Hi, I’m usually pretty chill with letting books break in organically, or if I’m feeling feisty I do what my 5th grade teacher taught us and break the spine of paperbacks methodically.
Thing is, I got this really nice tome of a hardcover now that I want to reference frequently but still keep it “nice”, because I like it so much and it’s hard to replace.
What do I do to break it in? I’m too nervous to even read it now because I don’t want pages splitting out after a while or anything like that. Thanks for any advice!
by 2_cute_2_poot
6 Comments
Tbh, I always take great care not to crease the spine of my books unless they’re used…
Maybe not the answer you want but have your thought of buying a paperback copy to reference and keep the hard cover in new condition. It would allow you to highlight or make notes (if you do that) and still keep a good copy.
I have a full set from some authors that I have never opened because I “read” it in audio. The book set stays pristine and the audio copy is normally available within a week or two if I went to “re-read” them.
Grab that book with both hands, open it up, and bend it back until the covers touch. Voila, you now have a broken-in hardback.
Or maybe accept that it’s just a book and it will look used over time.
You put the book on its spine and then let it fall open. Repeat a few times. Gently warms up/breaks in the spine.
Rest the book on its spine on a table. With the book held vertically, gently open the front cover 90 degrees, to rest on the table. With the front cover still open, open the back cover. Then open a few pages from the front, and then a few pages from the back. Alternate folding down a few pages from the front and the back of the book, until most of the pages have been opened. This should stretch out the spine without cracking it.
I have a friend who, when reading a really big paperback, once he got halfway would tear the book in two so he didn’t have to “carry around superfluous data”