That used book dealer's comment about old paperbacks got me checking everything now

Was out at the flea market on Saturday and this guy selling boxes of 70s thrillers said most people never flip past page 30 of a used book, so they miss the damp spots or the odd smell that spreads. He showed me a copy of a Robert Ludlum novel that looked pristine from the front but had a weird chemical stink inside, hit me because I've been grabbing cheap stacks for months without opening them up. Anyone else run into hidden mold or stains inside their finds, or do you always do a full page check before buying?

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the_jake13d ago

Wait, is that the same guy with the table near the produce stands? I think he might've been overselling the whole "page 30" rule. I grabbed a beat-up John le Carre from him last month and the damp smell was right there on page 10, but the front cover hid it totally. You're right to check, but honestly, I just give the whole book a quick sniff near the spine and flip to a random middle page before buying. That's caught more mold than any fixed page number ever would. Mold can start on any page, depends on where the water hit the stack. So yeah, keep checking, but don't trust that guy's specific number.