Book Whore, on the bookstore browsings.
28 Jul 2010 1 Comment
in Books, Thought Vomit Tags: book obsession, book whore, books, library, library whore
Ok, can I just say I didn’t want a stinkin’ map as my picture? Thanks Plinky.
Of course coining the term ‘book whore’ for myself makes people assume that I spend a lot of time in a book store. Chapters, Coles, etc, places like that where there is aisles upon aisles of new, freshly pressed, smelling crisp, deliciously readable books that this book whore would consume ferociously if given the chance.
But I just don’t ever go there. The last time I was in an actual book store was over 8 months ago and the previous trip it was a few years between. And it’s only if I have something in mind that I can’t pick up elsewhere or snag on Amazon for much cheaper. In fact, if I’m to buy books at all, I almost always buy them used, with the exception of new releases (like Jean Auel’s newest, and final, book that I’m so freakishly excited for coming out in March next year).
I just can’t get into buying books anymore. I have exactly 3 shelves of books left after giving hundreds away, and they aren’t shelves that are double packed or crammed in so tight I’m afraid of a spontaneous book explosion. Those 3 book shelves are the compilations of only the books I will read more than once. I’m that kind of whore, I keep going back to the same ones, almost yearly, and redoing them over again (boy we can get really dirty with this can’t we?).
It’s not even for the most obvious reasons. By looking at my familial situation most would assume it’s because I don’t want to tote 3 homeschooled kids along inside a book store. However that’s a wash, I am raising 3 book whores so the likelihood of misbehaviour is small because they’d be as enamoured as I would perusing titles while they walked each aisle (ok, maybe the 2 y/o wouldn’t be perusing). Perhaps if the excuse turned to the money idea. Books aren’t horribly cheap, but really, neither are they expensive. Sure, 4 book whores in a store could get pricey, but that’s not the reason either.
I know it sounds so strange considering how much I actually read (probably 4+ books a week in the summer, 2+ in winter). I think it comes down to the multitude of reasons all mashed in together to form the most obvious solution to my book store aversion.
My library. Oh how I love my library. I live in a small’ish community so our library isn’t near what it would be in the city, but it serves its purpose and then some. I browse my library online for titles I want and if my library doesn’t have it, I press a couple of buttons and that title is shipped to my own library for me to borrow from a sister library in another town. If I prefer, I could download one electronically, but I don’t prefer. In fact, even with my aversion to book store shopping, I love holding that clunky bundle of paper in my greedy hands. I go down to the library at least once a week and pick up the books I’ve reserved or found in the catalogue and then I look for staff picks. My library has a few dozen areas where there is books on display that may seem interesting, so I snag them too. Then there’s little sheets of paper scattered here and there methodically to entice you with lists of new authors in another genre you haven’t thought of before.
It’s the dragging-3-kids-to-the-store excuse, it’s the holy-smokes-4-book-whores-could-spend-a-fortune, it’s the books-printed-on-paper-are-environmentally-wasteful-unless-I-can-borrow-it-thus-reusing, it’s the supporting-a-local-very-important-soon-to-be-discontinued-amenity (my government has been reducing funding yearly until it will no longer fund libraries). I could go on, but I’m getting sick of using the hyphen.
My library is my book store. I will browse those shelves until I have read them all or can no longer see (due to death because there’s always books-on-tape!).
Aug 02, 2010 @ 15:49:46
“I’m that kind of whore, I keep going back to the same ones, almost yearly, and redoing them over again.”
That was my favorite line. At first I was thinking about boyfriends and cousins (wait, scratch that, not cousins), but then of course I came back to books. I refuse to throw my favorites out. People make fun of me for re-reading the same ones, but you get something new out of it each time, so they can suck it.