[astra]

My dad is to be blamed for my attitude towards books.
During my school years I used to make temp book covers for books I have been reading because my dad besides being a voracious reader was also a book collector. We had 5 books cases with books set in two rows and 10 book shelves on the walls above the book cases. Our sitting room looked like a small library. Altogether about 4.500 books.
Town libraries would not lend you the next book for months if you return one book in a bad condition. I didn't use library when at school because of my dad's books but I learned about the rule later at the university.
I think it is one of the reasons why I dislike paperbacks. We never had paper backs in the house or should I say in the country (xUSSR)? Hardback editions only. It is inconvenient to hold paper back if you don't want to break its spine. Basically, it doesn't matter how well you treat paper backs, they look bad even after one read. At some point I gave up. I either bought hardback editions or if it was paper back I would crack the spine and fold the book to hold it properly and then give it away to charity.
Although, never ever dogearing! It is an atrocity IMHO. Frankly speaking I didn't know people do it until recently. I thought it was just a joke.