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From the Fog City Divas Blog Archives "Candice Confesses to Spine Cracking"
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A few weeks ago I was having lunch with some of the Divas when Monica McCarty reached in her purse for a book Jami Alden had loaned her. It was an ARC of Lisa Kleypas' upcoming book Mine Till Midnight which Jami had picked up at the RWA conference in Dallas. They both started waxing poetic about how good it was and I said how I couldn't wait to read it -- Lisa Kleypas is a goddess and I have been eagerly awaiting this book because of the hero, Cam, who had been introduced in Devil in Winter. Jami offered the ARC to me and I grabbed it. Now I woudn't have to wait until the book was released in October. Sweet.
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I didn't really look at the book, just popped it in my purse. Later, when I picked it up to read, I froze. Here was a book that had been read by two people already ... and it was pristine. Not a crease, not a scuff, not a bent page. It might have just been unpacked from a box of new books and never opened. Except it was signed to Jami and I know she and Monica had read it. If it hadn't been THIS particular book, I would have put it down. Why? Because I'm a spine cracker. I can't read a mass market paperback book without bending it open and breaking the spine. Those spine creases never bother me with my own books. Sometimes I even :::gasp::: turn down the page corners. But I couldn't return this mint condition autographed book to Jami with a crease on it. What to do? I really really wanted to read this book. So I did, very carefully and without cracking the spine once. But I have to tell you, if it wasn't Lisa Kleypas and if October hadn't seemed way too long to wait for the actual release, I'd have returned it to Jami unopened. But I can't pass up a Lisa Kleypas book, especially one about Cam. It was worth the effort for the fabulous story (LK has hit another one out of the park!), but it was not a pleasant reading experience. In order not to crack the spine, one has to hold the book in two hands and then really strain for those words on the inner edge. I don't know how you non-spine-crackers read a tightly bound paperback book without stretching it open a bit. Or why you try so hard not to. Here is what my paperback keepers look like:
To me, those creases indicate that I've read and enjoyed those books at least once. I've spent time with the book and loved it well. I've savored the words if not the packaging. The only time I read with a book held in both hands is when I'm in bed at night. (I always read for an hour or more before going to sleep.) The rest of the time, I'm usually multi-tasking, eg reading while blow-drying my hair or reading while eating a meal. I hardly ever just sit in a chair and read. Except on an airplane. I like to prop a book open in front of me so I have both hands free. That means the book has to lay flat, which requires cracking the spine. I even use a book weight to keep it open. In fact, I have book weights in various rooms in the house where I might happen to read. There are two in the dining room in case both Greg and I are reading books while eating dinner. If you're not familiar with book weights, here's what I mean:
Yes, that Monica's Highlander Unmasked propped open. I'm reading it and loving it and cracking the spine like mad. So there. When I mentioned my panic about reading Jami's pristine ARC to the Divas, I discovered I am not the only spine cracker in the group. Kate Moore said: "If it's my book, I break the spine, turn down the corners, lay it open flat on the table, and generally commit terrible crimes against the book, and if I like it, keep it forever with its loose cover and yellowing pages." And Allison Brennan said: "I leave the book face down at the page I left off (which is really bad, I know). I also stuff paperbacks in my purse because I need something to read during kid activities-- Now those are women after my own heart. We love our books to death. Literally. Next time I'm going to borrow books from them instead of those
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candicehern.com |
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