The smell of new books

[LoveMusic_AK]

Personally, I love the smell of new books. They just smell so new and fresh! I find that some even smell a little minty. I think the smell of new books is more of a preference of what you like than a smell. For example, some people love the smell of gasoline and others hate it with a passion. Some people think the new books smell fresh and nice while others think they smell awful. Some of the posts I've read are very interesting. I noticed that a lot of people think that new books smell like chemicals. Sometimes I just want to bury my face in a new book because I love the smells in it! Occasionally I do find myself sniffing a book. This is a very opinionated topic.

[ops_143]

I admit i do love the smell of new books, yet I also love the smell of used ones as well. But as for new ones, it is hard to describe, that has always been one of my favorite smell. And a book store that also has a coffee shop in it...the smell of coffee combined with the new book smell is awesome

I couldn't agree more! Coffee and books together is heaven to my nose!

[Anithamaragatham]

The smell of new books has always been fascinating since school days. The new year only starts when the smell of new books is captured in your school bag (old or new )

[prarich]

Yes the smell of new books sends me back to school days when we used to be so excited about new books.

[MissH]

There is nothing like the smell of a new book! When I walk in a book store the first thing I do is take it all in, that smell brings back a lot of memories for me. Books were my prize for doing all my chores it was the one thing I looked forward to most as a kid.

[ekloost15]

I remember, distinctly, getting new reading books when I was in first grade, and I remember loving the small of the books. I think new textbooks have a great smell--there's something about the shiny pages and the fresh smell. I also love the fact that new books have a little bit of a crackle in the spine when you first open them.

I agree that old books smell fantastic, too, but I do love the fresh, clean scent of new books.

[cam_gold]

The smells that come to mind when I think about old books are mustiness and mildew. Then there are all kinds of stains one encounters many times on the pages which often inspires wonder as to the origin of those stains. On the other hand, old books do make me think about all the other people who have read the book. Did they enjoy the same parts that I am enjoying? Did they laugh just there, or cry here? And how did the very first person to own the book feel as he/she opened the book and sniffed that fresh, new book scent?

I can appreciate the character of an old book. There is a history there on each page....perhaps many histories. I can appreciate all of that, but at the same time, I try not to breathe in too deeply.

[AMP76]

Old books have a smell. Its faintly woody, maybe a little musty, the ink has a tang to it. The smell tells the history of the books life in various owners hands. It reminds me of the expression, if walls could talk. The books do talk and tell their own stories.

[cam_gold]

Old books have a smell. Its faintly woody, maybe a little musty, the ink has a tang to it. The smell tells the history of the books life in various owners hands. It reminds me of the expression, if walls could talk. The books do talk and tell their own stories.

So I pulled out the most raggedy, pre-owned, well-used book I could find on my bookshelf. It is a little paperback cookbook from Better Homes and Gardens. It's covers are gone; actually, half of the book is gone! The pages that are still intact are brown with use and age, but I still refuse to throw out the thing. I actually have an aversion to throwing away books. Anyway, I have been checking out the smell, and you are right. There is a kind of woody smell along with the mustiness. And although it does remind me of a dusty attic, it is not really unpleasant.

[Adonis Maratos]

Do you guys think new books smelled differently in the older times? a little food for thought and to continue this topic, so glad i started it

[CostaVerde]

As a child, I always loved the smell of new books. Even those new text books that they passed out in the classroom smelled wonderful! It actually made me want to open the book. I enjoyed flipping through the pages, so that I could catch the aroma in the air. The smell of a new text book always gave me the curiosity, and desire to find out more about what was actually inside the book. Admittedly, this was not enough motivation to make me keep up with my studies as I should have. However, I was also so tempted, and so curious to see what was on those pages that smelled of knowledge.

[saturday+deviant]

Yes the smell of new books sends me back to school days when we used to be so excited about new books.

Not just books, but new notebooks have a similar smell so new books make me think back to the first day of school and having everything nice and neat. Then slowly the pages get all crinkly and the spine gets cracked.

[thankyou]

Like most people here, I too love the smell of new books. But for some reason, I'm just not too fond of the smell of old books.

[laarnilopez]

I love the smell of both old and new books. If I am to choose just one, I would go for old books. It only wins by a sniff. If old books smell like an adventure, new books smell like excitement to me. I don't notice the chemicals much, or at least for me they are not chemicals but like the smell of a baby.. very new.

[Eleko14]

I prefer the smell of old books, although I am not turned off by the smell of new books. Old books though have a loved smell to them. Kind of the difference between a new car smell, and the smell of a car that someone has carefully cleaned and loved and put one of those nice little tree air fresheners in