On Friday, 18 May 2018 12:11:03 UTC+1, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
Here's a no doubt silly question :-) I find that I can hardly open some
of my older books now without the spine cracking, and a few pages
falling out. I was just wondering if there's anything that can be done
to prevent this, without boxing them up in the loft, or something. I
was considering rubbing some kind of oil on the back, in the hope that
it might soak in over time, and make the glue a bit more flexible again.
But if course, it also might just make it all gooey, and the pages
might be even more likely to fall out.

Has anyone else found anything that makes their paperbacks last a bit
longer?

Angle grinder.
I had this problem. I clamped the book between bits of wood and ground the glue off with an angle grinder.
I then rubbed in silicon gunge to the ground edge, let set and then put on more silicon.
Still intact but hasn't been used much.
Evostick might have been better but it seems to have disappeared these days.