Bookish Pet Peeve

Disclaimer: I realize that not everyone treats their belongings the same and that what one person finds to be appalling another may not. I am not in any way trying to insult anyone who does the following. :)

I struggle seeing dog-eared pages within a book. I cringe even when it's not my own book, and I see quite a few of them working in a library. If it's your own book, and you want to do it, I won't argue with you (it is *yours* after all) ~ I will just inwardly cry every time I notice. However, I feel doing it to someone else's property is disrespectful to that person.

This is actually a book I own. I bought it at a used bookstore. I was disappointed when I noticed it had been dog-eared. I does not, however, effect the story. ;)

A Brief Story

Once, I let a family member borrow a book. It just happened to be book five in the Harry Potter series, which I not only loved but that was bought for me by my favorite aunt. I saw it laying on kitchen table, with no bookmark or scrap of paper and picked it up, thinking she had finished it. I was then that I noticed a small gap where the page she was on had been folded over. Now it should be noted that not only did I hand her the book to read, but I handed her a bookmark to go with it. (Yes, I can be a bit anal at times... I get that.) Really? I gave her a bookmark to use... not lose. So, I went and got another bookmark, placed it in where the page was folded over, smoothed out the fold the best I could and left her a note, which read something along the lines of, "If I see it again, you will no longer be allowed to borrow my books." (On a completely related note, she really was no longer allowed to borrow my books when I got the book back from her and found cigarette ashes inside... *shudder*.)

It's really not that hard to use a bookmark, is it? A scrap of paper? A post-it note? A business card? A receipt? A picture? A piece of string? A napkin? A tissue? If you're reading in the bathroom, a piece of (unused, of course) toilet paper?

Here's one of my favorite bookmarks. I've made a few of these (a couple book related, not family), but this one is the most recent and my current favorite. 

Yes, books are made to be loved. And sometimes the wear and tear on a book will show that love. But won't the love be able to be spread that much more if we take care of them? Just sayin'.

What are your thoughts? Are you a folder of the page? Or do you prefer to mark your spot with something - anything? What do you use?

Smiles,
B