What are you reading? What’s on your bookshelf?
And what does it say about you?
Have you ever been to someone’s home, and you know that something feels a little “off,” but you aren’t sure why? That happens to me when there are no books. And it’s most surprising when it’s a spacious and expensive home. I find myself vaguely uncomfortable, and wondering about the occupants of the household.
Take a look at your bookshelves
I have always considered myself “a wealthy woman.” No, not money. Quality people, and books. Yes. I am rich in books.
My whole life, I’ve felt good surrounded by books. In the library. At Barnes & Noble or Borders. Or a little dusty used book store tucked in a Parisian neighborhood, or on the Lower East Side.
And without books? I feel impoverished. As long as I had material to read (preferably not on a computer screen), I’d never be bored and I would always have worlds to discover and people with whom to converse and interact.
Print versus online
Like everyone now, I read a great deal online. Mostly it’s news, but other items of interest as well. I love it!
While online media has certainly taken its toll on the newspaper business, I don’t think the displayed word replaces the pleasure of a book. Is there a place for both page and screen? Of course. Certainly, for me.
What’s on my shelves?
On my shelves, you’ll find a little of everything! I have sections on contemporary and modern art, design, dictionaries, more dictionaries, French grammar, 19th century European literature, writing and style guides, and books on poetry, systems design, marketing, management, and of course – more popular literature if you count John Irving or Philip Roth.
What do my books say about me?
A perusal of my books is a tour of what I’ve studied, what interests me, the fields I’ve worked in professionally. It’s a glimpse into my world, my history, and my values. It also reflects my love of the written word, and that I’m not afraid to let those who walk into my home “see” me, or what I love.
Think about your friends and neighbors
When you walk into your friends’ or neighbors’ homes, do they have shelves with the requisite bound volumes of Shakespeare? Or the “100 greatest works of literature?”
Am I being judgmental? Yes! (And what’s so wrong with that? Can’t I have an opinion?)
Do I make judgments when I enter a home devoid of books? Or if all I see are decorator-provided tomes that look good in next to the yellow sofa? Yes again.
I wonder if there’s been no study, no passionate interests. I wonder why past lives are tucked away, or if a decorator’s taste is more important than individuality.
Special circumstances
There are always exceptions. There may be books, but they’ve been put away somewhere; books from studies are packed up and sealed away, or they’ve been sold off in a yard sale.
In other instances, it’s a matter of space, and books may have been left with a parent, or they may actually have disappeared in a divorce! (I’ve encountered that more than once, which I find terribly sad.)
It’s a matter of values
To me, the presence of books says “I read.” But more than that, even if someone doesn’t have much time for reading (in our crazy, hectic go-go-go society), it says “I value reading when I can.” Does it need to be eight bookshelves brimming with materials? Stacks on tables and on the floor?
I may like that, but of course not. Yet I love to see a life that includes books. When it doesn’t, I wonder…
Are the books on your shelves a source of pleasure? A reminder of people and places and experiences? Are you richer for revisiting their pages?
What are you reading these days?
Your post made me think about several of my high school babysitting gigs. Once the kids were asleep, I would go scrounging for something to read — and usually find nothing. It always made me terribly sad to think of those kids growing up in homes without books.
–Lizaanne
Now that I’ve switched from daily to weekly Portuguese lessons, I have more time for leisure reading. I’m making my second attempt to read “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay,” and this time I’m into the rhythm of the book and enjoying it a lot. I’m still doing my Portuguese lessons and, this being Friday, will read the weekly Torah portion. I’ve got the new issues of Wired and the Princeton Alumni Weekly to flip through, and of course I make my daily pit stop at this website.
Hello there:-)
Thank you for the very interesting post. To be honest, my bookshelves, very few of them are empty. This is on my left side. But on my right side you have books which are everywhere. It’s just my favourite activity (I was writing about it on my blog) – I am cleaning my room and my trying to take control over my books. But these ones took control over me. Well there more than 500 of them.
I know that all fiction, rather like crime and love stories, have to go. And what I am going to leave with me? The Bachelor Girl by Betsy Israel-the secret story of single women.The Empty Cradles by Margaret Humpreys-story about child migration scheme. Very interesting book which made tears come to my eyes. Maybe some books by Polish writer late Teodor Parnicki. He was a person with very interesting life. Had huge knowledge of Ancient Rome especially and was writing books about writing books,power,history. And I am still trying to read Him. I find my home within His books… Maybe it will be The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell. Beautiful love story in modern Egypt. I have as well a novel by Fannie Flagg-Fried Green Tomatoes [in Polish]. But I have this famous movie from 1991. And I am still enjoying great acting by late Jessica Tandy, Kathy Bates, Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary Louise Parker. There are so many books. And I want to write about all of them.
But You know what? I would love to talk about books. Old books, not staff from net-bookstores. I bought today two books [The Spanish Gypsy and The Impressions of Theophrastus Such]. This cabinet edition. From late 19th or early 20th century I think.The last book I want to write about is Dale’s Spender-The Women of Ideas……. But now I am going to sleep, good night.
Lizaanne’s reaction to kids growing up in homes without books is one I have also experienced. I can’t help but think that a home without books is a reflection of empty lives.
We noticed that our kids anchored on the old set of World Book and branched out from there. It was before Google and it worked the way Wikipedia works now. But it was fun to watch them run to the World Book article for the first cut at the information or understanding they were seeking. From there, they would scout out the rest of the books in the various locations around the house. Or they would head to the library.
I watched other parents spending money on things to try to make their kids happy. We found that the way to a kid’s heart is through their mind. They are so hungry. So hungry. And I’m afraid reality TV doesn’t provide what they want so desperately.
BTW, BLW, good article. Thought provoking.