Saturday Discussions: Do you let people borrow your books?

I'm a rare breed of book buyer. I obsess over the books I buy. When I go into the bookstore, I look for all the copies of the book I'm interested in and begin my thorough search. Which ones have ripped covers? Which are smudged? Which have bent flaps? After I've selected the book with the least imperfections, I proceed to read with extreme caution. I don't even open up the book all the way for fear of bending it.

Basically, what I'm showing you here is I'm a book perfectionist. I paid money for that book and I want it to look brand new, even after I'm finished with it.

Which brings me to my question of today. Do you let people borrow your books?

You'd be surprised to know that, yes, I do. But that's after a thorough assessment of who they are and how they treat their own things.

See, I've lent and lost before. And I still know who has my things and never given them back.

So now I only let people I know well borrow my books because they are each little doorways that sent me to fantastic worlds. I want to remember each of those worlds by brushing a finger over their spines. I can't do that if someone destroys them. Because I'm not lending out the books that don't wow me. If I'm handing over cargo, it's precious. It's the stuff that blew my mind, made me want to become a better writer and stuck  with me so much that I am dying for someone to talk to about it.

So if they do destroy my book and buy me a new one, it isn't that I won't appreciate it. But they aren't returning my book. The book that granted me passage into worlds unknown and made me feel things I didn't even know were possible. It's a bond that even I don't quite understand but one that I cherish.

I currently have three books out on lend. Two, I know are in good hands. And one, a very precious novel called The Hunger Games, is with someone I barely know and who I'm not sure will take care of it. (Mind you, it's a first edition of The Hunger Games too). My hubby assures me it's safe. I still have my doubts.

So my answer is that I do lend books. Just hesitantly and with much trepidation. For me, the joy of sharing something I love outweighs the fear of losing something I love. Which is why I pack off my babies and send them out into the world!

What about you? Do you share books or tell people to go get their own?