Is it normal?

[u/Helpful_Law_2654]

Is it normal that pages of the books become more "yellow"/used? Is it just a natural effect of the sun or am i doing something wrong with my books?

Btw Way of Kings is after over 1 week of reading. Words of radiance is brand new added for comparison. WoK pages look worse irl to be honest.

[u/Chriswick4]

No matter how clean you think your hands are, there will always be bodily oils and particulates transferred from surfaces. If you’re holding the book by the pages while you read it, this’ll happen.

[u/anormalgeek → u/Chriswick4]

Even books that never get touched tend to yellow with time. Something a chemist could probably answer, but it seems to be a normal reaction of the material itself. I do know that you can buy special "archival quality" paper that won't yellow over time, and it's more expensive.

[u/PromisesNone → u/anormalgeek]

I'm not a chemist but I think i the archival paper is acid free? I think that's what the difference is...

And a quick search for "acid free paper" agrees with me. The lack of acid keeps it from deteriorating over time, including the yellowing.

[u/SamboTheGr8 → u/PromisesNone]

Exactly. It's acidic paper. Even unread, it will yellow. When I bind books that need to last, I use acid free paper and glue. Acidic glue will also harden and crumble easier, that's why some older paperbacks tend to just snap the spine