It’s Feral Friday! And we here at Book Nerd Reviews thought we would discuss a topic that really sends us feral.

This week, we’re talking about loaning our books out to others:

Kristy’s say:

Hmmm. Lending books is a tricky one. I love recommending books (funny that, considering I blog about them), especially ones that I am passionate about, and sometimes I do get the urge shove a book at someone and make them sit down and read it… but I also don’t want my books to get damaged.

I am very pedantic about my books – I like them to be in good condition. Even when I read a book, I do everything I can to avoid damaging them – I rarely break the spine of a paperback, I take the dust-jackets of hardcovers and I don’t put them down in places where things can get spilt on them.

There is nothing worse than lending a book to someone to only have it returned damaged. Getting a book back with battered covers, dog eared pages or unknown stains (I don’t even want to know what they could be from) drive me insane. I take great care of my books and I want people to do the same… I think that’s fair.

Some books that I have – either hard to find ones or ones with sentimental or monetary value, I will never let leave my house. Some I don’t even like other people touching (those are extremely rare books, and yes, they tend to be Laini Taylor ones).

So, I guess that lending books is assessed on an individual basis – depending on the book, and depending on the borrower. Some people are on my automatic yes or no list, as are some books.

And if I am borrowing a book from a friend, then I take even greater care than I do with my own! I know how I feel when someone damages one of my books, so I would never do that someone else.

But please, to all those out there: if you borrow a book from someone, please return it in the condition in which you got it… or if there has been some accidental damage (accidents do happen), then don’t brush it off – own up to it, apologise and maybe even offer to replace it. After all, the person who leant it to you gave it to you in good faith.

Melissa’s say:

I know I am not the only one out there who sometimes hesitates wanting to loan books out. Being a book lover - and I know you guys hear me on this - I take great pride in my book collection.

If I loan a book to you, it’s because I am just bursting at the seems to talk to you about it because it is THAT good. That’s usually the only time I will loan out my books. The only other time, is when I am lending them to other book lovers that I know I can trust to take care of them. That being said, I think I’ve loaned maybe 5 books in the last two years? One book got passed around to three different people (but since I bought it for $5 I wasn’t sad about this). And some books never find their way home.

How often have you loaned a book, or a DVD or a CD to a friend, and never got it back? They put you in that really awkward position where you feel like you’re constantly having to nag and remind them for your book back? I HATE that!

And with that being said, I don’t often loan my books out.

I am more than happy to recommend titles and authors to my friends, and truthfully, if they ask me if I can loan it to them my favourite answer is to say that I have it on ebook so I can’t lend it. And then I recommend they check out the library to see if they have it. That seems to be the safe answer. Am I a bad person for answering this way? Maybe. But at the same time, it’s less hassle when you have to beg for your book back. And yes, I know someone out there has my copy of Mockingjay on their shelf 18 months later still. I had to repurchase it after giving up on getting it back. :(

Maybe it’s because I feel pretty strongly about this, that I’m that person who will usually say no if you in turn offer to loan me your books. I feel like it’s a lot of responsibility making sure I don’t put any marks on your book, or crease the spine. I don’t mind if I do this to my own books, but I cringe at the thought of doing this to others. So there’s no double standards for me - I’ll nicely just jot down the title and author and find the book myself, but thank you for the offer.

We would really love your opinion on this topic - do you loan out your books to your friends? Or are you a bit like Kristy and I and are really protective of your precious books? Please let us know in your comments below!