Keeping Books Uninjured (+ Some New Things Coming!)

As a book lover, I often swoon over pretty book covers. I’ve wasted so much time simply wandering the aisles of a bookstore, looking at all of the amazing covers. But with this love comes tragedy. My book-loving heart breaks a bit every time I see a book with a creased cover or broken edge. 

Today I’ve decided to talk about the struggle of keeping books nice. (Psst… stick to the end for a super exciting announcement too!) 

Pretty Covers 

Honestly, I think that about 70% of the books on my shelf have a pretty cover. I’m a sucker for pretty covers, but also, so many books have pretty covers. Along with that, I think that book covers look 1,000 times more pretty when held in real life rather than looking through a screen or the tragic black and white of a kindle. 

A physical book itself is beautiful in it’s own way. Books are solid and dense, especially hardcovers. Maybe there are pretty illustrations or chapter headings inside. Maybe the book under the dust jacket has a pretty design (literally the best thing ever) 

Did I just write a mini essay on why I love book covers so much? Indeed I did. If a book cover designer is reading this, THANK YOU FOR THE WORK YOU DO! You help contribute to making our lives that much prettier. Our bookshelves thank you. 

Let The Cringing Commence 

There seem to be two different types of book lovers: the people who treat their books like babies made of dandelion fluff or the people who love a good story, and believe that can be paired with a well loved, very creased book. 

I used to be on the latter side. When I was 10, I shoved the book I was reading at the moment into the depths of my backpack, right next to some random crinkled papers and a moldy apple. There was a time I accidentally ripped my battered copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in half after trying to balance the book on top of my head. 

Are you cringing yet? 

Then, I started buying YA books with beautiful covers and realized that they could not suffer the same fate. But my younger brother? Sometimes when he asks me to borrow a book, I’ll make him sign a contract to keep it nice. I’ve found books shoved under his mattress and witnessed him mark his place with extreme dog ears, with the corners covering over half of the page. 

Dog Earing and Bookmarks 

Even though I think I’m on the pristine books side of things, I sometimes commit the cardinal sin of dog-earing. 

*dramatic gasps* 

There are times when I’m reading, that my real bookmark decides to disappear under an invisibility cloak. The best solution? Make a very tiny, miniscule, almost nonexistent dog ear. So nonexistent you would think it’s just a natural bent page corner (although I seem to lose my spot when I do this…)

There are other times when I can’t find my bookmarks, and I end up using anything but my bookmark. I’ve used candy wrappers, pieces of grass, ripped paper, thread, scrap fabric, and even a granola bar wrapper before. Despite the fact that I have a lot of bookmarks, they always disappear before I can use them. 

Hardcovers vs. Paperbacks 

Ahhh, the age old question. Hardcovers or paperbacks? 

I love hardcover books. They’re hefty and look so nice. Plus, they don’t get creased and crushed as much as paperbacks. Not to mention the fact that sometimes hidden below the dust jacket is a pretty design. (My book-cover-loving self is swooning) But hardcovers are expensive, so much more expensive than paperbacks. It’s an amazing score when I can find a hardcover book on sale or at the thrift store. 

Paperbacks are great! They’re cheaper, lighter, usually smaller, and generally more practical. But there is so much stress in taking care of a paperback book. 

On my family’s road trip across the country a few years ago, I took three paperback books with me in the intent to keep them looking nice. It was a very stressful time, although I did manage to keep the books semi-pristine. But it was a taxing, adrenaline boosting endeavor that I refuse to repeat. 

On said road-trip-across-the-country, I got to meet up with a fellow book obsessed friend. We spent hours talking about books, pretty covers, and bookshelf decorations. Then I explained to her my slightly comical, very stressful keep-my-books-nice dilemma. 

She pulled out a book sleeve and brought me into the world of book protection. 

One of the perks about having a sewing machine is that if I see something I want, then I can recreate it in the exact way I want it.  When we came home, I immediately began chopping up fabric and frantically sewing, eventually making myself multiple book sleeves. With each new sleeve, I improved the design until I had a large collection of book-protectors. They have changed my life and improved the lives of my paperback books greatly.

Bookshelf Decor 

I’m a firm believer in bookshelf decorations, as long as they don’t take up a ton of space. Last year for my birthday, my mom made some How to Train Your Dragon and Hamilton lanterns to light up my bookshelf. 

By the powers of Mod Podge and tissue paper, I decided to make these as gifts. Soon after that, my baby sister started to eat solid foods. She is an eating machine and soon we had a collection of 50+ glass baby jars to deal with. 

I looked at the jars and thought to myself, “Those look like empty jars right now, but they have a very magical aspect to them.” 

So I fired up my Mod-Podging and tissue paper-ing to make these: 

Why, you might ask? 

Well, 

I am opening an Etsy shop! 

My crafting and sewing shenanigans have turned into something! 

Meet Lone Pine Treasures, an Etsy shop dedicated to making unique, handcrafted treasures. 

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Right now, I have reversible book sleeves and fairy-baby-jar-lanterns for sale, but keep an eye out for new products! A crafter never stops crafting…

Check out the Etsy shop and Lone Pine Treasures Instagram!

Alright folks, that’s all for today. Do you try to keep your books pristine? What is your favorite book cover? What is the oddest thing you’ve used as a bookmark?Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great day! 

-Hannah

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