This Week's YA Highway Road Trip Topic:
My answer for this is probably the most common one:
I'm not just a book reader, I'm a book collector.
I'm not just a book reader, I'm a book collector.
This started young. I can still remember the sight of my first books on the bookshelf my dad made me. The Little House collection, all in order. A few Nancy Drews. My children's Bible and a pocket New Testament of my dad's from when he was young. And a copy of Born Free (a non-fiction story about some lions) that my grandpa had given me.
I never even read Born Free, or all of the Little House series for that matter, but I still own and treasure them today.
Through the years, my collection grew and got displayed in different manners. That bookshelf my dad made for me is now in an upstairs closet of our Cape Cod, hidden from view (so, sorry, no pics). In fact, moving from a rather spacious home in the Midwest to a much more expensive tiny home in New Jersey has meant stuffing most of my immense collection in totes, in closets and under beds.
They are about one fourth sentimental favorites, one fourth picture books, one fourth writing/research books and one fourth rainyday/TBR fiction books.
I've learned to donate some along the way...in my younger years, I kept everything, so I'm not a complete hoarder anymore, but deep down I still believe you can never have too many books.
What about you? Book collector or reader only?
I'm a collector, too. It feels strange on the e-reader, but I've started to look at that shelf as part of my collection, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm a collector as well as a reader, too. And I don't part with books easily. I feel like a real Scrooge when people talk about giving books away, because, as a rule, I don't. Even books I don't like! One of the main reasons I hold on to books is because my library is part of my kids' inheritance. But also, you never know when you might want to re-read that book, or refer to that book for something.
ReplyDeleteI have a large collection, but like to think of myself as more of just a reader. I use the library a lot and love the space saving convenious of ebooks. Plus I like to give books away to friends who I think will enjoy them after I read them. The only books I tend to hold onto are the more collectable rare and signed books. But I do have several hundred that fall into that category, so really my library usage is all an attempt to not be a hoarder.
ReplyDeleteI have this vision that someday I'm going to own a house with a "real" library (like the one described in The Thirteenth Tale) in some old, drafty mansion, where my eccentric, mysterious friends from overseas will come to visit. I will show them their guest quarters then escort them to the library, start a fire in the hearth, and tell them to help themselves to a book from the shelves upon shelves of choices. (For now and probably the rest of my life, those books are stacked on top of each other in my upstairs hallway.) :)
ReplyDeleteI love books when I love the cover and the book. Those are the ones I want to collect! Though I've really been trying to not make those purchases. Wait and see if the library gets them in. Especially when I have a ton of books by my bed and on my Kindle waiting to be read. If I had room, I'd be a collector. But I guess a true collector would always make room!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely a collector, too! I have piles of books in my apartment that I use for decoration. :)
ReplyDeleteCollector. My family has over 15 thousand books in our house.
ReplyDeleteI'm a collector, which is an issue in a 1-bedroom apartment that needs to hold 2 people and all their books. Perhaps I should rent a storage unit and turn that into my personal library. :)
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