I
recently read a new book that bookworms should adore – So You Think You’re a Bookworm?, by Jo Hoare.
Though
it didn’t share deep, passionate, insightful passages about the love of books,
it did share a few dozen witty profiles of book-lovers, from the sci-fi lover
and book clubber to the fanfic-obsessive and the one who judges a book by its
cover.
The
introduction perfectly identifies how the world is “divided into two types of
people: the book lovers and the What the
Hell Do You Mean You Haven’t Read A Book Since School People.”
There
are so many types of bibliophiles. You
will probably come to recognize yourself in the pages of this cutely packaged,
glossy-page, illustrated book of 64 breezy pages.
Are
you a book binger?
Do you prefer to get your books by borrowing or buying?
Are you what the author identified as a book abuser? She writes: “This bookworm shows no desire to maintain the sharp angles of a creaseless page and cares not for the delicate spines of their novels. Instead, they place heavy bags on top of open books laid face down on hard surfaces, crushing spines like the marauding giant in the fantasy paperback they, are reading. Rumor has it they’ve never even owned a bookmark.”
Do you prefer to get your books by borrowing or buying?
Are you what the author identified as a book abuser? She writes: “This bookworm shows no desire to maintain the sharp angles of a creaseless page and cares not for the delicate spines of their novels. Instead, they place heavy bags on top of open books laid face down on hard surfaces, crushing spines like the marauding giant in the fantasy paperback they, are reading. Rumor has it they’ve never even owned a bookmark.”
I
especially liked the chapter on the 12 ways bookworms choose books when in a
bookstore. Where should one start or end
when coming to a bookstore? Catchy
titles and attractive covers lure us all about.
Oh, and the smell of books gets us every time!
One
chapter questions just how much of a book-lover you really are. It questions our habits and values. Do we pack them for vacation – how many
books? Where do you keep your
books? Do you stay up really late with a
book? What’s your favorite book?
Another
chapter reveals why one is a sci-fi, lover – from the escapist writing, future
predictions, lessons taught, and thrilling adventures, to the anything-can-happen
possibilities.
A
humorous chapter, How to Upset a Book Lover, suggests questions to ask bookworms that are sure to antagonize them.
Saying a movie is better than the book it’s based on is cause for
fisticuffs! Saying one has too many books
is blasphemy, and to actually have an answer to “What’s your favorite book?” is
impossible.
Hoare
laments that ebook readers make it harder for onlookers to observe and judge
the reading choices of others. “Damn
those commuters with their Kindles who are ruining this game,” she writes. There’s also a short debate of paper vs.
digital books – tree-killers vs. toxic device embracers. Which one are you?
The
book also talks about “The Faker” – the one who acts as if he or she has read
any book mentioned in a conversation, especially every novel on every shortlist
of every single major literary prize.
But
my favorite is “The Adulterer,” as identified by Hoare in a chapter dedicated
to those who read multiple books simultaneously, sometimes dumping one for
another. She writes:
“Welcome
to world of the literary adulterer, the type of reader who is unable to commit
to one novel at a time. If books were
dates, this person would be ticking the box that said “in an open
relationship.” The adulterer never sets
out to cheat on a book, each now read starts a fresh in the wake of another
awkward crossover – (this book is the one,” they think. And for a few glorious days it is. Never far from The Adulterers side, this
latest to me accompanies the bookworm on the bus, in bed, and at the breakfast
table, pages crinkling in hot baths and cold rain.”
A
bookworm, no doubt, is the kind of person who would prefer to read books over
most activities, including talking to others.
But
one can enjoy books and still fully participate in a balanced life. If you want to acknowledge being a bookworm
while having a book-loving writer make jokes about you and your kind, you’ll
enjoy Hoare’s all-too short tribute.
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