I collect books the way my daughter collects shoes: I am the Imelda Marcos of paperbacks. Sometimes, when I don't have time to read, I browse used bookstores and gather books for a more relaxed future when there will be time (and indeed, there will be time, as Eliot says). If I don't own at least fifteen paperbacks that are on my "to be read" list, I get twitchy. Libraries are fine for the latest hardcovers, but it's paperbacks that I love to own, paperbacks that can be stuffed in a purse, tossed into a glove compartment, left on an airplane when I've finished.And paperbacks are great for lending to others, although my friends are in default on many loans. And that's another reasonable excuse for hoarding books, for collecting multiple copies of my favorites: if one doesn't find its way back home, there's an insurance copy on the shelf.
1 comment:
My books used to drive my wife crazy. Then I started loaning the fun sci-fi and fantasy ones to the kids in the neighborhood with a "just return them when Jack is old enough to read them". This keeps most of my shelves a little emptier and my wife happier.
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