I received a thick book in the mail today with massive pen doodlings on the outside page edges of the book. Huge blue triangles that are colored-in with blue ink are all over the edge of the book pages...and it looks hideous. It's obvious that this person probably got bored in a class and doodled on the outside edges for fun (by the way, the person who sent me the book has her name written inside in the same color...so I assume that she did the doodles) . I opened up the book and tried to see if the huge triangles would bother me while reading...and they do. I am not a picky person at all, but is this sort of thing acceptable here? I haven't marked the book as received yet, as I don't know whether or not to report the condition of the book.

Any advice? :)

is the writing on the text pages or on the edges of the pages (like opposite the spine)?

my understanding is that writing on the cover or edges of pages is acceptable according to PBS rules.  It is when the writing is on the pages itself that it is a no-no

Yes, it's on the edges (the pages opposite the spine).

Thank you for your help! :)

My opinion would be, if the huge triangles bother you when you're reading, they'll probably bother other readers, too.  Personally, I wouldn't post it.   But that's just me.  :-)

Technically as long as the writing isn't on any of the text pages, the book is postable. But it sounds like something you would want to PM any future requester about if you decide to repost it.

Writing on the edges of the pages has been discussed before and the input from R&R was that it is no different than the various stamps put on the edges by UBS's & libraries. So, unfortunately there's not much recourse for you. Too weird that it is so strong that you can see it while reading. Does  that mean it actually seeped in and is on the inside of the pages? If it's more than just on the edges, than it would be considered writing ON the pages, and therefore a damaged, unpostable book.