Used books with notes and underlining - Will you buy them or do you prefer clean

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   LastRoseofSummer2posted 12 years ago

   Used books with notes and underlining - Will you buy them or do you prefer clean new books?
   
   My financial situation usually answers this for me. I'll buy cheap books anytime. I don't care if there are notes and underlining just so long as the binding is holding together. I have also found that anything added by the previous owner can sometimes be helpful and the notes in some cases can be funny. However, there was one time when the previous owner ruined it for me because he or she wrote in the margins about the weird sex ideas that could supposedly be found within the author's work! Has anything like this ever happened to you?

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   point2makeposted 12 years ago

   I have found many things tucked into used books over the years. Usually they run from book markers to money and letters to photos. I could even say I look forward, with anticipation, to searching a box of used books I have found. Strangely enough I really dislike any kind of writing or underlining in a used book. I will usually walk away from such a find.

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      LastRoseofSummer2posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I forgot about that! I find all kinds of things in books too. I've found plane tickets, bookmarks, even silver certificate dollars...You never know!

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   Abby Campbellposted 12 years ago

   Since we are in the age of e-readers and e-books, I have been selling all my hardbound books on Amazon to make more space for my office. I try not to buy any hardbound books anymore. Instead, I will buy Kindle or PDF. If it's not in that format, I will most likely check the book out from the library. However, if the book is not available in either of those formats, I will buy a book. Personally, I like clean copies, but I have bought some that are marked and highlighted. Like you, I have found notes that can be quite funny.

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   M. T. Dremerposted 12 years ago

   I prefer clean copies, and I generally try to keep them that way so long as I own them. Though it can be fun to find a previous owners bookmark or grocery receipt. At my local library they once found a $100 bill being used as a book mark.

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5. 79

   LisaKoskiposted 12 years ago

   When I bought books for my literature classes, I liked the notes because they added a little extra insight, sometimes, that would have never crossed my mind. For those books, I really wasn't so concerned but when it comes to my personal collection outside of school, I've always preferred clean copies.

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   duffsmomposted 12 years ago

   I love new shiny books, but I often buy used especially if I am unsure that is a book I want to keep.  I would likely always buy used textbooks.
   
   LOL, No I have never had the kind of experience you are talking about. That's funny.

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   Elderberry Artsposted 12 years ago

   I usually by used books as new are so expensive. I would prefer they weren't written in and I don't write in books, not even highlighting in my text books but if I really want a book I will buy it anyway.

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   ketageposted 12 years ago

   I read an average of one book every 2 days, sometimes a book a day. I find it too expensive to buy all my books new. So I end up buying a lot of second hand books, and reserve the new book purchases for authors that I really like. But when I am choosing second hand books, I make sure that the pages have no writings or scribbles in them. I myself would never write/highlight or make notes in a book. If I need to make notes, I write it in a notebook.

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