Dissappointed In Book Quality Lately? Options

Is anyone here besides me, dissappointed in the quality of books being put out today. I'm not referring to their content (although you seem to be getting less and less of that also), but more in terms of construction. I know most occult books don't sell in volume to warrant the nice, hardbound tome of a book we all (most?) yearn after as a way of connecting with the scribes of antiquity, but it seems even the nicer-looking "perfect bound" books fall apart rather quickly. I still have books from the seventies I've had since they were new that are still in fairly good shape. I even have some of my mother's books from the 40's that are not damaged. yet, I find that new books I buy have only about a 50% chance of surviving the first reading.

Anyone else come across this problem?

Welcome to the world of increased profit margins and decreased quality. I've noticed that on more than a few books too. I also live in the desert, where things like that deteriorate faster than most due to the low humidity.

I always keep a bottle of Elmer's Glue on hand for book repair. The gel glue works best, as it's thick and doesn't run. If the binding is cracking and pages are loose/falling out, put a narrow line of glue behind the pages, set them in FIRMLY, and weight them down to let them dry. Don't pick up or open the book for the next 24/48 hours, or until it's firmly dry. It usually solves the problem and makes the book sturdier than before.

I'd love to get some of my old paperbacks I inherited from my grandfather Perma-Bound, though. That's what they do to paperbacks in libraries to make them more durable.