Ruining Books

[Alexandra Plance]

Have you ever accidentally ruined a book? What happened to it?

For instance, my first paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire tore completely in two despite an entire roll of tape. I also spilled water and quill ink all over Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix about a month after it came out.

Then again I also tore up and burned my Wordly Wise book at the end of eighth grade.

What's the worst thing you've done to a book?

[Neha Rahman]

I threw Grammar Power into a bonfire at the end of fifth grade. But I don't know if that counts as a book. It was a workbook, and also the bane of my elementary school existence. Too bad I got another one in grade six....

[Jake Grobbel]

I took my 11th grade english book which was a 3000 page anthology that we all collectively referred to as "The Brick" and threw it in a fire. It took about two hours to burn down to nothing. 
Most. Satisfying. Thing. Ever.

[Camille Richards]

My aunt gave me the full collection of Twilight for Christmas. I've already got a copy of the first one, so I drove a hole all the way through it with a pencil.

[Josie]

I accidentally ripped the covers off of my Dad's A Brave New World (fixed with tape) and my mom's (now mine) copy of House of Leaves (also fixed with a lot of scotch tape) although I don't think I have ever done anything horrible intentionally to a book. I do tend to accidentally get food ALL over my books but oh well.

[Sarah Pottenger]

I knocked my copy of Northanger Abbey into the toilet. That was devastating. But I had a birthday coming up, and my best friend bought me a new one as my present. Because she knows how important it is to maintain that complete Jane Austen collection. Plus, I wasn't finished reading it yet. I had to find out what happened.

[Chelsie Lacny]

One day I was reading in the bath and I (stupidly) didn't lock the door. My dad walked in, and unfortunately Message in a Bottle got wet as I ducked down out of sight. Fortunately, it was still readable :)

Another time I had a (borrowed) book in my backpack, and I took a field trip and was using the backpack... and it rained. Super hard. The book was soaked, and I felt soooo horrible :(

[Isobel Talya]

When I was in fourth grade my house flooded and every single book I owned except for Harry Potter's 3-5 got destroyed. That really, really sucked. They were mostly little kid books, but it was still devastating. The only books I've actually destroyed are my Harry Potter books, because I've read them so often that I constantly have to buy new ones. I also had this incident with a library book, a car, and half a bottle of cough medicine.

Bad combination.

[Isobel Talya]

That's sad. :( Have you gotten a new one yet? That's a good book after all.

[Isobel Talya]

Oh okay. I was just clarifying. :)

[MaryCait Dolan]

All of my original Harry Potter books were almost ruined from the time we had originally gotten them (around the time they first came out and until now) from so many reads! Pages were falling out and bindings were cracking! Luckily, we have a whole new set we plan in keep in better condition.

[Abigail Thompson]

I brought 100 years of solitude with me on a school trip to Europe. I had to read it for class. I hadn't in the front pocket of my back pack and it rained...hard...multiple times. So now half the cover is gone it is all puff the way books get when they dry after being wet and there is a lot of packing tape holding the cover on. It makes it look loved i think. :)