Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover... But Maybe Judge a Reader by Her Bookshelf?

I had a moment of shock earlier this year that all of you should know about.

I am a NOOK patron. NOOK is Barnes and Noble's e reader. Once you are NOOK friends with someone you can see all of the Barnes and Noble books that they own which are lend-able. This was good news for me at the time because I was saving up for a big trip. Saving up for a big trip means that I am struggling to adhere to a strict budget... adhering to a budget means using the library more then the bookstore.

Not that I don't LOVE the library... it's just that I really enjoy being able to walk up to one of my bookshelves and see a good book and remember what I loved about it and possibly reread it at any time. Other people borrow library books, which means they are not always there when I want them. Also, the library is not open 24 hours a day like my bookshelves are and Gwen would probably get pretty annoyed with me if I threw her in the car at 2 am because I couldn't sleep and I wanted to read that particular book that I borrowed from the library 8 months ago and was really awesome...

Anyway...

This past spring I was checking out what my friends with NOOKs had to offer and I was blown away. Now I realize that these were only the 'lend me' books (not all ebooks are able to be borrowed, which is stupid, but that is a soapbox you don't want to get me started on!) and people always keep all of their ebooks because they are a lot easier to store then actual books and why delete something you paid for? An ebook collector is not nearly as committed as a physical book collector. Take it from the chick that has 7 overflowing bookshelves AND books piled up all over the house. Still though, you really can tell a lot about a person by what they read and even more by what is physically on their bookshelves.

For example, two of my friends are closet romance readers. Who knew?!?! I have never heard them talk about them or seen them lend them out or buy them. I don't think they kept it from me, specifically, because they know how I feel about romance books. I try to keep my distaste for that entire section of the bookstore a secret (So shhhh!) because really, I read crappy science fiction/fantasy so who am I to judge.

Anyway...

I took a look around my books with new eyes and discovered a couple things about myself by my own bookshelves.

First: My joy in owning and lending out books actually exceeds my literary appetite. I own roughly 40 books that I haven't read yet. About 10 of them I never honestly plan on reading (free or 50 cent yard sale buys) and another 10 or 15 of them I will probably never get around to reading because they don't strike me as books I will love.

Second: My love of certain books exceeds my love of lending out books. I have a 'top shelf' of books. They are organized by author and series and double stacked so that only half of them are visible. Many of them have been read so many times that the covers have completely fallen off. I have never offered to lend these to anyone. Ever. I don't plan to either. They are mine. My only. My prreeeccciiousss.

Third: It's all about the escape (but I knew that already). Historical fiction, Science fiction, Fantasy, etc.. are my favorites. I want impossible or in the past. I get enough of reality when I am not reading.

Fourth: Stronger is better. My favorite characters that I like to revisit over and over in the pages of their books are strong. They make mistakes... a lot, but they are not indecisive sissies (speaking of indecisive sissy characters, those twilight books are collecting a lot of dust on their shelf. Hehehehe!). 

So I love to share the literary 'bug', but am possessive of my 'top shelf' and I am drawn to strong characters, but only when they are facing impossible settings and situations.

What can I learn about you by your bookshelf? More importantly, what can YOU learn about you from your bookshelf??