Stinky books

A couple weeks ago a book I had placed on hold arrived at my library.  I was excited to read it, as I’ve enjoyed the series so far. Even though the book is well over 800 pages, I knew it wouldn’t take more than a few days to read, as I doubted I would put it down for long.

When I came home from work that evening, I settled in and started to read the book.  I didn’t get more than a couple of pages though, as I was put off by the smell of stale cigarette smoke.  Ugh.  After a couple of pages I set the book aside.  A few days later I tried again, but didn’t get far.  The hubby was home, so I asked him to take a sniff.  He didn’t notice the stench, which surprised me. 

In the end, I only read sixteen pages before I brought it back to work.  I asked a couple of coworkers if they noticed the odor.  They did – even the one who was getting over a bad cold. 

Often when books are returned with an added scent we will try to salvage them.  We place a dryer sheet in between the pages and put the book in an airtight bag for several days.  I tried this trick with my book, leaving it sit in a bag over the weekend.  Sadly, when I checked the book a few days later I could still detect the stench.  I knew it would distract me too much while reading it, so I placed a hold on another copy and cleared the stinky one from my record.

So now I wait.  Of the three copies our system has of that title, one is checked out to another patron, one has been lost and paid for by a patron, and the third is too smelly for my likes.  Here’s hoping the copy that is checked out is returned early!  I really want to read that book!!