how to stop books from turning yellow?

The *reason* your paperback novels turn yellow (and then orange, and then crumble at the touch) is because they are printed on paper treated with acid. Paper plants that produce that unique, awful smell are the acid-paper kind. The acid will affect anything this paper is stored with, even if it is sealed. The other kind of paper out there is 'acid-free' and lasts indefinitely. Paper with acid has a short shelf life. It's not more expensive or less expensive to produce acid-free paper, but it is a massive financial investment to switch equipment from acid to acid-free.

Cutting off the oxygen will slow the process down, but it won't stop it. Plus, then you'd never be able to read your books.

You have to exclude oxygen. You can buy oxygen absorbers and store your book in any sealed container such as a plastic freezer bag. Most kinds of thin plastic will let the ogygen go through. The best material is food grade mylar, such as Seal-A-Meal.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-keywords=oxy...