From early childhood, I developed a love for books as objects in themselves, enjoying the feel of the covers and pages and even the smell of the paper--I also prioritized lavish illustration. I've always shuddered when I see someone handle a book in a way that I find inappropriate, such as tossing them heedlessly into a car trunk or setting one alongside a can of insecticide. I remember a time conversing with a friend who was absentmindedly picking at the corner of the cover of a hardcover library book, so that the corner actually became frayed, and me wincing with each increasing degradation of the book's physical integrity. As a child, I preferred hardcovers to paperbacks, valuing the durability and elegance of the former, but at this later stage of life now invest in paperbacks whenever possible, as I feel more comfortable treating them more casually (but still mindfully), while also finding them easier to handle and store.
I understand this. When I see someone picking at a book or setting a drink on one etc. I often reach out and ask for the book and then just hold it absentmindedly before setting it down at a safe distance. I’m not overly precious about my books - other than the spine- but it still pains me to see someone abusing a book.
I like a nice trade paper cover, one that kind of flops open and feels nice on the hand and makes holding the book a pleasure. I also like a lovely font and nice white space, and I appreciate scene/chapter breaks with embellishments. I never noticed it before but I also turn my book rather than cracking the spine. I also appreciate chapter titles. So many novels just use numbers now, or character names (if multi POV) or years (if set during different times).
I prefer hardcovers over paperbacks.Have to keep the cover on while reading.Also, love deckle edged pages. I always read the acknowledgements & find it satisfying to break the spine of a book. 😎
Oooh, that keeping the cover on while reading a hardback is one of my pet peeves as are deckled edges🤓It’s cool that you read the acknowledgements. I almost always skip them.
I preferred hardbacks over paperbacks as a youth (the book as an object being a fetish of mine), but in my middle years now opt for investing in paperbacks whenever possible. I can treat a paperback volume more casually, and it's generally easier to handle and store.
I also like a lot of white space on pages. Right now, I’m reading a lot of old, second-hand science fiction paperbacks, and there is almost no white space on the pages. It’s driving me so crazy that I may have to try to replace these books with newer editions. I also try not to break the spine, but that was not always the case. I’m re-reading Ulysses now from a brand new edition, and I’m being very careful. But when I tried to check my old (very old!) edition from college (to read my annotations), whole sections of the book just fell out, broken off from the very damaged binding. Heartbreaking. Another great video, Brian!
@@BookChatWithPat8668 Thank you Pat. I’m reading an old mass market Hemingway right now and the cramped pages are really irritating. Thank goodness this one has slightly larger than usual type.
Yes, white space. And text that is formatted in non-standard ways (as long as it's still readable). Both of those come from my years of writing and studying poetry. I also really love it when a publisher names the font(s) used. It's rare, but makes me very happy.
ooooh thanks so much for the mention Brian! I must admit, while no lover of cracked spines, I have never thought of turning the book as I read from page to page!
I love a lot of white space too. I don’t have any problem with breaking the spine but it is satisfying to read a book and have it still look brand new. I am a big fan of maps. Any book with maps in it will turn my head.
I love a chunky, floppy paperback full of dense text - bonus points if there are nice margins. I tend not to like a lot of white space, but I agree with you on Noopiming. The white spaces worked very well in that book.
It rarely happens any more… but I LOVE reading books with chapter titles. (Even more so when there is a table of contents AND chapter titles.) When I was a kid and fell in love with reading, it was something I saw in books a lot. Now, when I see it in an adult book, I immediately get more excited to read the book and I enjoy the reading experience more than I would without them.
I don't like cracked spines either, though I didn't even realize I was trying to avoid cracking them until somebody pointed out that my books looked unread lol. I often read paperbacks lying down, though, which helps avoid spine-cracking positioning! Just eyeballed one shelf--the one book there with a cracked spine really mars its neighborhood! I like the elegance of generous margins, but while I generally like fragments it has to be done to an effect that is worth the paper/trees. Sometimes it can look like a pointless indulgence. Trees sacrificed and price elevated. A lot of the cost of bookmaking is buying the paper. Cryptic photos are great, they also prompt thought, as does "proper-use" white space.
I have to admit that I don’t look at my shelves and think the cracked spines books mar the aesthetics of the shelves or that I think about tree wastage though that is a good point. For me the not cracking the spine is more of a “leave no trace” thing (I think). As for the trees if the book is a work of art then I usually think the sacrifice was worth it.
This was a fun topic! I had not thought about mine until now. Definitely style, white pause spaces, and keeping the book looking new, French flaps and deckled page edges as well are a fav. I'm not a fan of chapters cutting to different time periods. Keeping track of where we are at any given time breaks into the flow for me. Fun exercise.
This was a fun video! Interesting to hear your thoughts on Noopiming. I liked it, but I certainly feel like I missed some of the meaning. My bookish kinks are brightly colored covers and lots of food references.
Food is one of those things in books that enriches the reading experience so much. Covers have almost no effect on me, but food is something I enjoy reading about. The
I don't have any reading preoccupations, but I do have some tropes. I love the use of world mythologies, portals and coming of age fiction. Another great video, thank you.
I love this topic! The more family friendly term I’ve heard is book catnip. I mentioned this general topic in my newbie tag video but I think a dedicated video would be great. I talked more about things within the text rather than formatting preferences (maybe because I read ebooks often) so that’s another factor for me to consider. Love that you included specific examples. Great video, great topic!
Thank you. I love reading ebooks but sometimes they do obscure many of the formatting things that I enjoy. And of course this is even more true for audiobooks.
you should take a look at Jason Reynolds’s ain’t burned all the bright! Reynolds teamed up with an artist (his name escapes me now) to create a story with 100s of illustrations and only a few sentences. I found it very cool- and it definitely became a niche book fetish for me. I also love textured pages, detailed maps, and hardbacks that have a design UNDER the dustjacket! 😁
As an opposite to white spaces in books, I kind of like the Thomas Bernhard style without chapter or paragraph breaks that gives an unbroken wall of text.
I like white space, little illustrations at the beginning of chapters, chapter titles, illustrated end papers and I would never, ever, ever intentionally crack a spine or lay an open book facedown. The horror!
I love a book with a good flop. I’m sad when it doesn’t happen. I like white space, as well. (Two Sherpas is one of my favorites of the year so far.) Intentionally cracking the spine of a book is akin to murder. If the book had a nice flop no cracking would be necessary. When I was a child, I would twirl my hair when reading until sometimes it would be in a knot. I grew out of it. Thank god. My father would sign his name and put the date on the last page when he finished it. We love having these keepsakes now that he is sadly departed. I now do the same with my books in his honor. Lastly, font is very important to me. I like reading about the typeface usually at the back of the book. I also like the Acknowledgements section.
Oh, I love a good “Note on the Type” I always read them, though I don’t care much or notice subtle differences in font. A floppy paperback (that came that way) is the best. I wish I had established a tradition of writing my name and the date at the end of books.
I’m with you on spine breaking. I broke one a couple of months ago and felt horrified: I’m losing my touch. When I was young my books all had an unread appearance - I felt proud of that. It’s different now. The cats and the dog tails: it’s been a long effort trying to avoid spills and I shudder at the casualties, and I finally feel I’ve made improvement.
Fun topic! I read almost exclusively e-books and my fetish(?) is the font - I can only read in Caecilia. The one thing I do miss about paper books is their distinctive smell.
I try not to crack spines either. I think that most paperbacks published in the US are good in that regard since the spine tends to be more supple and not to crack. UK paperbacks are very bad by contrast. But on the other hand, I find the paper in a US paperback yellows more easily.
I do find that a lot of US trade paperbacks are floppy so that they open easily without breaking the spine. I’m sure you are right about paper quality. Thanks for your comment.
My own kink is that I like engaging in-well-the word that springs to mind is “intercourse” with the author by writing my side of the conversation in the margins.
What an interesting idea. I have the same fetishes. I also noticed how those things are for physical reading only. In ebooks those things don't work well and not at all on audiobooks. So the more form or experimental ingredients the more likely I am to get the physical book. Whereas books in verse I usually go for the audiobook more.
Very true. I was worried when I found out that Blackouts had pictures etc. after I bought it as an ebook, but in that case the ebook handled the pictures etc well.
Having thought about this this morning, after watchin Allen's response video. I love well made books. Font, paper colour, size and format all matter to me as well. I have kept some books for decades. I learned the hard way how to care and select books so they last.... I liken these discussions to an early lesson I had in school. I got into post secondary as a form of affirmative action.. i was a severe dyslexic, but they assumed technology could finally overcome the limitations of the mind's perception? I was in the cafeteria reading a book about samurai pressure points. I was reading about gijo point 60. The webbing of the thumb and finger being used to eliminate pain? The table next door was a large group of students, professors, and assistants. I overheard them discussing a student's mispronounced word. Epitome. The teacher should have explained that mispronunciation of this word shows the student is self taught: this is something to value that few do. Since then I make a habit of mispronouncing words. When you speak a second language, as example. When speaking English I do not pronounce French words with an accent, nor do I correct others. That is one kink.
Thanks for the great comment. Fonts don’t register with me when I’m reading but I always read the notes on the font at the end of books. Those things are fascinating to me. I agree with you about not pronouncing words from other languages as they would be pronounced in that language when speaking English.
_fun-_*_KNEE!_* Still have _The Rings of Saturn_ (looking at I upon my shelf, right now) yet unread due to your rec.recent. Just dawned upon me: Have you ever did a compare & contrast betwixt Faulkner & McCarthy style? Are there many distinct differences? I _hate_ people who break the spines of paperback books!
Oh dear, my books are completely dog-eared in comparison. I really like an unreliable narrator, they're great. I also like books where I'm not quite sure what's happening 'Candide' 'The Emigrants'. I love an ironic tone - the Romans arriving in Britain - 'Heart of Darkness' I think 'The Long Form' and 'Cuddy' are probably for me.
was recently introduced to sebald's work an author I didn't know about before and actually got the supposed masterpiece you were holding up though haven't cracked it yet. I also like white spaces though I recall mailer's the executioner's song was criticized for having them in the original edition and the book got zapped for a lot of other reasons but for me it's still one of my faves by him. Yes I do hate to mess up new books but your last "kink" was the only one I didn't really agree with those kinds of books usually annoy me for some reason haha. ⚛😀❤
I thought I was the only one who hated spine cracking! Kinda glad to know I’m not weird in that way haha. I’m not sure if this counts as a reading kink or fetish, but I have an unusual interest in books that contain characters that are priests/bishops/monks/friars/ etc. It genuinely does not matter what genre said book is, what the character is like or where/when the story is set, I just always end up liking books that revolve around clerics for some reason. It’s particularly strange considering I am not in any way religious.
I think there are more of us anti-spine crackers than we think. The clerical fetish is an interesting one. I have a similar fascination for books that contain characters who are writers.
I used to be a lot harder on books than i am now. I got a definite sense of satisfaction from looking at a book I'd just finished and seeing its scars. Please dont read into it.
With regards to the 'white space' I HATE when books do the opposite and try to preserve space by just starting a new chapter on the same page as the one that just ended. Absolutely criminal.
Did you ever read House of Leaves? I think you would like it. It was definitely an interesting / unusual type of book. I open my new books a special way to avoid cracking the spines. Not sure how to post a long link here but just Google "How to open a book without cracking the spine" and the first result is a lovely redheaded woman showing the process. A lot of my used books have cracked spines but I try to keep my books nice if possible.
I have not. I have always thought of it as a novel that the reader had to solve and I’m not sure I’m up for that anymore. But I have thought about it. I will definitely look for that video.
