Are you a book sniffer?

[klwoodford]

I love the smell of books and will forever be a book sniffer. That's interesting about being able to tell which book is best by its smell! I may have to try that out.

[Taekwondoqueen]

I love to smell books! They have the greatest smell in the whole world. Everybody knows that I smell books, but I’m already weird so they don’t care! I thought that I was the only person like this!

[swlly]

Yes! Especially new books, they smell so good and clean!

[Kiisme]

I would never deliberately sniff a book especially if it's not new. I have mold allergies.

[1ditzyrn]

I love the smell of books!! I think walking in to the library or a bookstore is great because the smell of the paper and ink hits you as soon as you walk in. While I love my Kindle because of the ease for traveling, I do miss the smell of an actual paperback or hardcover!

[zarah_]

I can always tell a good book by how it smells. I KNOW that sounds wierd! I KNOW! But it is so true! I swear, if you sent me to a bookstore (new or used, doesn't matter) and gave me two AWESOME books I really wanted but told me I could only have one, I would sniff them to figure out which one I wanted. After I cried and whined and begged to have both of course! But by sniffing the pages, I would be able to tell which would be better, even if I can't tell from the blurbs.

I've sniffed a few books in my life but I've never heard of being able to tell how good a book is based on how it smells. You must be psychic?

[Juliar252]

Yes! I love the smell of books!!

[HailKingEbi]

definitely. that earthy, trusty smell. books are my drug.

[dianaterrado]

Yes! I especially love smelling new books! And when I'm in a used bookstore, I just take in the smell and I love it!

[Sandra K Pearson]

My sister is so bad for this she does does it all the time but when she finds a good one and tells me to smell it to i love it.

[_Delly_01]

This used to be a huge secret of mine. The only person who knew I sniffed books (god that sounds so awful!) was my best friend, who thought I was wierd anyway. But recently I have discovered a LOT of readers sniff books out there!

So do you sniff your books?

I can always tell a good book by how it smells. I KNOW that sounds wierd! I KNOW! But it is so true! I swear, if you sent me to a bookstore (new or used, doesn't matter) and gave me two AWESOME books I really wanted but told me I could only have one, I would sniff them to figure out which one I wanted. After I cried and whined and begged to have both of course! But by sniffing the pages, I would be able to tell which would be better, even if I can't tell from the blurbs.

And there is a technique to it! Sure, you can just lean over and get a whiff. Most of the time that is not enough though! You need to faaaaaannnnnn the pages out to really get a good whiff of it's real smell.

I promise you, every book smells different. I have opened boxes of books I had stored away in a closet for years, and the books still retain their individual smells. Strong environmental odors CAN affect their individual smells over a long time though. There is one book from my childhood where I love the smell so much I keep it in a ziplock bag so nothing affects it's smell. No lie, I swear it! As a matter of fact I will go take a whiff of it right now....be right back....

Ahhh....the smell of childhood.... This is the one thing I miss using my e-reader.

Anyway! Tell me about how you sniff your books, if you do!

I didn't come to be a book-sniffer on my own. My friend would sit there and sniff, and I'd be like, "What the hell are you doing?" I tried it once out of curiosity, and kept on sniffing until I finally understood what they were talking about. But I didn't know that every book has it's own smell! That is so cool. And keeping a book in a ziplock bag to retain its smell? Hilarious.

[Florence Nalianya]

Hahaha, this sounds so weird, haven't imagined of this but I think it's just something psychological that you are undergoing.

[Bshord21]

I am definitely a book sniffer! I think people who read a lot are all closet book sniffers, you can’t ignore the smell of old pages and the memories and joy they bring when you sit down to read your favorite book

[Mrunal Tikekar]

I most definitely am! I love to sniff old books with yellowed pages.

[mads05]

I definitely don't go around smelling every book I see, but I do like the smell of a new book I just bought.