Discussion: Are You a Book Collector?

Photo credit: lifeisfoo on Flickr

Bit of shocking news for all of you today: I love books. I know, unbelievable, right? I wouldn’t have guessed, either. 

Ehem. 

I’ve sort of mentioned this before, but I’m a little weird about my book-buying habits. Why? Because about 97% of the time when I decide I want to read a book, it means I’ve also decided I want to buy it. This applies even to authors whose books I’ve never read before. 

The thing is, I don’t just love books, I love collecting books. My pretty bookshelves are basically my favorite thing and I never tire of adding a book to my shelf after I’ve read it (fun quirk: I won’t place a book in it’s alphabetical spot until after I’ve read it). 

I’m also kind of anal about the format, though. 

If I buy the first book in a series in hardcover, then I’ll buy the rest of the books in hardcover as well. Same goes for paperback. Or e-book. This sometimes means that I have to wait extra long to buy a book because the paperback doesn’t come out until well after the hardback (*cough* City of Heavenly Fire *cough), but even if it’s many many months away…I wait. Because there’s something about having all the books in a series in the same format that, I don’t know? It’s a quirk. It looks pretty. Sorry not sorry. 

Talking about book quirks is fun, so I want to hear from you guys: do you collect books? And/or do you have any book-related quirks? 

Twitter-sized bite: 

Writer @Ava_Jae shares some of her book buying quirks. Do you have any book-related quirks? Join the discussion: (Click to tweet)

Reading: Do You Prefer E-Books or Print?

Photo credit: I take pictures sometimes.

I've started thinking lately about the difference between reading print books and e-books.

In the past I've said that the media doesn't matter—that the important part is the writing and that people are reading, and I still stand by that. What I'm talking about instead are the differences in the actual experience of reading—in the subtle shift from turning pages to swiping screens, in the difference between holding a few hundred pages of paper and holding a thin electronic device. And taking those differences into consideration, I ask you this: which do you prefer to read?

In a way I suppose I'm cheating because while I'm going to ask you for an answer, I don't really have a definitive this or that answer in return. However, there are aspects of each that I've found that I particularly enjoy, and that I'd be happy to share.

My favorite parts of reading print books:

• Texture of the pages. This sounds silly to some people, but every once in a while I come across a book printed on paper with the most gorgeous texture. I'm talking about the sleek, strong pages of the hardcover Harry Potter novels. I'm talking about the ragged-edge, but smooth paper of the hardcover Artemis Fowl series. It's moments like those, when I open up a book and run my fingers across the page of truly remarkable paper that I really love reading print.


• Book smell. I mean, who doesn't love the book smell? Some people love the smell of old books—for me it's the smell of newly printed paper that I can't get enough of. Regardless, the book smell brings back wonderful memories and I will always treasure it.


• Adding books to the shelf. I've probably mentioned this before, but I love collecting books, and one of my all-time favorite moments of reading comes at the very end, after I've finished reading: adding the book to the shelf. There's just something uniquely satisfying about adding a book I've read to my lovely collection and stepping back to admire all of its beauty.


• Looking at the pretty covers. The thing about e-readers is that unless you switch out the covers every time you start a new book, they always have the same nondescript cover. Not so with print books. I always keep a book I'm reading out in plain sight to remind me to get back to it, and there's a simple pleasure to being able to look at the actual book without having to turn on a screen and find it in your virtual library. 

That being said, there are still moments that I love about reading e-books as well.

My favorite parts of reading e-books:

• Instant gratification. E-readers are magical (and dangerous) devices because all we have to do to get the next new book is press a button. Not thirty seconds later it is available for reading. Doesn't get much better than that. 


• Easy reading (literally). I like to read in bed. Or on a sofa cuddled up with blankets. And sometimes I like to scrunch or curl up and when I try to read with a print book, the pages start to fight me a little—they get caught in the blankets, or they flap closed in the middle of a sentence, or the wind makes them flap manically while I'm trying to read, or they scrape against the cushion and rip while I'm trying to turn them (*queue horror music*). E-books aren't so finicky. I can read however and wherever I want to and the pages won't get caught or turn before I'm ready and they are impervious to ninja wind attacks. 


• Travel friendly. I don't really need to go into the difference between carrying twenty print books and twenty e-books, do I? I didn't think so. 


• Durable. Now I know what some of you are thinking—that print books can survive water and falls a lot better than e-readers can. And I'm not going to argue with that—it's very true. However, I'm one of those people that flips out when I accidentally bend the corner of my paperback book, or when a little water touches (and permanently wrinkles) the pages of my shiny new hardcover, or a scratch appears on the dust jacket of that book I just bought. The nice thing about e-readers is that you can throw them in your bag without having to worry about the cover bending by accident or the pages getting wrinkled. Just don't soak the thing in water or drop it from the Empire State Building. 

I truly believe that reading e-books and print both have their advantages, and I absolutely enjoy reading both, but now I'm curious: do you have a preference between e-books or print? What do you like about each? Share your thoughts in the comments below! 

Loss of a Legend

FIRSTLY I am guest blogging on Thea Atkinson’s awesome blog about brainstorming! Actually due to the popularity of my brainstorming post here, it’s being reblogged there. BUT if you haven’t read the brainstorming post you totally should (it’s got some fun ideas and random bursts of sugar)! And if you HAVE read the Brainstorming post you should pop on over to Thea’s blog anyway because she’s amazing!

Yup. So go do that. I’ll wait.

Back? Ok excellent. Moving along, now.

SECONDLY the Harry Potter awesomeness is still going on this week. There’s a super awesome SCAVENGER HUNT and BURIED TREASURE TO BE FOUND. Ok, maybe not the treasure. But there ARE prizes. Excellent ones. So if you haven’t already, you should check it out.

THIRDLY this is a blog! And I have a post. It’s about Borders.

I love Borders. I feel like I grew up there, between its shelves. I love everything about it—the cool (but not overwhelming) quiet, the new book smell, the rows of brand new books, the café, the lounge chairs…

Especially the new book smell. They should bottle it and sell it. Or make a new book-smelling candle. Or something.

Right, digressing.

As I’m sure many if not all of you have heard, Borders has fallen and will soon be a memory like the Discovery Channel Store and Linens N’ Things. It’s a tragic loss.

I sort of summed up my thoughts in a tweet yesterday:

Yeah. Just think about that. It’s a tragedy.

To make matters worse, there’s this internet rumor going around that all Borders will be closed this Friday. It gave me a near heart attack when I heard it. THIS FRIDAY? BUT SO SOON!

So I went to Borders and asked about it. Good news is the guy I talked to said they’d probably be open for about a month or so since that’s how long liquidation usually takes. Evidently the only thing happening on Friday is the decision of how to liquidate the stores.

So. If you are fortunate enough to still have a Borders near you like I do, you need not panic. If my informant is right (and I sincerely hope he is), you have a month to relish in the last days of Borders' awesomeness.

Then when the liquidation sales hit, you also have time to go stock up on those books you’ve been wanting to read. Silver lining.

Bad news, is in a few months, Borders will be a memory. And that’s a sad thing indeed.

R.I.P. Borders. We’ll miss you.