My brother Mark & I like to debate about owning books vs electronic readers. He is pro-electronic readers and never having to move boxes of books. My rebuttal always consists of how personal a book is. You can get it signed, share it with your friends, stick sticky notes in it and maybe even hug & smell them.
The other night I was hanging out with some friends and the conversation turned to books, something we do not normally talk about. I asked what their opinion was on books vs. readers. One said he liked having books and then jokingly added how it made him feel like he was better than other people. He asked if I ever felt having books made me feel superior. I just laughed and explained how I use to read books that others considered intelligent and although I could appreciate them I just did not love them. Then I found books that made me love reading again, and I have never looked back. Although I am not ashamed of the books I love, I realize that most people are probably not impressed with my books. I was kind of surprised when he confessed he was impressed that I read.
That conversation took place Monday night then today a blog I follow did a post called My Taste in Books , where she lists what she looks for in a book. I could pretty much copy the whole post over here because I loved & related to it all. But here are some that especially resonated with me...
- I like reading the truth, being moved and authors who get under their character's skins.
I have noticed that characters who feel the most real to me are characters who authors say had a mind of their own, making choices the author did not want them to make.
- I love hope and redemption and life.
I believe in Hope as in the song The Cave by Mumford & Sons "I will hold on hope".
- I love books that somehow manage to peek into my soul.
There is such comfort in reading a book where a characters shares your insecurities, fears or joys.
- I want to read books that have characters worthy of me spending my time with them.
I found the blog after reading a review by Nomes on Goodreads, she had said exactly what I had wanted to say about the book. After clicking on the "compare books" in Goodreads I found we have 64 books in common and are 86% similar. Nomes lives in Australia, we don't even live in the same country and still have that many in common, she is definitely a kindred spirit.
"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world." — Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)
One of the last things she says in her post is... "No one has the same taste as me. No one will 100% love what I do. And, I like that."
Isn't it funny how we both love to find people who love or hate the same things we do but we also love the little things that make us us.
I really like this post, Connie. As far as readers vs books, I thought I would not like the reader because I really do like books, however, I have to say now that I've gone from the reader to reading an actual book, I sometimes miss the ease of the reader. But, then I really like staring at the covers of books and seeing them on my shelves. Ugh! It's quite the conundrum for me. Anyway, I also don't care what people think of my reading tastes. I like a fairly wide variety and if people think "less" of me because I'm reading something they think is "less than," screw 'em! I want to ENJOY books - not torture myself just so people will think I'm intelligent or something.
ReplyDeleteeeP! i am on your blog :D
ReplyDeleteglad you liked the post :)
and i love the term kindred spirits as i am the HUGEST fan of anne *love*
@Melissa - I am sure I will get a reader some day, just for convenience but I will ALWAYS have books.
ReplyDelete@Nomes I hope it didn't freak you out to much. Your post just fit in so well with what I had been thinking about!
Readers are cool, but after sitting in front of a computer all day at work, the last thing I need is another screen. And I love smelling books. Except when you order one from eBay and it comes from a smoker and the seller forgets to disclose that fact in the item description.
ReplyDelete@ Myke My friend Mimi caught me smelling really old books while wandering around the Victoria Albert museum in London, thankfully they did not smell like smoke.
ReplyDelete@Myke: Have you used a reader? I'm wondering because the Kindle and the new Nook Simple Touch really are NOT like looking at a computer screen. I was very worried about that as well, but then I went and actually tried all the readers at the store. I have a Nook Simple Touch and have never had a problem with my eyes or feeling like I'm looking at a computer. (Although, I do have a friend who has a Kindle and she says it bothers her eyes, so who knows?) Anyway, the e-ink technology makes it look like you're looking at an actual book. Some of the other readers (like the Nook color) absolutely ARE like looking at a computer and that's why I chose the Nook Simple Touch. Anyway, just thought I'd give you my two cents if you hadn't actually tried the readers yet yourself. :) (But, I do agree, there's nothing like holding and smelling an actual book!)
ReplyDeleteI was just in a conversation the other day where people were debating which is better. I decided I'm not going to choose. I like them both. They've each got their pros and cons.
ReplyDeleteBut if I could only have one, I would always choose a book I could hold, mark up, pass around, put on a shelf...smell...loved this post, by the way.