Book Problem
Guys, I have a confession to make. I bought more books yesterday. I know I don’t actually, physically need them, but I had to buy them anyway. It was important to me. I only bought two, though. I didn’t even look in the Young Adult section, to keep me safe from the temptation of other books. I should have looked in the clearance section, but I didn’t think about it until it was too late. Anyway, I walked out of the store with three books, two for me, one for my little cousins. They were all necessary.
I may have a book problem. I am aware of it, though, so that’s the first step, right? I have a book shelf full of books and I need more space because I still have a box full of books that hasn’t been unpacked because there wasn’t room and I keep buying more books. My book problem isn’t quite as dramatic as book addictions displayed on the internet. I don’t compulsively buy all the books, necessarily, but the ones that I love and the authors I love, I just can’t resist. I hardly ever take a risk on books I am unfamiliar with. The books I purchase are either books that I love deeply, books written by authors that I love deeply or books that have been highly recommended to me.
I am a firm believer in libraries. If I can go to a library, or as is the case now, get a Kindle book through the internet from a library, I will do that instead of buying a book that might disappoint me. It’s just a much safer way to read. If I buy the book and don’t like it, I’ll feel bad about spending money on a book I’m not going to finish reading. But in the library, I can pick whatever book I want and try it out and if I don’t get into it, it’s fine, I’ll take it back anyway and I didn’t lose anything but some time on it. Buying books is so much more intimidating, and intimate. The books you keep around you say something about you. This is why certain childhood books stayed behind when I moved. And by that I mean the one Twilight book I own. It was a gift, don’t judge me.
Anyway, when it comes to buying books, I try to be practical, but I do have some intense weaknesses. Gail Carson Levine is one of them. I’ve talked a lot about her in the past few posts, but let me say again that she is amazing and everyone should read all of her stuff, right now. I purchased Fairest yesterday because it was there and I could get it for $3 and I didn’t own it yet. I have Ever and Ella and The Two Princesses of Barmarre, but no Fairest, and that was just a little sad. I needed to round out my collection. I know there are lots more books, but those are the ones I love the most. So I bought Fairest and I don’t feel bad about it.
The other book that I bought was Shannon Hale’s Goose Girl, which I was shocked to discover that I didn’t own. I felt certain I had picked it up along the way somewhere, but no, it was missing. This is another of the books that I loved whenever it was that I discovered it, so I wanted very much to get a copy of it for myself. I have pieces of a series of hers but I can’t remember what all the pieces are, so I’m going to have to do some research and figure that out so I can get back to searching for them. I’m pretty sure I’m only missing the one piece, but I’m not sure what that piece is. This is important, though, so that I can read the whole series properly.
Diana Wynne Jones is my other big weakness. She just has so much stuff out there and I keep finding more and being like “Ooo, this must be good,” and then I buy it. I still have like two Chrestomanci books to read on my shelf and a couple others of hers, but I’ll admit, I just like having her name up there. It makes me happy to own her work. Donita K. Paul, on the other hand, I have diligently read as she wrote, so her books are a little different. Sure, I had to get caught up, but I did buy her first book when it first came out and then promptly lost it, somehow, only to rediscover it when we moved. So I’ve read two entire series from her and purchased half a third, which I really want to read, but keep getting distracted. I’ve had to make myself stop buying them until I’ve actually read the two that I have.
My kindle has done wonders for my compulsive book buying in someways, and in others, not so much. I did read and buy several books from Gail Carriger on my kindle but then I started seeing them in hard copy and I had to buy them. >.> Even the ones I’d already read. Because there is no better way to show your love for a book than by purchasing it. Books that you love are meant to be held. My husband doesn’t understand the physical emotion one can have towards books. There’s just something about the ability to feel the story in your hands and hold the book close to you as you weep over characters or rejoice with their triumphs. It’s a very different sensation from the kindle. You can’t skim through a kindle to find your favorite parts. Sure, you can search, but it’s not quite the same as running your finger down the pages until some phrase pops out at you. It’s not the same as opening to the exact spot where you know that awesome scene is. I just love the physical experience looking at the edge of a closed book and knowing where every part of the story lives.
I may have a book problem. I’ll probably keep collecting books as long as they’re printing them. When I was in college some of my friends and I did a project looking into the digital take-over of reading. We had a professor who was convinced that print was going to go out of style and become nonexistent. Somewhere in our research, and I don’t remember who said it, but someone told us that as long as there is paper there will be books. And it’s because of people like me who just love them for what they are. Sure, I can read hundreds of books on my kindle and enjoy them just fine, but if I see the ones I love in print, I will buy them. This is why books will never die.
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