Challenge: 50 Books discussion

Have you ever *gulp* stolen a book? Pray tell without persecution.

Have a safe and crime free weekend :)

Only "stealing" by borrowing books from friends and forgetting to return.

No, wait, now that I think about it, it's become tradition for me to steal my sister's Postsecret books whenever I visit her.

I don't want to say that I make a habit of stealing books from the library sale shelf. But I would like to say there has been the occasion(s) where I didn't have the $1 or $2 at the time to purchase the book. The fact that the book might not be there the next day lingers and burns deep within my literary soul.

I've taken books but I have paid for all five of them with steep interest as an anonymous donation labeled "penance".

Actually, no, now that I think about it. I've been close, in that I've been forced to "buy" books from the library before.

One time I accidentally left a library book outside on the playground (I was in 5th or 6th grade at the time) in the winter, and it got frozen to the ground. It took water damage (though not enough to make it unreadable), and the library refused to take it back, but asked for the cost of the book instead.

And one time I lost a library book in my closet, and after a couple of months, the library just put the cost of the book on my fines, instead of late charges.

Both times were accidents, though, and I did actually pay for them, so I don't consider them stealing. ^_^

I have "borrowed" books and just never returned them.

I would agree with Aprile. I've "borrowed" and then, for whatever reason, never returned them. I like to think it all works out in the end though. Books have been "borrowed" from me and not returned.

I borrowed Inkheart from my firend but have not returned it for like a year cuz i lost it she is my nieghbor and she is always bugging me about it since it is signed but i fiund it now i am reading it lol

I have inadvertently stolen books from the library by losing them...but then I had to pay for them at a ridiculously high price, so no.

okay when i was a young preteen I may have stolen a book or two.

In 2nd grade my teacher gave me a book from her classroom and I was supposed to bring it back before school was over and never did. A few years later I found it but didn’t go to that school anymore so I still have it somewhere... I think the same thing might have happend in 4th grade too but I don't remember.

Well, damn, now I wanna start stealing books!
(Kidding! I kid...!)

I have borrowed books and forgotten to return them. It's not my fault. They moved away!

Ive never stolen a book, I have lost a couple from libraries but paid for them. I have had many people "borrow" books from me and never return them. I hate it!

Leslie wrote: "Ive never stolen a book, I have lost a couple from libraries but paid for them. I have had many people "borrow" books from me and never return them. I hate it!"

I stole a book once from an airport store. Karma caught up with me within a week and I lost US$200 in a hotel meeting room. Crime does not pay.

I never lend books. I give them away. Lost a friend because he felt so guilty he disappeared. If I don't want to give the book away, I say no to potential borrowers.

When I was in elementary school, I would take books from the library or the classroom. I was bit of a kleptomaniac in those years. Since entering high school, I've stop in my thieving ways. :)

Never. Well, not really. I have every intention of returning the two that i've had for three years now.

But I did want to. Twice!
I'm still tempted to steal Sarah Moon's Coincidences off my exes bookshelf. and head back to high school to steal Imogen Cunningham's Portraiture. I was the only one who ever signed it out. They probably wouldn't have noticed.

I don't steal! And neither should y'all! Shame on the people who do.

Well, I've never stolen a book, but someone tried to not give a book back to me last year after borrowing it, and I drove them crazy. Haha, I wanted it back, because it was brand new and really good, so I texted her every day asking for it. Rude? Maybe. Do I care? No.

Hailey wrote: "I don't steal! And neither should y'all! Shame on the people who do."

Are you the person who throws the first stone?

Ed wrote: "Hailey wrote: "I don't steal! And neither should y'all! Shame on the people who do."

Are you the person who throws the first stone?"

Well no... But I've never done anything against the law.

Ed wrote: "Hailey wrote: "I don't steal! And neither should y'all! Shame on the people who do."

Are you the person who throws the first stone?"


nice one Ed.
i did a little shop lifting when i was a teen. yeah, shame on me. broke a few other laws too.

now i'm an adult and all responsible and scared to break the rules.

i never took books - at least not that i remember - not from stores anyway. i have borrowed and never returned.

oh you know i am mistaken. i did steal a couple of books. i deliberately took out a couple of books from the library of the art college i attended many years ago. then i quit and never returned the books. and it was deliberate - i remember trying to decide which books i most wanted.

I didn't actually "steal" the book. I just kept it- mmm when I shouldn't have : )

Is it stealing if you leave one in return? I've swapped books from the library at a holiday house before, and left one that I've finished during my stay. I think that's ok it just keeps the books going round and round.

Usually there's a good selection at those holiday rentals, but last year I went to one and it only had Jackie Collins. No swaps that year.

Danine wrote: "I don't want to say that I make a habit of stealing books from the library sale shelf. But I would like to say there has been the occasion(s) where I didn't have the $1 or $2 at the time to purcha..."
I think you got it covered!

I'm an unrepentant downloader. I don't think of it as stealing. I just think of it as downloading.

Tsk tsk tsk.

Hmm... When I was 9 I took a book from the school library and never really returned it (forgot). This happened twice I think. I was little and it wasn't on purpose. But it did bother me for years afterwards.

MMMMMM I´ve borrowed a book from a guy in college and he never asked it back, so I didn´t bother to return it...

Makes sense I guess.

I usually don't mind if people don't return my books. If I really need it back, I expressly tell them I do, and I remind them in due time.

I stole a book once. I was on vacation at a rented house and was reading one of the books from the library and hadn't finished it by the end of the week so I took it home with me. When I went back the next year I took a couple of my older books and left them there in repayment.

I don't think this constitutes stealing. I think the owners of these places expect renters to do exactly what you did, even count on it to keep their collection fresh.

Donna wrote: "I don't think this constitutes stealing. I think the owners of these places expect renters to do exactly what you did, even count on it to keep their collection fresh."

I agree! I love to find these places on vacation. Often when I finish a vacation book -- that I've usually picked up at a used book store --I'm glad to pass it on to a place where it can be read and shared.

Donna wrote: "I don't think this constitutes stealing. I think the owners of these places expect renters to do exactly what you did, even count on it to keep their collection fresh."

i think unless the owner specifically asks you to "help yourself" to the books; yes, taking something without permission is stealing. they may not mind much, but i know i won't be renting out my place any time soon. i'd be dismayed to find any book missing.

Yes, I agree with Naomi.

Naomi wrote: "Donna wrote: "I don't think this constitutes stealing. I think the owners of these places expect renters to do exactly what you did, even count on it to keep their collection fresh."

i think unl..."

I agree with that, the places I'm talking about have a shelf marked, "Help yourself!"

Yes, vacation rentals are not personal homes. Every one I've been in has take a book/leave a book shelf-posted or otherwise.

Donna wrote: "Yes, vacation rentals are not personal homes. Every one I've been in has take a book/leave a book shelf-posted or otherwise."

Those are what I'm referring to. I love it, I feel a connection to other readers who share their books with others.

Well, I didn't think that was what you were talking about. Obviously, if it has a shelf that says you can take books, it's not stealing.

I think rentals are ok with an exchange of books. Even without a notice saying help yourself. Generally the mix of books on the shelf will be weirdly eclectic and that's a good sign the book exchange is happening and so can participate.
If the library looks like a personal collection or has books about the local area, I definitely wouldn't take any - but I would assume that it's ok to read them. Otherwise why put them there.

Books are like cats - they have an independent existence and end up where they want to be. I have bought them, loaned them, borrowed them, they're not happy unless they are allowed to roam free :)

....and yes I have borrowed books and kept them for longer than intended - but I don't still have them, they've moved on :)

Heathermomo wrote: "Books are like cats - they have an independent existence and end up where they want to be. I have bought them, loaned them, borrowed them, they're not happy unless they are allowed to roam free :)
..."

I totally love your comment, and ofcourse I agree :)