What you can do with a book besides reading it

[Marie]

I've just finished Michael Ondaatje's "The English Patient", and there is a scene in it, where Hana, one of the characters, uses piles of books to replace missing stairs that collapsed when the house she temporarily lives in was bombed (the action takes place in Italy, during WWII).

So I was wondering: has anybody ever find alternative usages for their books?

 

[Ell]

"... one of the characters, uses piles of books to replace missing stairs that collapsed ..."

Ouch! Cringed when I read that. Seems almost sacrilegious to step on books. But I guess, you do what's necessary.

Only other uses I've found for books is as paper weights or as bookends (pile 2 - 3 at the end of a row). As a student, I used big medical texts to hold up shelving. Problem came when I needed to use them - I'd have to replace them with a pile of smaller books.

Not too original, I know

 

[Prolixic]

They make dandy projectiles in a pinch. However, a burglar might be better subdued with Don Quiote than with say Fahrenheight 451. You have to be cautious about how you throw them, though, they tend to fly open at high speeds like the doors on an old Thunderbird my dad used to have. It's typically better to drop them on unsupecting prowlers from a great height--again with proper regard to mass and technique.
Otherwise I agree with Ell they should be held in high regard.

 

[lies]

Originally posted by Prolixic
You have to be cautious about how you throw them, though, they tend to fly open at high speeds like the doors on an old Thunderbird my dad used to have.

Yeah, I've noticed that to. In high school we used some of our books as footballs and table tennis bats. It takes some getting used to, but it works.

 

[letterHead]

I've heard of a person building a dividing wall for a room out of Readers Digest Condensed books. I have mixed emotions about this.

 

[Dawn]

I've heard of a person building a dividing wall for a room out of Readers Digest Condensed books.

I'll have to remember that one. I've been looking for some way of hiding my laundry room. I have to pass through it to get to my bedroom. The pile of dirty clothes is constant reminder that I should be washing instead of reading.

You know, I've been wondering about the best way to protect myself from intruders now that my dog has died. I never thought my handy supply of books might do the trick. Thanks for the tip, people.

 

[Prolixic]

Reader's Digest Condensed books make better mulch than reading, IMHO. Not that I would grind them up, I just think that you ought to get the full experience when you read a book. I want ALL my words!

(Alright, I might pay to have them mulched if I was running low on pine needles.)

 

[Gracewings]

My kids think books make great anchors for indoor forts made with sheets & blankets. They esp like the encyclopedias for this purpose. :eek

 

[daveb75]

I use books to hide my desk from the outside world. And the chairs. And the windowsill. And the mantelpiece. Oh, and the floor...

Cheers,
David.

 

[Landslide]

To use as a stabilizer when the table dances from short legs or crooked floor...

 

[sparkchaser]

Tinder or toilet paper.

Now you know who is buying all of those Harlequin romance books.

 

[abecedarian]

Tinder or toilet paper.

Now you know who is buying all of those Harlequin romance books.

Garage sales will take on a new meaning after reading this post Thanks a heap..

Another great use for books is as gifts... I won't even talk about the crafts I've seen done with old ones. One neat idea I've seen is to take old books that are past their prime, and use a xacto knife to cut off the usable covers, and remove a few choice pictures, as in old school books..then one can add nice drawing paper, cut to size, and make a nice journal by having it comb-bound at a copy shop.

 

[BeerWench13]

Well, I use my phonebook and yellow pages as kindling whenever I have a bonfire (there's a drought and a burning ban right now ). I have also used my old Reader's Digests for kindling when we were without power for 8 days due to an icestorm and had no other sources of heat.

I have used them as decoration on the coffee table.

I have also found that, should a neighbor or someone I'm not interesting in socializing with stop by unannounced, that just opening a book and sticking my nose in it usually gets the point across that I'm not interested in hosting them at that time. This is probably rude, but isn't showing up without calling first? And, I cannot tell you how many times someone has stopped by unexpectedly when I am reading and I'm at the height of the plotline of my book and I have to STOP! Noooo! Please, not now! A few of my neighbors have learned to call first.

 

[silverseason]

My brother has published several books. I once saw one of them listed on eBay. An enterprising craftsperson had cut out the insides to make a small safe for valuables like jewelry. You put it on the shelf with your other books and no one knows what's inside. Except that along may come a burglar who admires my brother's writing!

 

[nickupton]

When travelling around southeast Asia I found the Lonely Planet "Southeast Asia on a shoestring" so woefully bad and out of date that I gradually used the pages, sheet by sheet, as toilet paper - the pages were just the right thickness.

 

[crystalnight]

You can stand on them to get away from mice.

 

[BooknaMug]

Furniture - tables or stands. I haven't used them for this mostly because I don't have enough yet. But I can see myself having so many books in the future that they just pile up around the house and I use them like furniture. Of course, they'd have to be ones I don't read often otherwise I'd have a problem.

 

[BeerWench13]

I once saw one of them listed on eBay. An enterprising craftsperson had cut out the insides to make a small safe for valuables like jewelry. You put it on the shelf with your other books and no one knows what's inside.

A college roommate of mine did this with one of her books. To be honest, I was horrified that she would damage a book in that manner, but understood the idea behind it. But, I asked her, why, oh why, couldn't she have used an old textbook instead of a copy of The Iliad & The Odyssey, one of my all-time favorite books. She responded that I was the only person she knew who would volutarily take that book off of her shelf to read it.

 

[-Carlos-]

I take my books to a local book exchange store and get store credit for them. So the next time I shop there I get reduce rates on unread books. Pretty cool I think. At other time I just donate them to Goodwill.

 

[nick_m100]

Goodwill?!?!

Screw goodwill, give me your books. All of them!

I have used books every once in a while as furniture like a small table or a chair if the feeling for it comes along.