What Book Are You Currently Afraid to Touch...?

[dannyboy121070]

One of the drawbacks of having nice (Expensive!) books is, at least to me, being afraid to touch them.

Being, *ahem*..."Between jobs" at the moment, I decided to break out some of my nicer books, so I could read them in a controlled environment.

I cracked open a twenty-year-old specially bound signed limited first edition of Neil Gaiman's ANANSI BOYS, which I greatly enjoyed. At one point, I noticed a weird printing error- A large splash of red across the page. Weird. Same on the next page, but bigger, and in a different place. The page after that has a big red splotch. What was up with this?? Well, the freezing weather here had caused my hand and fingertips to just randomly crack open, streaking the pristine book with blood. The book didn't cost much, and I'm sure there are a ton of copies, so it's probably not valuable, but making ANY kind of mark or blemish on a book just kills me. On the plus side, the bloodstains were on pages where a character gets his tongue ripped out, so I can always say it was a special feature of the book. If anyone wants a one-of-one authentic bloodstained copy of the book, hit me up!

Currently, I am CAREFULLY reading the super-nice second edition of Centipede's TOBE HOOPER'S SALEM'S LOT: STUDIES IN THE HORROR FILM. I am, no lie, afraid to touch this book. It weighs a TON, but I cradle it in the palm of one hand when I read it, constantly checking it for any marks or abrasions. This hobby makes madmen of us all......anyone else want to share?

[RonClinton]

Even though I share the same wariness, I've never let my concern get out of control enough that it prevents me from reading a book and giving purpose to its existence. That said, the time spent with Centipede's massively oversized KNOWING DARKNESS and CONVERSATIONS WITH THE WEIRD TALES CIRCLE produced almost as much anxiety as pleasure. Oh, and my oversized Centipede edition of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES remains unread (though certainly flipped through) since I've already read the book in an earlier edition so saw no reason to tempt Bad Things by handling this work of art and reading it again in this new edition...in this instance, the pleasure is simply in the owning of an edition pays ultimate homage to a seminal work by a favorite author.

[jeffingoff]

i took The Haunting of Hill House and The Road (both numbered Suntup editions) to read on the train during my daily commute. I was very careful. And even more lucky. It was crazy, but I love these books so much, I can't imagine not reading them. I plan on reading my numbered Slaughterhouse Five as soon as I can work it though the TBR! And my Godfather!

[Dave1442397]

I always read the books, no matter how expensive, but I am careful with them.

I'm currently reading the Suntup edition of Carrion Comfort. I'm glad they split it into two volumes - makes it much easier to handle.

[Ben Staad]

Nice topic.

I read basically whatever edition I own. Some a little more carefully than others and there are some caveats.

If I have a signed trade edition of a book I will typically not read that book. I will read the unsigned trade.

When I owned a copy of CD's GE 25th Anniversary copy of IT I did not read that one. I opened it, looked at it, maybe even sniffed it, but I didn't read that copy.

[dannyboy121070]

Nice topic.

If I have a signed trade edition of a book I will typically not read that book. I will read the unsigned trade.

Same here. I have also been known to buy an e-book version as a reading copy, if they have a good sale.

[RonClinton]

Nice topic.

When I owned a copy of CD's GE 25th Anniversary copy of IT I did not read that one. I opened it, looked at it, maybe even sniffed it, but I didn't read that copy.

Ah yes, like the Bradbury I mentioned earlier, that's another one I haven't read, since I had already read a trade edition (granted, decades earlier)...if I ever get the itch to read IT again, I'll continue to leave mine on the shelf and either grab a cheap copy at a used bookstore or borrow jeffingoff 's Bibliopathologist's rebound copy. I suppose if I look closer at my shelves, I have a number of such books, deluxe editions that were bought to shelve rather than read since I had already read the book's contents at an earlier date in a trade edition. But as as a rule, if I buy a deluxe edition that I haven't read before, I'll read it at some point, albeit very carefully.

[saginawhorror]

I would probably say my Stephen King signed copy of Dark Dreamers since I will probably never get another King signature.

[brlesh]

It’s been lamented on this board several times recently about the increasing cost of our insane hobby, book collecting.

Sounds like I’m on the outlier here, because I rarely read any of my deluxe editions. If I’m spending $100 plus dollars on a book, and that seems to be more the norm than the outlier in recent years, I’m just not going to take a chance with it. And if I’m reading a book I take it with me every where I go.

If I’m spending that on a nice limited edition copy, I have no issues on spending a few more dollars on a trade paperback, or even a trade hardcover edition.

B

[Ben Staad]

I 100% here you here. I'm not traveling with most (if any) of my special editions. My last few trips I've loaded up on cheap PB's to take along with me. My computer bag was loaded with 4 books on the plane. I packed so many because I wasn't sure which story would grab my attention.

It’s been lamented on this board several times recently about the increasing cost of our insane hobby, book collecting.

Sounds like I’m on the outlier here, because I rarely read any of my deluxe editions. If I’m spending $100 plus dollars on a book, and that seems to be more the norm than the outlier in recent years, I’m just not going to take a chance with it. And if I’m reading a book I take it with me every where I go.

If I’m spending that on a nice limited edition copy, I have no issues on spending a few more dollars on a trade paperback, or even a trade hardcover edition.

B

[dannyboy121070]

I used to take any limited edition I happened to be reading to work with me, since I had an office to myself, where I could make sure the book didn't meet with any mishaps while I had lunch at my desk. My last job was fully remote, so it wasn't much of an issue. I'm making a real effort to keep the Centipede SALEM'S LOT book far away from food or liquids, lol.