I have
been told that I am a beast, not really, but it was the subtext. I have been
given the impression that I’m some sort of savage, and that I am not of the
norm. So imagine my joy when I talked to someone at work today who is like me.
Okay. Confession time: I don’t care how my books look. I really don’t. I don’t
care if they’re a bit scuffed, or torn, I know, I’m the devil.
Before I
go on; if I borrow someone else’s book I would never treat them like I treat
mine. The reason I’m writing this is because yesterday I watched Teatime with
Epic Reads, which is a weekly livecast on YouTube with two lovely ladies from
Epic Reads. They talk about book-things, and it is always really interesting
and fun. This time they talked about how to take care of your books so they
look as pristine as humanly possible and it was really fun, and interesting,
but it also made me think, why? I would like to point out, I’m not knocking
these ladies, I think they make awesome videos, they are funny and cooler than
I could ever hope to be. And they had really good tips for what you want to do
if you want to take proper care of your books, I’m just, I find it odd.
One thing
they talked about was how you avoid breaking spines. I don’t care. I open my
books all the way, spines broken, spines looking like crap. I really don’t
mind. I have books that are falling apart, and I have books that were about to
fall apart so I taped it back together, yeah. I don’t really mind. I will bend
the spines around on a cheap mass-market paperback so I can hold it in one
hand. I’m evil.
They also
said that you should use bookmarks that aren’t much thicker than the pages of
the book, which is an excellent point, because it means your books won’t get
all bulgy, and warped, well done Epic Reads. I like dogearing. I use whatever I
have lying around as bookmarks, a lot of cinema tickets and train tickets. I
also have normal bookmarks, but I honestly don’t know where they are. I lose
things all the time, and the things I lose most is hair ties, other hair
related things, and bookmarks. I’m a dumbo. So I’ll use anything as a bookmark,
and if I can’t find something, I’ll dogear. Yeah.
I don’t
really highlight, mainly because I can never remember to bring a highlighter,
and I always feel like it stops my reading when I highlight or tab things. I
lose the flow of the story, so I can’t do that. I would, I don’t mind it, but I
don’t have the ability.
I am a
person of paradox though. My mother made me a book bag. I can put one big book,
or two small books in it, and then have it in my bag, for when I'm like flying, or taking the bus, or let's be honest, going anywhere (I bring books everywhere). And the reason for that
is I don’t want them to get completely fucked up, and I always know where it
is. Also pirates. It has pirates on it. I love it. I’m 27, but you wouldn’t
think that from reading anything I’ve ever written.
The
reason I wanted to write about this, is because it seems like a lot of people
want their books to look pristine, and my question is: who is that for? I
realize that I obviously have my opinion and I feel one way, and therefore I
find other things confusing, but why on earth do you need it to look pretty and
pristine? Is it for when the queen comes to visit? I really don’t understand.
My books look a bit scuffed and crappy, because I have read them. I love my
books. I love my books more than what’s reasonable. I have been thinking I
should give away books because they take up all the space, and it physically
hurts me, I love them. And they look like I’ve read them, again and again, and
I like that. They look a bit like they’ve been through some stuff. And I love
them for that. And it also means that I don’t mind buying beat up second hand
books, pre-scuffed y’all. I’m weird.
These
were my thoughts on books and how I treat them. If you need your books to look
pristine, more power to you, it sounds exhaustive, but you go for it. I will
sit in my corner and bend my spines, waiting for the tar and feathers.