Dartmouth library has a useful site on hardback book repair. It's not always a simple and trivial thing but there are a couple of older cook books of mine I'll want to spruce up for longer life and use.
A Simple Book Repair Manual
With the rise of heirloom quality scrapbooking as a hobby, lots of these materials have become readily available.
Going beyond that to a full do-it-yourself book rebind, instructables.com has a number of instruction sets, but I like this one:
How to bind a book
If you want to use tape for your repairs,
Demco.com - Library, Teacher and School Supplies, Book Carts, Library Security, Office Furniture, Audiovisual and Reading Program Supplies has a wide array of library tapes and such. Even de-acidifying sprays though I don't know if they're safe for DIY types. And those sprays are expensive.
Paperbacks are trickier in most ways. They aren't as repairable. I'm told the glue for the perfect binding is heat activated and you can iron the spine to reactivate and reset the glue. What heat setting for the iron, I don't know.
I've seen instructions for DIY paperback binding involving a high quality PVA glue as that adhesive retains flexibility when dry. Stripping down a paperback would probably destroy the cover and the existing adhesive would be difficult to remove.
You can stitch them, sort of like a monster signature for a hardback book, then cover over the stitching to protect it and improve it's looks.
Make Blank Books, Sketch Books or Repair Paperback Books with a Simple Japanese Bookbinding Technique -- a Tutorial
You might find it easier to drill the holes rather than punching them as in the instructions. Using someone's drill press would be best to keep the holes nice and vertical and SMALL.
If you have any other book repair knowledge, please share it.
Phil