Are You a Reader or A Collector?
After a recent conversation with my boyfriend after we went to the book store I started to think about my book-buying habits. I love the feel of browsing the shelves of my favourite book stores, of exploring the new titles they sell. I also really like to stalk Amazon and The Book Depository – because they are cheap and I just love getting more books for less money. According to my boyfriend I’m more of a collector than a reader. So, because I like lists, I decided to make a list of characteristics of both readers and collectors for fun.
The Reader:
- You love reading books
- You don’t mind not owning them – library books or borrowing them from friends is fine with you
- You’re not that interested in collectibles, the swag you got sits somewhere in the back of your shelves all forgotten
- ARCs are fun because you can read the book sooner rather than later
- But once you finished the ARC you won’t buy the finished edition
- You don’t mind abusing your books a bit; breaking the spine, dog-earing pages or writing notes in the sidelines
- You love talking about books to anyone that wants to hear it, especially to gush about your favourite characters
- You’re not one for rereading, unless it’s one of your all-time favourites. There are so many other books out there to read, who has time for rereading?
The Collector:
- You love reading books
- You also love hugging books, sniffing them, and stroking them
- Other people might think you’re crazy because of that
- You take pleasure in owning books, not just reading them
- If you love a book, you must have it, preferably in a beautiful hardcover edition
- When the covers of a series gets changed throughout, you’re close to tears. Now they won’t match!
- ARCs are great for review, but you want a pretty copy for your collection as well
- If anyone dares to even wrinkle a page in one of your books you will never let them touch any of them again
- You have many more unread books than you can read within a reasonable amount of time
- When you come across book three in a series of which you own only book one, you will buy it anyway with the prospective of buying book two in the future
Thinking this through, I think I am more of a collector. I love browsing to my collection of books (which keeps on growing every month) and seeing the beautiful unmarked spines. When I take a book with me I put it in protective bubble-wrap so it will still be in pristine condition when I finish. I would absolutely love to have a library and a reading room some day.
So, what are you? More of a reader or more of a collector?
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