BookJingle Blog

Archive for February, 2011

A page from one of my college textbooks, marked up in my typical fashion

I’m sure most people are aware that underlining, highlighting, and making notes in a book can lower the value of the book.  There seem to be two distinct schools of thought on this subject: those who believe books should be preserved in the best possible condition, and those who believe books should be consumed and enjoyed.  I think I am about to switch camps.

Like many literature and liberal arts majors, I was taught by professors in my college courses to “mark up” my books as much as possible.  I specifically remember one professor who encouraged students to make notes alongside the text, to underline and highlight passages both during private readings and during class discussions.  As this professor put it, we should plan to keep all literature textbooks for our personal collections anyway, so the resale value of the books was irrelevant.  I fell for this hook, line and sinker and enjoyed scribbling my way through many books for class assignments and when reading for pleasure.  Even my college Bible has scores of notes, dates and dog-eared pages.  Sometimes in class, I felt afraid to be seen not marking up my textbook, when everyone else around me was underlining and annotating like crazy.  When I had a textbook that I simply knew I would not be keeping, such as a geography or science text, I would compromise my method of study by using post-it notes on the pages to make my notations.

Then, of course, there are a lot of people who believe in taking good care of books.  Books cost money and use up paper.  They can be re-sold or donated, thus minimizing the impact of the manufacturing and paper usage footprint.  Of course, a book that is filled with someone else’s thoughts, ideas and notes is just not worth as much as an unmarked copy.  It may be downright irresponsible to personalize and devalue books in this manner.  Also, as someone pointed out to me, notations and underlining can be a problem for the reader when coming back to re-read the book at a later time.  The underlining can be distracting and make it difficult to pay attention to the passages that are not underlined.  The reader may be unable to look at the book in a new, more mature way when boxed in by his or her old markings.

Does underlining really benefit the reader?  Aside from assisting the reader to focus on the text, I doubt that underlining serves any valid purpose.  It doesn’t help you to retain the information.  I guess my question for people who like to write in books (like I used to do) would be, is there anything accomplished by underlining, highlighting or note making that couldn’t be better accomplished by taking notes on a separate page?

I have to admit, I am changing where I stand.   Maybe years of reading library books has helped to increase my respect for books, or perhaps knowing that a book’s value is so dependent on its condition has convinced me.  When I was nineteen and an ardent student of the liberal arts, I believed I would keep every book I owned forever.  Now I know several important things that change everything:  1) not all books are good and not all are worth keeping; 2) books take up space and my space is valuable; and 3) even used textbooks can be sold for a lot of money if they’re in good condition.  Well, you live and learn.

Envision yourself someday in the very near future walking into the library to find a good read and walking out without a single book.  This could become a reality if a current trend continues to grow: libraries are eagerly embracing e-reader technology.

As reported in USA Today this week, the circulation of e-readers and e-books in public libraries has increased dramatically, an estimated 200% from 2009 to 2010.  This is happening in spite of large cuts in library funding.  It seems like a lot of problems could arise as this technological switch-over takes place.  There are different e-reader formats out there, and how exactly would a library decide which kind to use?  In the USA Today piece, the Sacramento Public Library revealed its plan to loan out Barnes and Noble Nook e-readers.  This is a sort of test program, but it’s interesting to consider than Amazon’s Kindle e-reader is currently the bestselling e-reader device.  I wonder how I would feel if I had purchased a Kindle and then heard about the library’s new Nook program.  As the article pointed out, it is a risky prospect to invest in a certain e-reader format before the technology has really become established.  Anyone ever owned a Beta recorder?  Also, I really don’t understand how a library could create a reliable system for “loaning” electronic data.  Must a library patron return an e-book when finished, and if so, how exactly would that take place?  USA Today didn’t provide any specifics on that question.

I must admit, this whole project seems a little strange to me.  I’m picturing a future library with no books, only plug-in stations for downloading.  I’m picturing people walking into the library with their e-readers in hand, browsing for books by computer without accumulating a big stack, sitting at tables to do research without having opened books piled all around, and walking out of the library with nothing but a loaded e-reader.  For that matter, it seems like this trend would inevitably lead to the death of libraries altogether, since all of these actions could be done remotely by computer.  Maybe this sounds great to some people, but to me, it seems cold, somehow.  I like books, as I’ve said before.  I like going to the library and coming home with more books than I can easily carry.  When I hear that libraries that are suffering millions of dollars in budget cuts and yet increasing spending on e-books, I’m not sure what to think.  I have a difficult time picturing myself ever becoming comfortable with that sort of technology.  Of course, fifteen years ago, I also had difficulty picturing myself ever carrying a cell phone, which I now do without second thought.  Maybe this e-book thing will take some getting used to…

If you have an opinion on e-readers and their role in the library system, let me know!

When it comes to selling used books, BookJingle is the best place on the internet for an easy transaction and good money for your books.  So dig out those old books, check them over (see www.bookjingle.com for guidelines), and if necessary, try sprucing up your book with a little cleaning.  Here are some tips for cleaning your books:

* Dust the book – remove the dust jacket, turn the book upside down to prevent dust from falling into the pages, and gently vacuum with a soft brush attachment.

* Clean the edges of the pages – try wiping with a slice of fresh white bread, or use a soft natural bristle brush.

* Clean the dust jacket – for a glossy jacket, spray a small amount of window cleaner on a soft cloth and carefully wipe the jacket.  For paper and matte jackets, use a dry cleaning pad (available at art supply stores).  Use a small amount of the cleaner and rub with your fingertips until the dirt is gone.

* Remove grease or oil marks from pages – place several paper towels over the spot, close the book and place a weight on top.  Leave the book for several days to allow the oil to be absorbed.

* Remove pencil marks and smudges – a white vinyl eraser may remove marks.  Erase from the spine outwards and hold the page firmly to avoid tearing; move very slowly.  Not recommended for books with thin or delicate pages.

Some common problems with older books can’t be remedied, which is why it’s always important to take good care of your books.  Most page stains and water marks cannot be removed.  Also, a musty odor can render a book worthless, and there are no proven methods for removing the smell.  The mustiness is caused by mold growing on the book, and this results from storing the book in a humid place.  Always keep books in a dry place; if you store books in the basement, use a de-humidifier.  Remember that mold can pass from one book to another, so if you acquire an older book with a musty smell, keep it apart from your other books.

If you’re dealing with a rare or valuable book, I don’t recommend ANY of the above cleaning methods.  Take the book to an expert.

All right, this has been a long time coming:  my favorite book, David Copperfield, is one of my favorite things to talk about.  I consider myself fortunate to have been introduced to the works of Dickens by first reading this masterpiece, and from that introduction, I became a lifelong Dickens fan.  With no further ado, I present to you the reasons why I love David Copperfield.

The characters are unforgettable.  To name only a few, the amazing and unique characters of Peggotty, Aunt Betsey, Mr. Dick, Mr. and Miss Murdstone, Uriah Heep, my personal favorites Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, and of course, David himself, have been often imitated but never equaled in literature.  It amazes me that these characters can summon so many emotions and attachments in the reader.  None of the characters fall into clichéd roles.  They are so real and remind me people I have met in real life.  Even the villains are so good at being bad; I just love to hate brutal Mr. Murdstone, cold and calculating Miss Murdstone, creepy and conniving Uriah Heep, and pompous Steerforth.

I love David’s story because of its heartbreaking and comical twists and turns of fate, particularly in childhood.  Even when David is at his lowest, having lost his mother and been cast off by his stepfather into child labor at a warehouse, the reader keeps faith in David and believes that he will somehow find a way out.  Through the grace of his surprising savior, Aunt Betsey Trotwood, David makes his way to the top of society, and then my favorite part of the story occurs.  When all is most perfect for David, the unthinkable happens, and he loses everything, but for David, it wasn’t the end.  His resourcefulness and hard work allowed him to rebuild everything, and of course, the role he played in taking down the villainous Uriah Heep is pivotal in the story’s climax.

I love Dickens’ writing, in this novel and all of his works.  For some reason, David Copperfield has the most comforting and familiar quality for me.  Reading it is like coming home again.  The story is never far from my mind, as I see Micawbers and Peggotys and even poor Little Emilys everywhere I go.  Dickens himself wrote, “Of all my books, I like this the best.  It will be easily believed that I am a fond parent to every child of my fancy, and that no one can ever love that family as dearly as I love them.  But, like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child.  And his name is DAVID COPPERFIELD.”

I’ve encountered a problem in recent months when reading aloud to my children.  There are a number of books that my parents read aloud to me as a child, and I have so many fond memories of my family being together during those daily reading times.  We read many children’s classics, and for years I have looked forward to reading some of the same books with my children.  This year, my daughter and I began reading the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I adored those books as a child, and as a parent, I never once questioned the wholesome, 1800’s frontier adventure stories.  But then we started reading them, and boy have we run into some messy problems…

Of course, the fact that these books were written in the 1930’s plays a major part in most of the problems we encountered.  Unsurprisingly, they contain numerous references not only to “Indians” but also the more derogatory “Injuns.”  This is relatively simple to address, as a parent reading the book can add a sidebar that people used to use the word “Indian” incorrectly and those people are now referred to as Native Americans.  More troubling are the statements made by adult characters in the books, such as “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.”  Encountering this statement really shocked me, I must say; I don’t remember reading this as a child.  Either my mother skipped over it, or it didn’t make any impression on me at the time.  The extreme prejudice of many of the books’ characters includes protagonist Laura’s mother, who demonstrates a deep fear of Native Americans, and her father, who refers to Native Americans as “wild.”  Not every description of Native American people is solely negative, and I think the illustrations of Native Americans are quite good, detailing the differences in clothing, hairstyles and lifestyle without making them appear frightening or savage.

So, what should a parent do when you’re reading a great classic to your child and something ugly leaps off of the page?   I can’t say for sure, but I’ll tell you what I did.  I read it to my daughter, and then put the book down and we had a long talk about prejudice.  And wouldn’t you know, Little House on the Prairie is a perfect springboard for this discussion because the basis of the characters’ prejudice is their fear of the Native Americans, and I believe that is almost always the case.  Prejudice and hatred stem from fear.  We had a great conversation about the issue, and I think it was beneficial to my daughter.

My daughter Kay is really learning to read!  This is the very best part of homeschooling, as far as I’m concerned, witnessing a child making leaps and bounds in comprehension and skill.   When people ask me how I feel about homeschooling so far, this is what usually comes to mind.  I have to give a positive report.

A few months ago, I reported that we were using a phonics method and that it was going very well.  Kay could read and spell three-sound words (such as “cat” and “dad”).  She could read simple readers independently.  Now, almost ¾ of the way through kindergarten, the progress is amazing.  We have tackled all of the simple sounds in the English language and are moving our way through the more complicated ones.  For example, the sound “j” as in “jump” may seem simple enough, but when you consider that the words fudge, large, and gentle all contain that sound, and in each word it is spelled differently, you begin to see the complexities of many English sounds.  These are the challenges Kay faces each day when we do phonics, but she teaches me about the adaptability and great learning capacity of a child’s mind.

Sometimes it feels a little lonely to be a homeschooling parent because you witness these amazing achievements and usually have no one to share it with.  I could assign grades or describe my student’s stepping stones on a report card, but these progress markers are intended for parents and would only come back to me.  I am reminded of my favorite comedian Tim Hawkins, who said of a homeschooling mom that she sometimes talks to herself because she’s in a parent-teacher conference. 

The other day, Kay was looking at a Disney book before bed.  This book has a lot of text and is too complicated for her, but wouldn’t you know, she was giving it her best try.  Slowly, carefully, and accurately, she read, “Ariel, the little mermaid, swims in the sea.”  My husband, an avid supporter but usually inactive patron of our homeschool, watched in growing amazement as she tackled each word.  As she finished the sentence, he grabbed my hand and whispered excitedly, “Did you see that?”  I just smiled and nodded.  I know exactly how he felt.

Recently, I was talking to a friend about her efforts to sell used books for cash on Amazon.com and Ebay.  My friend had listed a lot of books on these websites, and she told me that some of them had sold pretty quickly, but the money she got was barely worth the effort involved.  Some of her books had been listed for months and never sold.  Also, my friend wanted to sell used textbooks, most of which were somewhat old, but she didn’t bother to list them for sale because she didn’t think anyone would buy them.

I could hardly wait for my friend to stop talking so that I could tell her about BookJingle, the perfect solution to each of her problems.  BookJingle pays a fair price for your books, so you don’t feel like you’re throwing away your books for pennies.  There’s no waiting around with BookJingle to see if your books will sell.   A few seconds on the computer is all it takes to find out whether BookJingle will buy your book and how much they will pay you.  And my friend could hardly believe you can get cash for textbooks, even older textbooks, at BookJingle.

I told her the name is easy to remember:  BookJingle, the place where you sell books online for cash.  That conversation made my friend’s day.  It worked for her, and it can work for you.  Give it a try at www.bookjingle.com.

In My Opinion:

A Book Review of Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Jeffrey Eugenides won a Pulitzer Prize for his novel Middlesex, a strange tale about a Greek family, a lot of incest, and the hermaphroditic child that resulted from said incest.  I’ve been curious about this book for a long time, and now that I’ve read it, I still don’t know exactly what to think.

Middlesex is the kind of book that I find extremely difficult to put down.  I finished the 529 page novel in five days, and all of those were very busy days for me with little time to read.  I found myself reading late into the night, promising myself I would stop after just one more chapter, then bulldozing through the chapter breaks as though they weren’t there.  Having said that, at no time would I have said that I loved the book, or even really liked it.  There is nothing in this novel to make a person feel good, though there is plenty to make a person think.  The characters, particularly the protagonist, Calliope (or “Cal,” as he becomes) Stephanides, seem to suffer an inordinate amount of catastrophe.  The elaborate story of the Stephanides family begins in 1922, in Turkey, and ends in modern-day United States.  Cal narrates his family’s history with a curious omnipotence, displaying perfect knowledge of the thoughts, feelings, and secret actions of his grandparents, parents, and other relatives.  Indeed, although this is Cal’s story, the back story is so immense that the reader doesn’t return to Cal’s life until more than 200 pages into the novel.

Eugenides does a wonderfully sympathetic job of telling this story, particularly the incestuous parts that would normally be downright revolting.  It is revealed that Cal’s grandparents were brother and sister, as well as third cousins, and his parents were second cousins.  The result of this tangled genetic web is something called a 5-Alpha Reductase Pseudohermaphrodite, a child born with ambiguous genitalia, in this case raised as a girl, who turned out to be chromosomally male.  This unusual but very real condition is fascinating to consider and very difficult to comprehend in terms of nature versus nurture and gender identity, hence the novel’s title.  Middlesex is both the name of Cal’s childhood home and an apropos term for his life, as a person who lived as a female for fourteen years, and then discovered that he was actually male.

The writing is brilliant and moving, and the story is certainly unique, but I’m still not sure I would recommend reading Middlesex.  When I finally finished the novel and my frenzied week of reading came to an end, I really didn’t feel satisfied or fulfilled in any way.  Instead, I just felt sad, for Cal and his fictional family, and sad for anyone who has such a difficult time finding a place in the world.

So, as a typical woman who knows absolutely nothing about comic books, I am wondering if comic books count as reading material for kids. Parents are eager for their children to read, and to enjoy reading, and let’s face it, a lot of children, pa

rticularly boys, just aren’t into it. They prefer more active pastimes. For some boys, sitting down to read a regular book with few or no illustrations pretty much qualifies as torture. So if a boy is interested in comic books, should his parents encourage or discourage the hobby?

I hadn’t ever really seen a comic book until I married my husband, a guy who loved comics as a kid, at one time collected them avidly, and still enjoys a comic book from time to time. Walking into a comic book store for the first time with my husband was really an eye-opener for me. Who knew there were so many different comics, on so many different subjects? Don’t assume that comics are just for kids. Many comics are written for adults, and many are completely inappropriate for kids or even teenagers. Comics can be valued for their art style, story, or the characters they feature. Comic book collecting is an extremely popular hobby for both children and adults. I would strongly caution parents to check out all comics before allowing a child to read them. Comics do not have a rating system like video games and DVDs; some adult comics may be labeled “Mature Content” or “Parental Advisory,” but this distinction is applied at the discretion of the publisher and does not appear on all comics containing extreme violence, strong language or nudity. Do not assume that all comics are meant for kids.

Back to the question at hand, there are a couple of points in favor of allowing kids to read comic books. Inarguably, the freedom to choose reading material is an important part of nurturing a child’s love of reading. I do believe in some level of monitoring a child’s reading choices, just as a parent would monitor the television shows, movies and websites a child is exposed to, but aside from that, a child should be allowed to choose his own books. If a kid is reading something, anything, it is certainly better than not reading at all. It is possible that the close relationship between the text and illustrations of a comic could help improve a young reader’s story comprehension and ability to follow the plot. These skills could transfer to reading regular books. Another point I would like to make, based on my husband’s knowledge of comics, is that some comics may have a degree of literary value. There are comics based on popular literature, such as The Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum, and some with historical context. Not all comics are about super heroes. Comics come in a vast array of subjects and styles.

In conclusion, if my child was interested in reading comics and little else, I would allow the reading of comics for the sake of reading. I would accompany my child to the comic store to purchase the comics, and I would reserve the right to preview each comic before my child read it. I do believe that reading is reading, and whether the child is reading a textbook, a comic book, or the front of a matchbook, the practice is beneficial.

Format

So, as a typical woman who knows absolutely nothing about comic books, I am wondering if comic books count as reading material for kids. Parents are eager for their children to read, and to enjoy reading, and let’s face it, a lot of children, particularly boys, just aren’t into it. They prefer more active pastimes. For some boys, sitting down to read a regular book with few or no illustrations pretty much qualifies as torture. So if a boy is interested in comic books, should his parents encourage or discourage the hobby?
I hadn’t ever really seen a comic book until I married my husband, a guy who loved comics as a kid, at one time collected them avidly, and still enjoys a comic book from time to time. Walking into a comic book store for the first time with my husband was really an eye-opener for me. Who knew there were so many different comics, on so many different subjects? Don’t assume that comics are just for kids. Many comics are written for adults, and many are completely inappropriate for kids or even teenagers. Comics can be valued for their art style, story, or the characters they feature. Comic book collecting is an extremely popular hobby for both children and adults. I would strongly caution parents to check out all comics before allowing a child to read them. Comics do not have a rating system like video games and DVDs; some adult comics may be labeled “Mature Content” or “Parental Advisory,” but this distinction is applied at the discretion of the publisher and does not appear on all comics containing extreme violence, strong language or nudity. Do not assume that all comics are meant for kids.
Back to the question at hand, there are a couple of points in favor of allowing kids to read comic books. Inarguably, the freedom to choose reading material is an important part of nurturing a child’s love of reading. I do believe in some level of monitoring a child’s reading choices, just as a parent would monitor the television shows, movies and websites a child is exposed to, but aside from that, a child should be allowed to choose his own books. If a kid is reading something, anything, it is certainly better than not reading at all. It is possible that the close relationship between the text and illustrations of a comic could help improve a young reader’s story comprehension and ability to follow the plot. These skills could transfer to reading regular books. Another point I would like to make, based on my husband’s knowledge of comics, is that some comics may have a degree of literary value. There are comics based on popular literature, such as The Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum, and some with historical context. Not all comics are about super heroes. Comics come in a vast array of subjects and styles.
In conclusion, if my child was interested in reading comics and little else, I would allow the reading of comics for the sake of reading. I would accompany my child to the comic store to purchase the comics, and I would reserve the right to preview each comic before my child read it. I do believe that reading is reading, and whether the child is reading a textbook, a comic book, or the front of a matchbook, the practice is beneficial.
Path:

I’ve written before about my reading habits, and that I definitely classify myself as a voracious reader.  Now it’s time for me to admit that I have some really bad reading habits, at least as far as maintaining the good condition of my books.  I love to read, and I love to take baths, and I love to eat.  Putting these three together is a recipe for supreme relaxation and occasional disaster.

Just imagine:  a warm bubble bath, soft music playing, a steaming cup of tea resting on the edge of the bathtub, and a really good novel.  This is my idea of the perfect way to unwind at the end of the day.  The good people at BookJingle would not like my idea.  See, books are valued in part on their condition, and water damage is one of the worst ways to ruin a book’s value.  That being said, I am very careful with my books in the tub, and I have never yet dropped a book into the water.  I have, however, splashed water onto the pages, including one time with a book borrowed from a friend.  (Yikes!)  Don’t worry, the book dried up just fine, and my friend didn’t mind.  Ever since that experience, I have limited my bath time reading to only the books I intend to keep and never re-sell.  Selling used books to BookJingle is a great way to get easy cash, and I don’t want to ruin the opportunity by potentially water-staining the pages.

Here’s my second reading problem: reading and eating.  When I’m reading a good book, there just aren’t enough minutes in the day for me to read.  I keep the book with me in the kitchen, the living room, trying to read a few paragraphs while I cook, fold laundry, and eat.  Usually this is more frustrating than productive because distracted reading is not good reading.  When you have to re-read the same passage three times because you keep stopping to grab more socks to fold, well, it’s not very fulfilling or fun.  So, I will admit that I have sometimes accidentally sprinkled crumbs into the gap between pages, where they will not come out no matter how hard you shake the book.  I have sometimes smudged the pages with some food substance, usually chocolate, which always looks remarkably disgusting when it dries.  There is just no way to clean that off, folks.  Believe me, I have tried.  Stains on the pages are another value-lowering problem when selling used books, so this is a dilemma.  Again, I don’t read and eat with books that I might resell, or library books, or books borrowed from friends.  But I am sometimes very, very tempted to.  For me, reading is life, and so is eating, and so is a warm bubble bath.