10:58 pmWow, after having read the comments, I guess I haven’t done too badly. I don’t have pets, so that eliminates that threat. I do read in the tub, but fortunately I have been lucky. I am always nervous when I read in the tub with my library books. Yikes, I don’t want a $45 dollar fine. What book even costs that much?
I think the worst I have done is spill chocolate and cookie crumbs in the pages. You know they all fall down in between the pages where I can’t sweep them out. I think I may have spilled water or soda once. Nothing too bad. One of my books got dipped in cool whip as it was heading to the car with leftover jello salad. That’s my worst, I know it was pretty mild.
My son, on the other hand, rips pages to pieces. I am really stingy and don’t like to waste my books, so I try every effort to tape the pages back together…and he rips them apart again. He’s getting better now he’s a little older.
on February 25th, 2009 at 11:06 pmLet my infant son touch a book — and rip it, eat it, or otherwise harm. I’ve since realized that it really is OK. I can always get another book. One book he bit a corner out of when he was 8 months old. It was his book, a Sandra Boynton board book, but it was my favorite of his. He has since torn or eating other books. Very sad, but I’d rather he learns to love books. I can always by another one!
When he grabs my book, I’m not as understanding….Especially if I’m trying to read it….
on February 25th, 2009 at 11:40 pmOh no!! The worst thing I’ve ever done to a book was spill a cup of coffee on it
And I was so distraught! That’s the only time that I’ve ever actually ruined a book…one could say that I’m a little obsessive over the safety of them :p
on February 25th, 2009 at 11:57 pmhehe…that is kind of funny I am reading Anne of Green Gables right now!
on February 26th, 2009 at 12:16 amI was just telling someone about this the other day. My cat has chewed at least a dozen books. She doesn’t eat them, she simply gnaws on them and punctures them with her teeth. They are still readable, but completely unsellable and un-moochable. One day she bypassed a perfectly good old book I was going to keep and decided to put a hole in a book I was getting ready to send someone on Book Mooch. I was like, seriously? Seriously!?
I also dropped a book in the bathtub one time when I was home from college one time. The pages did not stick together but they were all wavy afterwords.
I am sorry your book got messed up! No matter how much or how little it happens to you, it is never fun.
on February 26th, 2009 at 12:20 amOk, so for a LONG time I had my books in one of those outdoor storage rental places. Very cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and somehow very attractive to spiders.
When I went to clear it out, I discovered that one of the boxes was crushed, covered in feathers (?!), dead spiders and mouse droppings. In there, I had a hardcover copy of Cosette that my father had given me as birthday present, but the spine was broken and due to all of the above, it was just too gross to even contemplate reading.
I thought it was very sad…
on February 26th, 2009 at 12:40 amAnastasia – Grape juice would be a bad one! I can imagine the purple splotches!
Netti – Our snow just melted and I discovered a pair of shoes which were left out all winter. I was sad. I can only imagine the same of a book!
Ruth – I don’t have any pets (unless you count my kids) but how funny they go for the glossy ones.
Nymeth – More than once. In my house, two words: sippy cups. But I don’t think you’ll look cool drinking coffee out of a sippy cup!
Erin – All right! That’s what I’m talking about. That poor, poor book.
Vasilly – Oh no! And a library book to boot. How awful. How can they justify $45 dollars?
Alyce – See I knew puke wasn’t a far off scenario! Ten books. Wow. That must have been a very long night for you. I hate those nights.
Amy – Just you wait. Tomorrow will be your day.
Christine – Eeeeww! I can only imagine the mess . . .
Jen – It never occurred to you to just set them on the floor next to the tub? LOL! I read all the babysitter club books.
Ali – Hmm . . . I’m going to say cat pee is worse. I bet it soaks in more. Yuck.
Jenn M. – I have caught throw up in my hands before. I *totally* know what you mean. Of course, I’d rather they puke in the bowl but I’d rather not scrub it out of the carpet. And you know how much I love your tangents. (I have some keywords that will send a comment into moderation but I’m just not seeing if you used one or not.)
Kay – That must have been a really yummy book for that hamster! I eat with my books all the time. I have had the occasional stain.
amy BTW M – We have a TON of taped up pages in our children’s books. But once they get to the point of where they are tapped at least half a dozen times it’s time to throw it out. Thank goodness I get most of my kids books from a thrift store.
Rebecca – I have caught my three year old chewing on the corner of board books and he knows better!! It never ends.
Chris – You and Nymeth are the same with your coffee!
Bethany – I still have that copy of that Anne of Green Gables (minus the dust jacket). I love Anne.
Rebecca – Oh no! The things that we put up with for pets I guess. But still, no fun!
on February 26th, 2009 at 12:48 amLenore – I don’t think I could read a book that I knew a mouse had peed or pooped on. The smell alone!
on February 26th, 2009 at 12:49 amI’m guilty of getting crumbs and small food stains on my books, due to not being able to stop reading just because I happen to be eating, but the worst happened to my first Harry Potter book. I read it in 8th grade, so I brought it to school with me, and I haven’t been sure what happened since. It has a mysterious stain along a quarter of the bottom and the pages are wrinkly, so I must have spilled something on it. The strange thing is that I don’t remember doing so, I just remember it being there, even though I clearly remember bringing it to school and my first reaction to reading it. It was my mom’s and I’m sure she gave it to me in pristine condition, so clearly I did something, but I wish I could remember what!
I have since then acquired a hardcover copy which I keep away from food and drink.
on February 26th, 2009 at 3:46 amMy daughter did shred (on purpose) a potty training book in an act of defiance! No potty’s for her! Other than that, I had an old cat that constantly got bladder infections, and she peed on a library book I had. Needless to say, I had to pay for that one!
on February 26th, 2009 at 3:52 amI can’t think of a time when I ruined a book. I did lend a book to a neighbor who dropped it in the bathtub. She returned it to me that way, and said, “Sorry.”
on February 26th, 2009 at 6:03 amThe worst was when I left a beautiful hard-bound copy of a nonfiction book about the Middle Ages out on the deck. I was just going to run inside to answer the phone (pre-cordless days!). I got distracted. Later that night while listening to the thunderstorm, I went to find my book. Yep. It had been left out in the rain. I tried to dry it out, but it was basically trashed.
on February 26th, 2009 at 6:57 amThis one time I had a library book, Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself, and I was reading and I placed it open on the bed and went away. I came back and somehow the dog managed to eat a hole or something in the middle of half the book. Just a hole in the middle of the page. nothing else. but it went for half the book. Like a snout mark or something. And this is like one of those Post Secret confessions b/c I returned it to the library in the drop box and didn’t say a word to them. Bad me.
on February 26th, 2009 at 7:23 amI try to be very diligent about keeping my books safe from my kids but they do fall victim sometimes. Alyce’s comment felt familiar. My son falls asleep with books all around him and I have to go in and take them off his bed once he is asleep. I am worried he will get sick and ruin them.
on February 26th, 2009 at 7:23 amMy mom ruined a book while we were at our rental house at Christmas. She went to turn on the jets in her tub and water sprayed everywhere ruining the book she had laid on the counter. My brother had just given her the book two days earlier.
I was reading on the front stoop, went in to get something, and never came back out to retrieve the book. It rained that night. A lot. It was a library book.
I dried it out the best I could, put it under something heavy to flatten it out, and dried it some more. And then, like Deborah above, I put it in the book drop. I am ashamed, particularly because I work in the library. (That said, the book wasn’t interesting, would never have gotten checked out, and the library would have eventually weeded it. Or that’s my rationalization.
on February 26th, 2009 at 7:28 amI just recently killed one with water too, before I even bought it. It was in my bag, at the book fair, and I was thinking about buying it, and my water bottle that was also in the bag, leaked all over. Well, I don’t know if leak is the right word because the entire contents of the bottle came out… and totally sopped up that book. So, I bought it, came home and propped it on a heater vent, and maybe four days later it was finally dry.
Our Harry Potter #3 book ended up with a completely broken spine, I don’t know how. But we took it to a copy place and had them spiral bind it back together. And of course, they goofed, and bound the whole thing out of order! Now THAT is one unique book that we (with help) totally ruined!
on February 26th, 2009 at 7:45 amWell, the comments on this post are so entertaining! I had fun reading all of them.. I am ultra-cautious with books I read..but sadly, the caution does not extend to text books that I have to study for my courses. I have ruined many books in various ways (and I am not exactly proud of what I did). I once dropped a text book in a pond while I was sitting next to it and attempting to study for an exam.. so I ran to the store, got myself another copy of the text and decided to sit under a tree and read because I wanted to stay away from the pond. And guess what? A crow pooped on my brand new copy!
on February 26th, 2009 at 7:50 amWow, I can’t think of any book-damage I’ve done that matches these stories. I think the worst was dropping one in the wet grass, but it dried off okay. I do read in the tub, but haven’t dropped a book yet! My toddler has torn plenty of pages, though, and we had to quit reading pop-up books for a while- the age they appeal to is also the most destructive (at least in my house!)
It’s possible to reverse the damage somewhat by putting paper towels between every damp page and putting the book under weights. Or you can even iron the pages, between sheets of heavier paper, but that’s tedious. I did it once to save a drawing I’d spilled water on.
on February 26th, 2009 at 7:51 amI think I’m in the same boat as My Friend Amy; I can’t recall a book I’ve totally ruined. I’m having fun reading everyone’s stories, though! :p
on February 26th, 2009 at 8:07 amI’ve dropped a number of books in the tub (before I became a librarian, I promise
But the worst I’ve seen done (it was my brother, fortunately) was to a beautiful hardcover early 1900s edition of The Wizard of Oz. He cut out the middle of 3/4 of the pages so he could hide a stash of money. My mom was devastated (it was her book as a child).
on February 26th, 2009 at 8:29 amohhhh someone reminded me. I was only thinking of ways ~I~ ruined books. As a teacher I’ve seen all sorts of horrible things to be done to poor books. Snot…tearing to pieces…coloring…licking (seriously)…stepped on and ripped…bent to pieces. So many bad things.
I wonder what naughty word I used…
on February 26th, 2009 at 9:25 amWe ruined several boxes of stored books in the basement, and a lot of other stuff when the sewer backed up and flooded the basement.
on February 26th, 2009 at 9:31 amI don’t think I’ve done too much damage. In high school I would always stick paperbacks in my backpack and occassionally a cover would get a bit bent, but nothing too tragic.
I had a friend whose child threw up on a library book though. She bought a replacement.
Sandy’s potty training book story cracked me up!
on February 26th, 2009 at 9:36 amI think Melissa “wins,” in my book, because the brother deliberately cutting out pages of a 1900 edition of the Wizard of Oz was physically painful for me to read!
on February 26th, 2009 at 9:42 amWhen I was little I got a stomach bug and when my mom realized I was going to puke, she shoved the book she was reading under my face.
No way I’d sacrifice a book like that as a mom. I’d rather clean the couch.
on February 26th, 2009 at 9:47 amI agree with Ali; that was so sad!
on February 26th, 2009 at 10:42 amI don’t recall ever being the instigator of book damage but in 8th grade I sat next to this girl in algebra and she would take a bottle of elmer’s glue and each day she would open to a new section of her book and smear a thin layer of glue all over the page and then shut the book until the next day. By the end of the year that book was a brick!
We denied everything.
on February 26th, 2009 at 10:56 amI’ve read books to death–my first copy of Speak literally fell apart (I now have a library-bound copy) and I had an old mass market paperback of GWTW that fell apart too. (Though they probably would’ve been just fine if I hadn’t been using them as topics for grad school papers–that kind of reading can be really hard on books.)
One time, when I was in high school, I bought a watermelon “gourmet” lollipop and left it on my bookshelf–on top of the books for some reason. It was summer, though, and the thing started melting. Amazingly, it didn’t totally ruin the book it leaked on; I was able to scrub all the sugary stuff off, and though there’s a stain on the top of the pages, I can still open the pages without having to unstick them.
on February 26th, 2009 at 11:01 amProbably the worst damage to a book that I’ve experienced is when one of my kids wet the bed and the book they were looking at at bedtime got wet too. There’s not much I could do about that but throw it away!
on February 26th, 2009 at 11:19 amThe worst I’ve done was dropped a book in the tub. Worse yet, it was borrowed. I was horrified. Of course I bought my friend a new one but still. I also have a tendency to drop favorite bookmarks in the tub. I’ve taken to leaving them on the counter now.
on February 26th, 2009 at 12:25 pmI borrowed a book from a friend – it was a book on eating healthier. I spilled soda on it! So I decided to pay for the book rather than admit what I did!
on February 26th, 2009 at 1:30 pmWow, 10,000 comments. You’re a wonder! You should write some posts sometime about how you’ve been so successful with your blog in a relatively short period of time.
on February 26th, 2009 at 1:31 pmMeghan – Oh Meghan. You make me feel old even though I’m not that old! Eighth grade. I still can’t believe that a lot of people grew up with Harry Potter. I didn’t read them until after I was an adult and married.
Sandy – At least you didn’t drop in back in the box like some others here! We are right in the middle of potty training at our house. I hope I survive.
Kathy – She never offered to pay for it?! I would never return a book damaged like that! I would be peeved!
Beth F. – I’d hate to ruin some of my beautiful hardbound fiction books! So sad. I’ve left books out on the hammock. Luckily, disaster diverted so far.
Deborah – You’re so bad! But wouldn’t they know if was you when they checked it in? Or maybe they never noticed it.
Jeanette – Now I’m getting worried. The boys have books all over the floor and when we had the crib up I always left a couple of board books in there. They would keep the little guy entertained when he woke up and allow myself a couple more minutes of shut eye.
MotherReader – Ha, ha! You are worse then Deborah! Seriously though, wouldn’t they know who it was coming back from?
Suey – That’s so funny you ruined it before you even paid for it! I would never think of getting a book’s spine redone. That is to funny that it’s out of order.
Ramya – LOL I don’t think that book wanted to be read that day! You must have been awfully close to that pond.
Jeane – Good tip of drying pages. My littlest just ripped a page of one of the pop up books at the library today! I had to go take it to the desk. Luckily, they didn’t seem to care. Now I realize why we only look at pop up books at the library (which they don’t check out) and don’t own them.
Word Lily – I think these stories are great too! So much fun!
Melissa – Oh my goodness! That comment literally made me suck in my breath. How awful!! I would have been livid.
Jenn M. – Kids are awful to books. My three year old still isn’t getting any better. Sometimes I still hear the rip sound of a page being torn out of a book. Ugh.
Steven – Sewer + books = bad!
KT – I knew threw up wasn’t a far fetched possibility!
Ali & Rebecca – I know! Eeek!
Britt – Eeeew! That would not be my first reaction! My reaction would be to fling the book as far across the room as possible to avoid the action!
Kristen M. – That is too funny!!
Jena – You must have not moved those books for a while! I loved Speak!
Darlene – I don’t think I could risk getting somebody else’s book near water. I’m glad you replaced it.
Angela – Soda + book on eating healthy = bad! LOL
Janssen – Whew! 10,000 comments and counting. I wonder how many of them are mine? I have no idea why the blog has taken off but I do spend a lot of time on it. Too much time actually. I’m happy for it.
on February 26th, 2009 at 2:17 pmI have had cats that chew on book corners, too. It depends on their personalities
on February 26th, 2009 at 2:45 pmThe funniest thing that happened to me so far was after a camping trip. The group divided up leftover food and I got a half-used bag of drinking chocolate powder, among other things. Then I set off home – several hours in a very hot bus. When I unpacked the next morning I found the chocolate had gotten between the pages of the little Bible I carried. The heat had made it melt! Luckily I was able to peel the pages apart again, but the chocolate remains to this day any time I happen to look up the story of the first Christmas…
As a teenager I once borrowed a book from a family friend, read about half of it, was really enjoying it, and somehow misplaced it. I didn’t want to admit to losing it, and quickly changed the subject the couple times I bumped into him. Months later, I opened the trunk of my car and found the book…and concurrently learned that my trunk leaked. Water damage beyond belief. He had written extensively in the margins, too–something I couldn’t replace it. I never owned up to it. Oh, and the person I borrowed it from happened to be a priest, too. Would have made an interesting confession, I guess.
on February 26th, 2009 at 2:54 pmThanks to Mother Reader for pointing me to this! It should be required reading for all librarians! (I’m a retired high school librarian.)
on February 26th, 2009 at 3:18 pmMy stepkids left a book and some crayons on the window ledge of our parked car on vacation. The crayons melted in the sun and ruined the book. I don’t remember what it was.
Probably the worst thing I’ve ever done was DELIBERATELY ruin a book. It was a book I didn’t like and I had an extra copy for some reason, and I really wanted some origami pages that were printed-on but not glossy like magazine pages–also text that was fairly uniform.
But then…in a house with two artists, it’s not an unusual thing for various objects to be sacrificed for a higher purpose!
on February 26th, 2009 at 3:27 pmaquafortis: I did something like that in elementary school art class: fold the pages of old Reader’s Digests to make make christmas trees. I thought it was very sad that we weren’t *reading* the reader’s digests before we spray painted them. But it was a cool project!
on February 26th, 2009 at 5:54 pmTBH I have no idea whatever happened to the book. This was when I was in undergrad and I was rereading the book just for the fun of it and it was the last day that I lived in the town that I returned the book. They never contacted me about it. I do know from working in a library that when you check in the books you normally don’t flip through the pages. Especially if the bar code is on the back cover of the book, you don’t even have to open up the book at all. So maybe they never noticed until someone tried to check it out later on…
on February 26th, 2009 at 9:10 pmGrace – At least that will be a camping trip that you will never forget.
Amy – So you never returned it?! Shhh . . . we accidentally “stole” a book from my husband’s co-worker. Everybody laid off and it never got returned. I feel guilty every time I think about it.
CindyD – That comment made my day! I do love my librarians. I’m sure you see all kinds of crazy things happen to books.
aquafortis – That would be a perfect use for all of those Reader Digest books. I don’t think you could give those away if you tried!
Rebecca – I read your comment earlier but forgot about it then responded to aquafortis. And then I see you talk about Reader Digest books! Too funny.
Deborah – I’m sure they didn’t notice till later. I’ve tapped ripped pages back in of children’s books and returned them back to the library in hopes of not having a fine on my account. So far, so good!
on February 26th, 2009 at 11:11 pmI don’t think I’ve ever ruined a book. People I let borrow my books have ruined them however (someone left one of my favorites out in the rain so I dried it on the air vent and placed an Atlas on top of it before it was completely dry so it wasn’t too wrinkly). Oh and a puppy I had nibbled on one of my books once but it was just a corner and I plan to replace that book eventually anyway.
on February 27th, 2009 at 3:59 amI’m not sure if I’ve ever ruined a book entirely. I’ve dipped edges into the bathwater. My brother tore a cover once when we were arguing, but apart from that I can think of nothing.
I was reading an author’s blog once who said when she’s on holiday, she never uses bookmarks. When she’s done reading a page, she rips that page out. That way she can put the book down, come back to it later and still know where she is in the book. I’m still appalled.
on February 27th, 2009 at 7:00 amI thought of something else I’ve done that will shock you all: I’ve thrown away perfectly good books. At least two.
One was disgusting, sexual, and crude. I didn’t think anyone should ever read it. I tossed it. The other one was a true story about murder and I was pretty disgusted and couldn’t stand the thought of even suggesting to anyone I’d even started it. I tossed it.
Both were in perfectly good shape. I just couldn’t stand their existence in the world.
Go one, tell me how awful I am. I can take it.
on February 27th, 2009 at 12:06 pmRebecca – Don’t feel bad, I’ve done that a couple times too.
on February 27th, 2009 at 12:34 pmI’m terrible with books. I frequently eat while reading (I’m frequently eating period!), so I often get little food stains. The worst, though, was last summer when I was reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and I had the bright idea to jump on the raft in the lake and read. I threw the book on the raft first and then jumped from the dock onto the raft. I don’t know why I didn’t realize that the book would bounce right off. I was drying pages with a blow dryer also…my book is now twice the size!
on February 27th, 2009 at 7:50 pmLadytink_534 – That’s what I hate about water damage is how wrinkly they get.
Michelle – That is the craziest thing I have ever heard!!! I can’t even imagine. I’m appalled too.
Rebecca – You’re not going to get any grief from me! While I’ve never thrown a book away myself, I figure, it’s your book. You can throw it away if you want. At least you have convictions!
Trish – I eat with my books a lot too. That’s really funny though about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Which is really sad, because I LOVE a Tree Grows in Brooklyn. That must have given you a shock!
on February 28th, 2009 at 8:48 pmThe worst I’ve ever done was bleed on a book. I had a cut on my finger and didn’t realize it had opened again…
However, my cat did throw up on a Chemistry notebook once. I didn’t discover it until several hours after it had happened, and the entire cover was completely gone by that point. The first ten pages had to be airdried, and had an unpleasant aroma for the next two weeks or so.
on February 28th, 2009 at 11:14 pmLet’s see, I have had a dog(s) pee on a book, eat a book and try to play tug-o-war with a book. I have dropped way too many books in the pool trying to hold on to them on a raft. When my daughter was younger, she said a book was dirty and gave it a bath. Many of my books have lovely pictures drawn in them by my kids. One time I was getting the kids all buckled up and put a book on top of the car and forgot about it until most of the errands were done and then we had a game of who can find the book along the road. Found it, but it was okay, sitting on the grass waiting for us to find it.
on March 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am[...] What’s the most horrific way you’ve ever ruined a book? Natasha asked this question after inadvertantly ruining an ARC. Evidently a lot of us have completely ruined books, because Natasha has gotten a LOT of answers. [...]
on March 1st, 2009 at 11:23 amI own several books with odd spots (often coffe-coloured) in them, but I don´t remember ever destroying a book to such a degree that it was not readable. My son peed on a glossy children´s book once, however. – but he was quite young, and he might say it was his diaper which was not reliable enough
on March 1st, 2009 at 12:32 pmWhat a great post, with great comments! I recently ruined an ARC too and was horrified at what I’d done (though the book is not unreadable, luckily). I recently found out that you can clean stickiness off books by using eucalyptus oil (just put a bit on a q-tip and rub the stickiness off the book cover); however, this only works on glossy covers, not on ARCs! I tried to remove a sticker off the cover of an ARC and it just smeared the ink off the cover and spread the stickiness around. It now looks horrible!
For Rebecca and those who have mentioned children chewing books, do you know of a kid’s book about a boy who eats books? I unfortunately don’t remember what it’s called but I thought it was a really good story!
on March 3rd, 2009 at 10:10 amAlyssa – I can’t imagine reading a book with a awful smell! Yuck!
‘Nise – Okay, you do a lot to books! I have driven off with my wallet on top of the car before. A good Samaritan found it in the middle of the street.
Dorte H. – I’m in the middle of potty training right now. Just cleaned up pee on the kitchen floor a mere minutes ago. Sigh . . .
avisannschild – The book that you are thinking of is The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers. I LOVE that book!
on March 3rd, 2009 at 10:18 amThanks, Natasha, that’s the one!
on March 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 amThese comments are great!
I don’t know which was worse – cheese or toilet? I hid some cheese in a book when I was really little, and forgot about it. Yuck, I never used a book as a hiding spot for food I was supposed to stay out of ever again. That was my favorite book I ruined!
As a toddler, one of my boys had a strange fascination with the toilet. He dropped whatever he got his hands on in the toilet if the door was left open. He dropped a brand new library book in the toilet. Yuck and expensive.
on March 3rd, 2009 at 9:39 pmI used to love reading those Goosebumps books with the foil covers when I was a kid. One summer I was reading while sitting on a lawn chair and my feet were in a blow up pool. I dropped the book in the pool. For some odd reason my dad decided we should dry it in the microwave, not realizing there was foil in the cover.
It was a lot of fun returning the book to the library and explaining what happened as we paid the fee.
I think this is a great topic!
on March 12th, 2009 at 2:43 amI love this topic! Personally, guilty of the bath option on more than one occasion. The worst for me was when my cat threw up all over a paperback I was reading. It was one I’d had real difficulty tracking down so I just kind of had to dry it and chip it off (I shall leave the image to your imagination!).
on March 13th, 2009 at 4:31 amOkay so I didn’t get a chance to weigh in on this topic yet!
I’ve splashed water on many books, and my dogs have peed on a few. My kids’ have thrown up on them yes and I’ve had both dogs and kids rip them and the kids have doodled on them with pen. That all happens regularily. I’ve dropped them in mud and dirt or left them behind somewhere (oh the horror!)
Great question!
on March 16th, 2009 at 2:52 pm[...] What Is the Most Horrific Way You’ve Ruined a Book? [...]
on January 4th, 2010 at 11:41 pm[...] reminds me of the other book that I ruined in the exact same way. When am I going to [...]
on October 6th, 2010 at 11:01 amI once rotted a banana on top of a textbook, but I think the prize goes to my brother’s dog throwing up play-dough on my backpack, which got on my notebook.
on October 7th, 2010 at 3:37 pm