Book Wrapping 101

I am totally OCD about my books, to a point of weirdness. For instance, I won’t read a book if it’s not mine so I buy them (new, secondhand, doesn’t matter as long as I could keep them). Gifts would be very much welcomed, though =)

I do spend a lot of time arranging (and rearranging) my books. Just looking at them is like Zen to me because each one has a story of their own. And I have certain rituals that I HAVE to follow (in order) before reading a book:

1. Of course, I have to buy them first
2. Peel off the price tag
3. Wrap in plastic cover
4. Update LibraryThing & Goodreads
5. Initial my name & date I start reading at the top-right hand corner of the first page
6. Start reading from the very first page including, you know, the one with the “First Published in bla bla bla”, “All rights reserved yada yada yada”

Is this weird?

But I have gone a little off topic here. I meant to show you how I wrap my books (Warning: This post is quite long and contains a lot of pictures).

What you need: A plastic cover, a pair of good scissors, tape and of course, a book.

Now the step-by-step:

Step 1: Cut the plastic cover to an appropriate size. I usually leave about 2 to 3 inches longer at the top, bottom and sides

Step 2: Start with the front and bring the ends to the inside of the cover like the picture below. You want to make a really good crisp to set it in place (I use my fingernails). Repeat for the back cover

Step 3: To make the “envelope”, measure about an inch from the spine and make a clean cut until you reach the cover. Then from the edge of the book, make a “triangle” cut like so…

 

Step 4: Repeat step #3 for the top part of the book

Step 5: Now repeat steps #3 & 4 for the back cover

Step 6: Go back to the front cover and bring the "envelope" outside. Cut the unwanted ends (don’t make the angles too big)

 

Step 7: Repeat step #6 for the back cover

Step 8: (Bear with me guys, it's almost done...) Next, all is left is to tape the “envelope” at the front and back cover of the book

 

Step 9: (One more step, then we’re done. I promise.) Cut the unwanted ends, and voila!, there you have it!

Step 10: Now the book is ready to join the other “friends” on the bookshelf =)