10 Signs You’re A Bibliophile

Posted in Articles, Blog by Abigayle Blood

The word “bibliophile” literally means a lover (phile) of books (biblio). The term is often thrown around to refer to people who simply like to read, but in its most precise interpretation, “bibliophile” means something more specific: someone who loves books particularly how they look, how they smell, what they feel like. Of course, most bibliophiles are great readers, collecting (OK, hoarding) books in part because they love the narratives in them.

But they also value books as fascinating objects in themselves, objects with their own stories to tell. These are readers who will never really be satisfied with electronic books – how can a cold iPad screen possibly compare to a tattered, musty, well-loved print book? To find out if you are one of those blessed with (or suffering from, depending on you point of view) bibliophilia, read on.

1. You have both a permanent copy and a loaner copy of your favorite books

Certain books, ones I’ve read over and over since I was a teenager, have enormous personal value to me. Of course, I want to share these wonderful, formative reading experiences with other people. But other people are jerks sometimes! What if I lend a friend a book and she dog-ears the pages? What if she breaks the spine? WHAT IF SHE LOSES IT? So I have my copy, and a loaner copy, and everyone is happy. All perfectly normal, right?

2. You judge other people according to the books they have

Oh, come on. We all do it. Actually, I don’t judge people so much by what books they have as by whether they own books or not. I don’t care what people read, but someone who doesn’t have any books is probably an orc and cannot be trusted.

3. You spend way to much time thinking about book organisation

My books are organized according to an intricate system that is so logical that only I can understand it. Some are alphabetized, some are categorized according to genre, some are ordered by colour. You know what I’m talking about, right?

4. Used books stores fill you with glee

Used books are the best: they’re cheap, they hold the same texts as newer editions, and sometimes you find amazing evidence of past readers – marginal notes, bookmarks, inscriptions. All tiny glimpses into other people’s lives. Bibliophiles can’t get enough of all of that. More, please.

5. You view books as actual home decor

Because they are pretty. Spaces always look more interesting, more inviting, and more homey when they are filled with books.

6. You plan to use them as centerpieces at your wedding (or you already did)

For bibliophiles, books form a major part of one’s personal identity. It’s only natural that you’d want to be surrounded by them on your big day.

7. Your ultimate fantasy is to have a library in your house, à la Belle in Beauty and the Beast

Preferably one with a ladder. And yes, you’re going to swing around the room, gesturing grandly, whatever.

8. You would love to travel far and wide to look at books and the homes of the people who write them

I’ve gone far, far out of my way to visit places like Haworth (home of the Brontë family in West Yorkshire) and Prince Edward Island (home Lucy Maud Montgomery and the Anne books). There is something powerful in seeing where my favourite books were written, and in seeing great authors’ own books. Because, naturally, great writers tend to be bibliophiles themselves.

9. You own multiple copies of the same books

I have at least four copies of Pride and Prejudice, including a battered paperback edition, a fancy leather-bound edition, a critical edition, and an illustrated edition. And they are all completely necessary to my life.

10. You spend crazy amounts of money on rare books

One would have to have crazy amounts of money in order to fulfill this criterion, but I think we can assume that whoever spent $11.5 million on a copy of John James Audubon’s Birds of America is a pretty hard-core book lover.

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Via: https://www.bustle.com/10-signs-youre-a-bibliophile-because-so-what-if-you-like-books-more-than-people

2May2018

If “New Book Smell” Were A Perfume, You’d Wear It: 10 Truths Only Print Book-Lovers Understand

Posted in Articles, Blog by Abigayle Blood

For a book-lover, there’s nothing better than holding the print version of a book in your hands. If you’re like me, you hold on to the belief that this e-reader business is a phase and that paper books can never truly be replaced. For those that cry out the demise of the paper book and hail the new tech-friendly versions, listen up: 70 percent of readers aren’t willing to make the switch from paper books to eBooks. And just a friendly reminder: two-thirds of all book sales still belong to print books.

Print book-lovers know it’s not always the convenient or smart choice to keep lugging around our hefty books. Sure, sometimes it’s a chore, but we wouldn’t trade our beloved paperbacks for anything in the world. Not even if every single book went digital. (Okay, maybe then. Reluctantly.) If you are stubborn like me and refuse to give in to the e-reader, then you know the struggles, joys, habits, and annoyances that loving paper books can bring.

And you can totally understand and relate to these 10 truths below:

1. You Love The Smell Of A New Book, In Fact, If “New Book Smell” Were A Perfume, You’d Wear It

No e-book can beat the way it feels to get a whiff of those pages. It’s part nostalgia, part soothing, part excitement about the book to come – but all totally awesome.

2. You Always Need A Bag Big Enough To Fit Your Books… Which Means Sometimes You Look Like a Bag Lady (But That’s Totally OK)

You’re always in the middle of two or three different books, and your day consists of a lot of waiting around (aka reading time), so you’ve got to be well-prepared. And if the day involves stopping by the book store, which it usually does, then you need extra bags, just to be safe.

3. You Think Nothing Is Sexier Than a Well-Stocked Bookshelf, And It’s The First Thing You Look For When You Go Into A New Person’s Home

As John Waters puts it, “If you go home with somebody, and they don’t have books, don’t f*ck ’em!” And vice versa: Let your kick-ass book collection be your sexy secret weapon. What are you going to do, awkwardly leave out your Kindle so your date might catch a glimpse of the latest book you’re reading? No. Display your collection proudly.

4. You Like To Order Your Books On You Shelf In Order Of Colour

Because Colour Coordination looks amazing and makes you feel like you live in a place of rainbows and fairytales – oh, wait, you do!

5. You Feel More Enraptured In A Story When You’re Reading A Print Book

And, hey, I don’t blame you. Researchers have proven that comprehension while reading paper books is higher than while reading their digital counterparts. “All those cues like what the page looks like, what the book felt like, all those little pieces help you put together the whole thing – unlike the simulated pages of an e-reader,” says Marilyn Jager-Adams, a psychologist at Brown University. So, if you get lost with your nose in the pages… don’t sweat it, it’s totally natural.

6. You Know That Books Are More Durable (Er, Most of the Time)

There’s a reason paper books can last hundreds of years. No worries about a cracked screen or a dead battery! No threat of heat damage if you leave it in your car. A good book can follow you anywhere. (Just, um, don’t leave it out in the rain.)

7. You Pretend Not To Be Bothered By How Easy People With E-Readers Have It At the Beach

OK, so you got a little sand and water on a few pages of your book. It just adds character, right? Ignore those “I told you so” looks from your friends. At least you’re working your arm muscles by holding those pages open. And sand is much easier to remove from paper than from inside your Kindle.

8. You Know The Instant Intellectual Prowess You Feel Reading Out In Public, Especially That Time You Tried To Read Infinite Jest

Hooray for not staring blindly into your phone or iPad like everyone else! Also, you’ve got a shiny, interesting book cover that can be a great conversation piece with the attractive person sitting next to you. (Said person also told you it’s impossible to finish Infinite Jest if you’re not reading it with two bookmarks. Oops.)

9. You Know That Reading In Bed is Better (And Way Cozier!) With A Print Book

It’s true: Using an e-reader at night can cause trouble with sleeping and affect alertness in the morning, which is basically the opposite of what you want reading in bed to do. Where as cuddling up with your new favourite book can both encourage and enable a good healthy sleep. So there’s another excuse to do it (as if you needed it!).

10. You Get Tired Of Having To Defend Your Choice Of Print Books To E-Book Fanatics. THIS ISN’T A WAR, OK?!

Sure, eBooks are great for a lot of reasons. Especially if you are going travelling and don’t have room in your case, or more likely, are saving that space for all the books you will buy whilst you’re away. But it doesn’t mean we all have to trade in our paper books for eBooks in our everyday life. Let’s coexist peacefully. The important thing is that we are still reading, whatever format you prefer.

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Via: https://www.bustle.com/articles/10-truths-only-print-book-lovers-understand

21Feb2018

The 6 Reactions Book-Lovers Have to People Who Don’t Read

Posted in Articles, Blog by Abigayle Blood

There are many ways to get passionate reactions out of hardcore book nerds. Tell us Twilight deserves a place in the pantheon of great vampire literature next to Stoker’s Dracula and Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. Ask us where we stand in the e-book vs. print book debate. Mention the ongoing Amazon-Hachette feud. Bring up any book-to-film adaptation, ever. It’s not a question of whether we’ll have opinions, but rather when we will stop beating you over the head with them with all the force of a hardcover edition of Les Miserables.

However, if you really want to whip a book-lover into a Tempest-like frenzy of emotions, all you need are four little words: “I don’t read books.”

I’ve heard those words, or similar variations (“I haven’t read a book since school,” or, even more mind-blowing, “Reading is boring”) many times in my life, and without fail, they inspire within me a tangle of emotions that leaves me speechless, at least momentarily (which is no easy feat). I understand that not everyone can enjoy reading as thoroughly as I do (actually, that’s probably a good thing; if that were the case, I’m pretty sure nothing productive would ever be accomplished), but to genuinely dislike the act of reading? You may as well say you don’t like breathing or eating.

Conversations with fellow book-lovers reveal that we all tend to have the same reactions to these rare and mysterious creatures: What … How… Why…??

It’s for their benefit, as well as the benefit of those who dare blaspheme our precious pastime with callow disregard, that I sat down to sift through the varying emotions book nerds experience when we hear those heartbreaking words: “I don’t read books.” The struggle is real. Here’s what happens next…

1. Shock/Disbelief

You … don’t … read … books? You mean, like, you don’t read novels, but you read nonfiction and stuff like that, right? No? You just straight-up do not read words printed in ink on paper and bound between two covers. Really?

2. Confusion

I see your lips moving. I hear words coming out of your mouth. They sound like English, but I can’t comprehend them. You can read, but you choose not to.

But why? Do you not have books? Do you need books? What did books do to you to make you scorn them so? Did they take you out for a nice seafood dinner and then never call you again? What do you do instead of reading, sit around and stare at things? So. Many. Questions.

3. Judgment

If I’ve known you for awhile and you reveal this, suddenly everything I thought I knew about you has been called into question. You’re lucky enough to be among the percentage of adults who can read and you choose not to exercise that privilege?

What other deep, dark secrets have you been hiding from me? Were you actually sick that night you had to cancel our plans? Do I really know you at all? And in the case that you’re someone I just met, and you tell me you don’t like to read…

4. Pity

This feeling can happen simultaneously with judgment. Do you even understand what you’re missing? Books let us travel to more locations than we could ever visit in a lifetime, as well as awesome places that don’t exist in the real world. They introduce us to amazing friends and give us kick-ass heroes to root for. They teach us, inspire us, evoke our emotions. But you’re depriving yourself of all that and it just makes me so, so sad.

5. Persuasion

It can’t be that you don’t like to read, you just haven’t found the right book yet. What interests you? Humour? History? Sports? Dwarfs? Humorous historical dwarfs playing sports? I don’t care how many hours we have to spend in the library, I will find a book you like. And I will make you love them!

6. Acceptance

No? Really? You’re absolutely, definitely not interested in one of the most beloved pastimes of the last 600 years? *Sigh* I don’t understand it, but I guess it’s true that it takes all kinds of people to make the world. So fine, be like that. And don’t worry, I can love books enough for the both of us.

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Via: https://www.bustle.com/articles/36433-the-6-reactions-book-lovers-have-to-people-who-dont-read

12Feb2018

15 Reading Pet Peeves Every Book-Lover Understands

Posted in Articles, Blog by Abigayle Blood

It’s a proven fact that reading is the best hobby ever – any book-lover will tell you so. No matter your preferred genre or medium, there’s an endless supply of books to capture your interest and they can serve as everything from entertainment to distraction. It’s an overwhelmingly positive pastime, but I will admit that reading does occasionally have moments of inconvenience and even of frustration. At the end of the day, however, it’s usually not books themselves that are the problem, but external factors instead. We’ll call them reading pet peeves.

For bookworms, reading can often be therapeutic and relaxing, yet there are a variety of things that are all but guaranteed to raise their blood pressure nonetheless. These reading pet peeves are pretty universal, so any true reader will likely understand the annoyance they can cause. Fortunately, most are minor, rating a facepalm or a huff of frustration. It’s only the most severe offenses that make a perfectly good book suddenly look tempting as a projectile.

If you’re a reading addict, let’s commiserate over the following 15 reading pet peeves that have probably ruffled your feathers from time to time. Non-readers, please take note to avoid any of the annoying activities and occurrences below.

1. Spoilers

Is there anything worse than finding out what’s going to happen in the book you’re reading (or planning to read) before you get there? I think not.

2. Books You Don’t Like That Become Wildly Popular

It’s amazing to see books you adore get the recognition they deserve, but when books with problematic characters or storylines top the best-seller lists, it’s beyond irritating. Worse still? When film studios snap up the movie rights and you know you’re going to have to keep hearing about them. Grrrr!

3. Delayed Release Dates

You can’t really blame authors when they have to push back a book’s release date – life happens, plans change. Still, knowing you’ve got an even longer wait for reading material you’ve been looking forward to is zero fun.

4. People Who Are Careless With Borrowed Books

I don’t think it’s too much for us to expect people to treat borrowed property well, but sadly, not everyone has learned that lesson. If you’ve ever lent out a book, only to get it back in worse condition, I feel your pain.

5. People Who Are Careless With Books In General

Even if they’re not actually your books, it can be cringe-worthy to watch someone crease their book jacket or haphazardly drip coffee over the pages.

6. Waiting For Library Books

Libraries are up there on a book-lover’s list of favourite things, but having to wait on a hold list is not. Patience is a virtue, of course, but it’s not easy to come by when there’s a story you’re dying to get your hands on.

7. Being Judged For Wanting To Stay In And Read

When all you want to do is curl up for the evening with a good book, there’s no shame. The only shame should be directed at those who would guilt you or judge you for it.

8. Movie Adaptations With Plot Deviations

Bringing a book to screen has its challenges, but when the movie adaptation takes all kinds of unnecessary liberties with the original plot, it’s enough to infuriate any fan of the work.

9. Books With Promising Starts That Go Downhill

It feels like a betrayal when the story you’re reading starts out strong, only to suddenly take a turn for the worse. But more annoying then that is when you buy a book that promises a certain story on the jacket, only to find you’ve been mis-sold a completely different story. All that potential, those hopes and dreams, just ripped away.

10. Being Interrupted While Reading

It should go without saying that when you have a volume in hand, you should be left in peace. Unfortunately, not everyone seems to know this unwritten rule.

11. Poorly Edited Books

A minor typo can be forgiven, but repeated errors and grammatical disasters? Not so much.

12. Purses Too Small To Carry Books

A purse is meant to carry the necessities, so if it can’t fit a book or an e-reader, it’s failing at its purpose.

13. That Moment When Your E-Reader’s Battery Dies

Even after all the warnings of low battery, it’s still annoying when your e-reader actually dies. My own device takes several minutes to power back up again whenever this happens, and on top of that, it typically loses my most recent page. Oh, the inconvenience!